Underhill Graduate Student Colloquium 2025 Call For Papers
Join us February 27th to 28th, 2025 for the 31st Underhill Graduate Student Colloquium, presented by Carleton’s Department of History. This year’s theme is “Concentricity: Exploring The Doing of History”. Our goal is to promote emerging research by graduate students that considers the ways in which we approach the doing of history in and beyond the academy.
Concentricity refers to two or more objects that share the same centre. Historically, concentricity could refer to the way historical events, interpretations, or memories are interconnected, with multiple layers of context, perspectives, and influences radiating outward from a central historical moment or theme. It implies that history is not just linear or isolated, but rather involves complex, overlapping circles of influence and understanding. We hope to draw focus to our shared centre as scholars, and the diverse ways in which we branch out from it. It invites consideration of how history has grown into an inter/transdisciplinary field, where our unique approaches to the past are centred around and grow from our own understandings of the present and hope for the future.
Just as concentric circles branch out from their centre, the study of the past expands beyond our current frame of reference to build new understandings of historical subjects. This year’s focus on exploration and the doing of history connotes an active understanding and approach to research. Centering our conversation on the act of doing and exploring highlights not only what we can learn from history, but how we approach the creation and exploration of knowledge.
In light of this year’s theme, we invite MA and PhD submissions from all disciplines that engage with the following themes:
1) Agency (i.e. scholars as active agents, their role in constructing knowledge and participating in broader social, political, cultural, ethical etc debates, forms and narratives)
2) Exploration (i.e. how can we test the boundaries of our discipline, incorporating new approaches, experiences, methodologies, and understandings; How can we explore and incorporate new and innovative approaches)
3) Shared experience (i.e. how we interface with the past through disciplinary boundaries, individually and/or collectively, what can we learn from the past, other disciplines, and each other, how can we grow as researchers and as people through collaboration and community)
We are particularly interested in work that explores the intersections of these themes and their impact on historical production. We welcome submissions in all disciplines on history-related topics spanning the spectrum of disciplines, methodologies, and formats. In addition to graduate work, the colloquium will feature a poster session highlighting the work of Carleton History Undergraduate students. The Underhill Colloquium will be pleased to welcome two keynote speakers; one during our Thursday evening gallery night at the Ottawa Art Gallery, and the second during the Colloquium on Carleton University Campus.
In an effort to foster a multidisciplinary approach to history, we invite work that does not fit into a traditional “paper presentation” format. To this end, the Underhill Colloquium will be accepting abstracts to participate in a panel, roundtable, or interactive workshop. Please indicate in your application what format would best suit your work. If you have questions regarding what format would be the best fit, please reach out to UnderhillColloquium@cunet.carleton.ca.
Submit your abstracts (no longer than 300 words) to this form https://forms.gle/aW25miZWLWLKV1TPA by Monday, January 6th, 2025. This is an in-person event, but we will have limited spots for a hybrid panel. Please indicate in your submission if you are only able to present virtually. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Underhill 2025 Planning Committee
Kavita Mistry (she/her)
Co-Chair, Underhill Colloquium
3rd Year PhD, Public History
Katie Carson (she/her)
Co-Chair, Underhill Colloquium
2nd Year MA, History
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The Underhill Colloquium is a graduate student-run conference spotlighting MA and PhD student work, with keynote presentations from respected historians and scholars. The Underhill Colloquium is made possible by the generous contribution of the Frank H. Underhill donation. We accept all submissions. Priority goes to Carleton students.
We wish to acknowledge that this Colloquium (and Carleton itself) takes place on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabek First Nation, whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.