2026 LAMPHHS Annual Meeting Call for Proposals
Librarians, Archivists, and Museum Professionals in the History of the Health Sciences (LAMPHHS) invites you to submit a proposal for its annual meeting, to be held in Buffalo, New York, June 3 – 4, 2026.
The concept behind this year’s program is thinking beyond the boundaries of conventional health practices. Building on this idea, the Program Committee invites members to look beyond traditional ideas of healthcare and explore the often-overlooked world of alternative healing. We encourage you to review your collections with a new perspective, looking for stories, artifacts, and practices that highlight spiritualism, cultural medical traditions, faith healing, folk medicine, and other local health systems that are hidden in the records of midwives, physician assistants, pharmacists, social workers, chaplains and other spiritual caregivers, and family caretakers. This theme opens up conversations about how communities have found wellness in many different ways, including groups such as Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and how allopathic medicine has responded to or included these alternative treatments. By exploring these connections, the conference aims to expand our understanding of what healing has meant in different times, places, and belief systems.
Session Formats: The Program Committee encourages submission of proposals that may include, but are not limited to, the following formats:
Traditional Conference Presentations: Speakers should expect to give a presentation of no more than 15 minutes followed by discussion.
Panel Discussion: 60-90 minute session with a panel of 3 to 4+ individuals informally discussing a variety of theories or perspectives on a common topic. Please confirm participation with all panelists before submitting the panel proposal.
Special Focus Session: 60-minute session designed to highlight innovative archives or museum programs, new techniques, and research projects. Audience participation is encouraged.
Workshops, Other Formats: Have a format idea that isn’t represented? Feel free to propose an alternative!
NOTE: Panels and sessions are limited to 90 minutes: 12-15 minutes for each panelist + 12-15 minutes for Q&A.
Please submit your proposal via this submission form: https://forms.gle/mUvE6EASRzPeHGvP8
The deadline for submitting session proposals is February 15, 2026.
You must be a LAMPHHS member to submit a proposal. Not a member? Join for only $25.00 at https://lamphhs.org/
If you have any questions, please email Howard Rootenberg at (howard@rootenbergbooks.com) or Brooke Fox (foxeb@musc.edu)
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