Category: Call for Presentations

CFP: ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2027

ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2027 will take place August 25–28 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk in Chicago, Illinois. The meeting will be held in person, bringing together archivists and allied professionals from across the country and around the world to connect, share knowledge, and explore the opportunities and challenges facing our profession.

Archivists have always done our best work together. We share expertise, lend a hand across institutions, and build what no single repository could build alone. Our work reaches well beyond the reading room: We help society remember its history, account for itself, and imagine what comes next. As our profession faces real challenges, community matters more than ever. The SAA Annual Meeting is a chance to gather, learn from one another, and look ahead with purpose and optimism.

The SAA Program Committee seeks perspectives from across our profession that focus on how we are doing our work today and preparing for tomorrow. The conference theme—Archives and Archivists in the Here and Now—encourages proposals that demonstrate our work and who we are as professionals. What does it mean to be an archivist in 2027? What work are we continuing to prioritize? What work might be left behind? How are we doing more (or perhaps less) with less? Overall, we seek proposals exploring how archival professionals engage with broader social issues, highlighting our roles as community advocates, defenders of historical memory, active champions, and catalysts for positive change. Among other topics, proposals might consider:

  • Managing and overcoming archival debt;
  • Day-to-day work of reference, processing, and outreach;
  • Preserving and providing access to at-risk formats and electronic records;
  • Burnout and self-care in times where respite seems unattainable;
  • Supporting professional growth and leadership;
  • AI tools and technologies, including practical application and impacts on archival work;
  • Navigating uncertainty and financial austerity, such as through collaboration, efficiencies, and fundraising; and
  • New and innovative projects and leveraging collaboration with other entities.

We welcome proposals on other topics related to archives and archival work, and we invite voices from every career stage and every kind of repository, as well as students, allied professionals, and the communities whose stories we hold in trust.

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We expect program sessions to reflect SAA’s commitments to a diverse and inclusive program and profession. Each session should include individuals and/or organizations with varied personal and professional experiences, perspectives, and identities.

The Program Committee invites proposals for panel presentations, professional poster presentations, lightning talks, and mix and match talks. Proposals for alternative formats are also welcome. See frequently asked questions (FAQs): www2.archivists.org/am2027/program/calls/….

The submission form will be available by early December. Proposals are due Tuesday, December 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT.

For additional guidelines and information, visit https://www2.archivists.org/am2027/program/calls/program-proposals

CFP: SAA Visual Materials Section 2027 Win-Ventory

“Winventory” is fast approaching!

VMS invites archivists to share their work wins with our community as part of “Winventory’s” series of 5-7 minute lightning talks this coming January.

This year has been a difficult one, marked by uncertainty, change, and ongoing challenges across our communities and institutions. We hope to create a space to share some of our wins, encouraging reflection, creativity, connection, and resilience. We would love to see what made you pause, smile, or say “this is why I do this.”

Don’t know where to start? Here are some ideas:

• A visual materials project that brought people together

• A win (big or small) that came out of working with visual content

• A collaboration engaging between archive and artist

• A surprising visual discovery that brought a moment of joy

• A behind-the-scenes story from the stacks

• A successful digitization or outreach initiative

Submit your idea by November 20th! Please send proposals – a brief paragraph sharing your lighting talk idea – or any questions to Maggie McCready at mgmc@loc.gov!

CFP: Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference Spring 2027

Full details: https://www.marac.info/2027-spring-pittsburgh

To honor Pittsburgh’s distinct and vibrant neighborhoods as well as its history as the home of the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series, the Program Committee invites proposals related to the theme Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Stronger Together. We are seeking proposals that highlight the many different skills, abilities, and backgrounds that enrich our archives, MARAC, and adjacent professions. This could include highlighting ways that communities and archives work together for the greater good as well as ways we can reach across any divides separating our internal and external neighborhoods and communities, whether they be ideological, budgetary, technological, geographical, educational, or otherwise.

Proposal Submission

The deadline for proposals is 5pm Monday, November 16, 2026. If you are looking for co-presenters or a moderator, consider posting to the Collaboration Spreadsheet. Spreadsheet entries are not proposal submissions and will not be considered. Please use the Submission Form to submit proposals.

In the winter of 2026/2027 there will be a call for poster proposals and a call for a student paper session. The student paper session which will be held on the last day of the conference.

The Program Committee encourages submissions from newer professionals and members of underrepresented groups. MARAC membership is not required. Presenters may submit more than one proposal but may present only one session or poster. Members of the Program Committee are not permitted to present.

Session Types:

  • A moderator, presenters, and then questions from the audience:
    • Standard Presentation/Paper Presentation: Two to four speakers present on a common theme.
    • Lightning Talks: May or may not include slides or images. Presentations may be from 3 to 10 minutes long, with the time allotted depending on the number of presenters.
    • Debate: Moderator announces the topic, and two individuals debate. May include more than one topic and additional debaters.
    • Mini workshop: One or multiple speakers provide educational instruction on a given topic.
  • Collaborative discussion led by a moderator, with more audience participation:
    • Roundtable Discussion: Three or four participants make very brief remarks, then discuss a topic together.
    • Open Forum: Topical discussion with moderator leading discussion with everyone present.
  • Full audience participation, directed by an instructor or facilitator:
    • Birds of a Feather: Usually for a specific interest group or population segment, this is a topical discussion with a facilitator ensuring that everyone has a chance to speak, that all aspects of a topic are being explored, and to break up long silences with pre-prepared questions or remarks. Consider sessions based on experience, geographical location, and professional interests. Great for networking.

Sessions may be 60 to 90 minutes. Sessions should be planned as in-person presentations, as remote presentation capability is expensive and highly subject to glitches.

Representation and Variety

We seek to present sessions from a diverse and representative slate of speakers as well as a variety of topics that do not exactly replicate what has been presented before at MARAC. We encourage submissions from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ presenters, as well as new professionals, students, presenters from allied professions, and first-time presenters. Additionally, another goal is to cover a broad spectrum of archival functions and repository types, therefore it is imperative that session proposals include that information. We will enforce the MARAC Code of Conduct and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment.

The Diversity and Inclusion Session Scholarship is awarded to a session that promotes engagement with topics related to diversity and inclusion, and other conference scholarships can help with registration, travel, and lodging. If you would like to attend this conference but are facing financial hardships, please consider applying to receive a scholarship.

Proposal Evaluation

The Program Committee will evaluate proposals according to the following characteristics:

  • Quality and clarity of the session description: can we tell that you have thought this out completely?
  • Ability to address all relevant aspects of the topic: do you have enough speakers/presentations to cover the topic? If you are looking for more speakers on a topic, consider posting it to the Collaboration Spreadsheet.
  • Originality of proposed topic: has this topic been covered recently at MARAC or SAA?
  • Diversity of presenters and viewpoints: look for a co-presenter who doesn’t look or think like you. Maybe they have a different viewpoint on the topic.
  • Appropriateness of proposed format with session content: would this topic work well as a panel discussion or a mini-workshop? Think outside the Powerpoint slide deck.

All proposals will be considered in the context of the overall structure of the meeting and availability of time slots for proposed sessions. Unique audiovisual needs may impact selection due to cost, and we may not be able to accommodate your need for a specific time slot.

Questions? Contact the Program Committee Co-Chairs Joanne Archer at jarcher@loc.gov or Jane Cross at jcross@loc.gov

CFP: Northwest Archivists at 50

NWA Annual Meeting 2027
Helena, Montana

May 19-21, 2027

The 2027 NWA Annual Meeting gives us an opportunity to gather, collaborate, and learn from the work of archivists and other cultural heritage professionals from around our region. Our 2027 meeting will be held at the Montana Heritage Center in Helena, Montana. Our theme is Northwest Archivists at 50 in recognition of the golden anniversary of our professional organization.

Anniversaries offer the opportunity to look toward the future of our profession by reflecting on our past. Our work stewarding the past teaches us that knowing where we have been informs where we are going. In celebrating this anniversary, NWA seeks to reflect on the past 50 years of archival work, highlight collections in our region, and envision where we want to go next.

The Program Committee welcomes proposals on topics related to all aspects of archival practice, theory, or research broadly related to Northwest Archivists at 50. Any and all ideas are welcome! We are seeking diverse perspectives that help us strengthen our professional practice, our institutions, and our communities and reflect a variety of viewpoints, experiences, and expertise. We especially invite those in allied professions as well as graduate and undergraduate students to participate. If this is your first Northwest Archivists meeting or your fiftieth we welcome your submission.

All proposals will be reviewed by NWA’s Program Committee for acceptance.  Submit your proposal here!

Program Session Proposals

The 2027 Program Committee seeks session proposals on all aspects of archival practice, theory, and research in broad support of the theme of Northwest Archivists at 50 to reflect the achievements, struggles, and changes in archival work over the past 50 years.

The following list is provided to facilitate session topic brainstorming. Any and all ideas are welcome!

  • 50 Years of Professional Stewardship – Building and sustaining professional networks, archival education, mentorship, supporting new professionals
  • Activism and social justice – Documenting social justice movements, community-based archives, archivists as advocates for social change
  • Advocacy and outreach – Communicating value, marketing, sponsorship, engaging the community, stakeholder engagement
  • Archives management – Strategic planning, project management, personnel management, fundraising, grant writing
  • Collaborations and partnerships – Engaging donors, resource sharing, working with students, colleagues in allied professions, documentation strategies
  • Collection management – Metadata, digitization, appraisal and reappraisal, space planning
  • Digital Preservation / Digital archiving – Workflows, methods, access options
  • Disaster mitigation and response – Planning, responding to climate change, practicing / implementing responses
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion – Reparative description, diversifying the profession, addressing legacy bias, collaborations with historically marginalized communities, inclusive spaces, cultural competence and cultural humility
  • Failure stories – Experiences that can help others learn from mistakes, less than successful projects
  • Innovation – Finding efficiencies, engagement strategies, process improvements, workflow management, innovative uses of tools / technologies, new approaches to hybrid work life
  • Legacy collections and practices – data migration, reappraisal, rehousing, collections surveys
  • Reference and instruction – Teaching collaborations, creative uses of technology

Session Formats

In your proposal you will be asked to indicate the format of your session. Except for workshops, all session blocks will be 60 minutes.

If you would like to work with others on a session, please coordinate using this Panel Collaboration Spreadsheet. (Note: the Program Committee does not monitor this spreadsheet, and coordination is up to individual members. Alternatively, you can submit a Case Study proposal as an individual).

  • Standard Presentation (1 hour): Two to four speakers present on a common theme. May include a moderator to steer discussion and/or introduce speakers and theme.
  • Round Table Discussion (1 hour): Three or four facilitators provide brief remarks, then engage in discussion of a topic with attendees. Alternately, a moderator poses a series of questions to participants, which each participant addresses.
  • Workshop (full- or half-day): hands-on presentation of skills, technology, or policy. Can be presented by an individual, a group, or an organization.
  • Case Studies (10-15 minutes) submitted individually: three to five speakers present on topics focused on recent projects, to be grouped by the Program Committee. Case-study presentations are shorter than the standard presentation and are designed to serve as examples of archival theory in practice.
  • Alternative Format (1 hour): Propose a format that best fits your topic. In your session description, provide enough information for the evaluators to understand both the format, and how the format will support the topic or presentation of the material.

Session Proposal Evaluation Criteria

  • Is the proposal description clear? (5 points)
  • Are the proposal outcomes explicitly stated and achievable in the proposed session? (10 points)
  • Will attendees be introduced to a new practice, practical application and/or be encouraged to think in a new way about an issue or topic? (10 points)
  • Does the proposal demonstrate that the presenter(s) have the requisite knowledge /experience to present on the topic? (10 points)
  • Does the proposal align with the conference theme? (3 points)

Deadlines

Session proposals for the NWA 2027 Annual Meeting are due on Friday, December 11, by 11:59pm Pacific Time. Acceptances will be communicated to presenters by  January 29, 2027.

A call for poster proposals will go out in early January and close February 15.

Use this LINK TO SUBMISSION FORM to submit your Session proposals.

If you have any questions, please contact the Program Committee Chair, Heather Mulliner: heather.mulliner@montana.edu

CFP: Editing at a Crossroads, A Joint Conference on the State of Recovery and Documentary Editing in 2027

On June 25–27, 2027, the UVA Center for Digital Editing’s eLaboratories (eLabs) and the Association for Documentary Editing (ADE) will host a joint hybrid conference in Charlottesville, VA. Both organizations invite participation by documentary editors, recovery professionals, public historians, archivists, librarians, educators, students, digital humanists, community-based researchers, and all others involved in expanding access to documents from the past. We look forward to conversations about methodologies, technologies, formats, contents, audiences, and other facets of editing and recovery work. On June 24, eLabs will host in-person workshops on key topics in recovery and editing.

The conference theme will be “Editing at a Crossroads.” The fields of editing and recovery are always evolving, but their practitioners now face stark challenges and decisions. The emergence of artificial intelligence, changes in the funding landscape, the expansion of user audiences, experimentation with project structures, and the proliferation of publication options are among many developments forcing us to reevaluate, revise, or advocate for our work. The ADE and eLabs invite proposals for presentations on all facets of recovery and editing. We particularly welcome those that explore the changes affecting this work and describe or propose strategies for addressing them.

Proposal topics may include, but are not limited to:

Methodologies

  • Perspectives on how the historiographical treatment of historical actors and subjects shapes editorial and recovery methodologies
  • Perspectives on the definition, goals, and values of editing and recovery work
  • Approaches to editorial practice, publication, and sustainability within cooperative publishing models

Funding of Editions

  • Reflections on and responses to federal and state opportunities for funding; legislative, executive, and judicial decisions affecting funding and research; and other changes in government policies
  • Methods for fostering or engaging institutional support for editing and recovery projects at colleges, universities, historical societies, and other hosting organizations
  • Strategies for identifying and cultivating private funding sources, including foundations and individual donors

Audiences

  • Changes in audiences, patterns of use, and expectations for documentary editing and recovery projects
  • Changes in project conceptualization, workflows, outputs, selected tools, outreach, or platform design for reaching, engaging, and supporting new users
  • Strategies for addressing web accessibility and updated ADA guidelines in digital publications, such as changes in methodology, design practices, and tools and technologies
  • Models for democratizing participation in research, editing, and public knowledge-making
  • Pedagogical applications of editing and recovery work, including classroom integration, public-facing interpretation, and training programs in recovery and editing themselves

Project Structures

  • Methodological approaches to documentary editing and recovery across projects of different scale, duration, staffing structure, funding models, and institutional support
  • Methods, challenges, and impacts of balancing project work with teaching, research, or administrative responsibilities
  • Students’, volunteers’, and communities’ roles in recovery or editing projects, and approaches to fostering meaningful participation, shared ownership, and recognition of their contributions
  • Collaborative models of editing across departments, institutions, disciplines, and communities

Publication and Outputs

  • Impacts of digital publishing on the goals, methods, and meanings of editions, archives, and research collections and the role of print publications in a digital and AI-integrated world
  • Opportunities arising from the treatment of editorial output as data (versus text)
  • Environmentally sustainable practices in the methodology, design, or tools selected for digital publications
  • Long-term preservation strategies for digital editions, archives, or research collections

Artificial Intelligence

  • Uses of AI to support or enhance project outputs, to facilitate collaboration, and to improve accessibility or discoverability
  • Ethical and practical considerations in deciding where to incorporate AI into workflows and how to retain human labor and judgment
  • Impacts of readers’ and corporations’ deployment of AI, such as the use of chatbots for research and data sweeps of the internet, on editing and recovery projects

We welcome proposals for individual papers, full panels, roundtables, digital showcases, posters, and lightning talks. A panel consists of three related papers plus a moderator. A digital showcase is a 25–30 minute demonstration of a digital project, tool, or platform or of multimedia scholarship. A lightning talk is a 3–5 minute presentation summarizing complete or ongoing work. At this hybrid conference, all presentations except posters may be given either in person or remotely. You may propose an alternative presentation format; if you do so, please explain why none of those listed is appropriate. For more details on proposal requirements and to submit a proposal, visit the proposal form. You will be required to acknowledge that your presentation may be viewable on Zoom by virtual registrants. You will choose whether to grant or to withhold permission for your presentation to be recorded. Please submit your proposal no later than January 29, 2027.

eLabs also welcomes proposals for workshops to be held on June 24. Please submit a proposal for in-person workshops on important topics in recovery or editing, via the same form, no later than January 29, 2027.

Please contact Katie Blizzard (kal3aw@virginia.edu) or Michael Cohen (mdcohen@american.edu), Program Committee cochairs, with any questions.

Thanks to generous support provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities to the Center for Digital Editing, travel and lodging costs for all accepted presenters will be covered.

Proposal Form: https://forms.gle/TdSaKVf8Qhct6W728

CFP: Postdigital Archives in Contemporary Literature: (Counter-)Practices and New Challenges in (Digital) Memory

June 23, 2027
Goethe University, Frankfurt

Organization: Anna-Lena Eick (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Johanna Vollmeyer (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Ulrike Mascher (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt) in cooperation with the Frankfurt Memory Studies Platform (FMSP)

Digital technologies have become so pervasive – or in Zara Dinnen’s words “banal” (cf. Dinnen 2018) – that they no longer register as distinct from non-digital aspects of everyday life. This condition, described as “postdigital” (Cramer 2014; Jandrić et al. 2018), is best understood as an interwoven set of cultural shifts that followed the “computerization and global digital networking of communication, technical infrastructures, markets and geopolitics” (cf. Cramer 2014: 13) and likewise affects the epistemic areas of memory and archives. Archives have always been active technologies of governance that produce epistemic order and social hierarchies (Stoler 2009). The postdigital condition raises new questions concerning the archive and memory that cannot be separated from questions of digital infrastructure and mediascape.

While the archive was once conceived as a distinct institutional space governed by curators, selection criteria and access rules, digital infrastructures now distribute it across various platforms, servers, and formats. This undermines the authority that once determined what was preserved and what people were allowed to remember. This offers potential democratizing effects that challenge the archontic power of “traditional” custodians. However, digital platforms and, more recently, the advent and widespread adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) are undermining these effects. While AI transforms the archive into an increasingly generative environment that not only recombines traces of the past into new representations but also produces a synthetic past, digital platforms appropriate and extract value from our collective knowledge. Much of the digital infrastructure through which knowledge is produced, organized, stored, and accessed is controlled by a small number of private companies, primarily based in the United States and China, whose business models rely on the extraction and monetization of accumulated knowledge.

The logics governing these platforms differ from those of traditional archival gatekeepers: rather than relying primarily on institutional authority and curatorial selection, these platforms operate through algorithmic systems that determine what becomes visible, searchable, and ultimately preserved. Yet these systems do not necessarily challenge the biases embedded in existing knowledge structures; instead, they often reproduce and amplify them, while their opacity and limited traceability make it difficult to scrutinize or hold accountable the mechanisms through which knowledge is selected, classified, and transformed. This raises fundamental questions for archival and memory studies: How do our epistemological knowledge and memory change when the past is preserved and circulated in these new terms? How are archival traces stored, and what determines their inclusion in the archive? How is this information disseminated, and what impact does a synthetic past that was never encoded in human memory, but is instead stochastically produced, have on memory?

This workshop asks how archivization and cultural memory are changing under postdigital conditions that increasingly include generative AI systems. To this end, we turn to literature, which does not merely record shifts in media and archival practice but works through them, representing and highlighting what is

otherwise habitual and invisible. By analyzing contemporary literature, we examine the evolving practices of archives and memory as manifested in literary texts. Drawing on postdigital theory (Cramer 2014; Thon 2025), media archaeology (Parikka 2012), memory studies (De Kosnik 2016; Badir/Baetens 2004), and critical archive theory (Derrida 1995; Ricoeur 2004), we understand literary form as both a critical and epistemological practice. On the one hand, print fiction can imitate digital formats such as databases, feeds, chats, and metadata, while also exposing their material and ideological conditions; on the other, electronic literature can directly interact with platforms, networks and generative AI systems and thereby leverage the affordances of the digital sphere. Contributions may therefore draw on contemporary print fiction, digital and generative literature, digital archives, archival interventions, and other forms of artistic and literary practice that engage with the changing conditions of memory and archivization. Possible questions include, but are not limited to:

● How can literary and artistic practices, in print, digital, and hybrid forms, represent the digital archive and its gaps, silences, and power asymmetries, and what becomes visible about the structures of the postdigital mediascape when these are transferred, rebuilt, or discussed in another medium?

● How does the use of digital tools, including generative AI, transform the concepts and practices of archives and cultural memory in the postdigital mediascape?

● What happens to concepts such as authenticity, testimony, evidence, and historical experience when generative systems produce representations of a past that no human being has experienced?

● How might postdigital and AI-mediated archives require us to rethink established theories of memory, mediation, and archival practice?

● Can non-digital artifacts and print literature create counter-archives – spaces that point to the opacity and incompleteness of (digital) archives, in opposition to the algorithmic legibility imposed on the past by the postdigital condition?

● How do generative systems inherit and reproduce the biases of digital and non-digital archives, such as gender inequalities and colonial hierarchies? And how can literary texts or art make these biases visible?

Organizational Information:

The interdisciplinary workshop “Postdigital Archives in Contemporary Literature: (Counter-) Practices and New Challenges in (Digital) Memory” will take place on June 23, 2027, at Goethe University Frankfurt as part of the program of the Frankfurt Memory Studies Platform (FMSP). Proposals for 20-minute presentations from literary and media studies, cultural studies, memory and archival studies and related disciplines may be submitted by December 10, 2026, to: Anna-Lena.Eick@vub.be and johvollm@ucm.es. Abstracts should not exceed 500 words and must include brief biographical and bibliographical information. Notifications of acceptance will be sent in January 2027. The workshop language is English; a proceedings volume is planned.

CFP: Faire parler les archives. Écritures de l’enquête familiale entre document et fiction. / Making the archives speak. Writings of family investigation between document and fiction.

Faire parler les archives. Écritures de l’enquête familiale entre document et fiction. XVIe rendez-vous de la critique (Porto)
Porto, FLUP, ILC/APEF
APPEL À COMMUNICATIONS
Porto/Vila Nova de Gaia, 3-4 juin 2027

Depuis quelques années, la fiction narrative en langue française voit se multiplier des récits dans lesquels un objet (re)trouvé : photo(s), album-photo, correspondance épistolaire, carnet, archives, carte postale, maison, meuble, tiroir, objet, jouet, cadeau d’enfance, tatouage, etc., permet de déclencher une enquête sur la famille de l’écrivain(e) ou du / de la narrateur(trice).

En fait, ces récits se construisent bel et bien à partir du présent, mais sont motivés et interpelés par un manque, un silence, une faille qu’une trace matérielle vient interroger par le biais de l’enquête, cherchant par-là à restituer une histoire familiale incomplète et fragmentée, à recomposer un puzzle identitaire parcellaire.

Cette dynamique prolonge ce que la critique littéraire a décrit comme étant un « récit de filiation » (Viart, 1999, 2015 ; Viart & Vercier, 2005 ; Demanze, 2008), à savoir une écriture ascendante qui procède par collecte, hypothèses, documents et bribes de mémoire plutôt que par la transmission évidente et directe de cette même mémoire réelle ou symbolique, raison pour laquelle l’enquête y devient le véritable levier narratif, alors que la quête documentaire, le témoignage, la photographie, les archives et les objets-témoins que l’on cherche à faire parler,  y entrent en tension avec l’imagination romanesque et les fragments mémoriels ou historiques, et y engage parfois un propos réparateur  (Gefen, 2017).

Plusieurs titres de romans remarqués, voire primés par la critique, et par un vaste lectorat hétéroclite, illustrent la consistance de ce filon, que l’on ne saurait dissocier des sensibilités occidentales contemporaines, souvent marquées par des processus civilisationnels de déconstruction, mais en mal d’enracinement et de souci généalogique, ce qui explique le succès, dès sa parution, de Vies minuscules de Pierre Michon en 1984.  Ce filon s’inscrirait-il aussi dans ce nouvel âge de l’enquête sur lequel Laurent Demanze (2019) et Marie-Jeanne Zenetti (2019) se sont attardés.

Citons, pour exemples plus récents : La Réparation de Colombe Schneck (2012), Max, en apparence de Nathalie Skowronek (2013), La Carte postale d’Anne Berest (2021), Les Presque Sœurs de Cloé Korman (2022), La Maison vide de Laurent Mauvignier (2025) ou Le Bel Obscur de Caroline Lamarche (2025), entre autres, qui partagent un même geste initial : la découverte, la relecture ou la remontée d’un document matériel / d’une archive matérielle qui met en branle une enquête personnelle sous forme de recherche généalogique, de tentative de compréhension des complexités du passé familial ou l’interpellation de la découverte d’un secret de famille. Ces textes illustrent, selon des modalités narratives, certes, différentes, le désir de remonter vers des absences, ou d’exhumer matériellement ou symboliquement des aspects énigmatiques du passé à partir d’un élément indiciel concret, mais intrigant.

Cette 16e édition du Rendez-Vous de la Critique se propose, dès lors, d’examiner cette mouvance comme un fait littéraire à part entière, et non comme une simple thématique récurrente, ou mode fictionnelle passagère. Il s’agira d’interroger la manière dont l’objet-archive organise la forme même du récit (structure en enquête, alternance des temporalités, ekphrasis du document, doute herméneutique sur l’authenticité, considération des aspects ou objets lacunaires).

Aussi, se demandera-t-on ce que devient la fiction lorsqu’elle prend pour point de départ une preuve incomplète, une archive équivoque ou un objet silencieux. Comment l’écrivain(e) articule-t-il/elle la part de savoir et d’hypothèse, de document et de fiction, d’écriture et d’enquête ? Que signifie enquêter sur sa propre famille lorsqu’une histoire intime croise l’histoire collective, la guerre, l’exil, la shoah, les migrations, ou les violences politiques ? Dans quelle mesure l’archive (ré)active-t-elle une approche et un vécu postmémoriels pour les générations d’après le trauma et le drame historique collectif (Hirsch, 2012).

On pourra également s’intéresser aux dispositifs formels mobilisés dans ces textes : le traitement d’archives, l’usage des photographies, la relecture des échanges épistolaires ou le jeu testimonial dans sa choralité.

Ce Rendez-Vous de la Critique entend ainsi dresser un état des lieux critique et bibliographique de ce courant, en accueillant des communications portant sur des études critiques, théoriques, intermédiales ou des approches comparatistes.

Axes thématiques autour du roman d’enquête et de filiation en langue française :

·       Statut narratif du document/de l’archive ;

·       Enquête, filiation et secret de famille ;

·       Enquête comme modalité/manifestation du care, d’une attention réparatrice ;

·       « Vies minuscules » face à l’Histoire ;

·       Frontières génériques hybrides (autofiction, récit, essai) ;

·       Perspectives et études comparatistes ;

·       Traductions et circulation éditoriale et commerciale ;

·       Discours d’escorte critique et légitimation/reconnaissance littéraire.

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Modalités de soumission :

Les propositions de communication, en français, comprendront un titre, un résumé de 300 mots environ précisant l’axe retenu, ainsi qu’une notice bio-bibliographique de quelques lignes (rattachement institutionnel).

Délai de soumission : 31 mars 2027

Une publication est prévue sur évaluation scientifique préalable.

Dates : 3-4 juin 2027

Lieu : Salle âmbito Cultural ElCorteInglès (Porto-Vila Nova de Gaia)

Courriel pour la soumission et contact : rdvcritique16@gmail.com

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Comité d’organisation :

José Domingues de Almeida

Maria de Fátima Outeirinho

Making the archives speak. Writings of family investigation between document and fiction. 16th Critics’ Meeting (Porto)
Porto, FLUP, ILC/APEF
CALL FOR PAPERS
Porto/Vila Nova de Gaia, June 3-4, 2027

In recent years, narrative fiction in French has seen a proliferation of stories in which a (re)found object: photo(s), photo album, epistolary correspondence, notebook, archives, postcard, house, piece of furniture, drawer, object, toy, childhood gift, tattoo, etc., triggers an investigation into the family of the writer or the narrator.

In fact, these stories are indeed built from the present, but are motivated and challenged by a lack, a silence, a flaw that a material trace comes to question through the investigation, seeking thereby to restore an incomplete and fragmented family history, to recompose a partial identity puzzle.

This dynamic extends what literary criticism has described as a “narrative of filiation” (Viart, 1999, 2015; Viart & Vercier, 2005; Demanze, 2008), namely an ascending writing that proceeds by collection, hypotheses, documents and fragments of memory rather than by the obvious and direct transmission of this same real or symbolic memory, which is why the investigation becomes the true narrative lever, while the documentary quest, the testimony, the photography, the archives and the witness objects that one seeks to make speak, enter into tension with the novelistic imagination and the memorial or historical fragments, and sometimes engages in a restorative purpose (Gefen, 2017).

Several novels, noted and even awarded by critics and a vast and diverse readership, illustrate the consistency of this vein, which cannot be dissociated from contemporary Western sensibilities, often marked by civilizational processes of deconstruction, but in need of rootedness and genealogical concern, which explains the success, from its publication, of Pierre Michon’s Vies minuscules in 1984. Could this vein also be part of this new age of inquiry on which Laurent Demanze (2019) and Marie-Jeanne Zenetti (2019) have focused.

More recent examples include: Colombe Schneck’s *La Réparation* (2012), Nathalie Skowronek’s *Max, en apparence* (2013), Anne Berest’s *La Carte postale* (2021), Cloé Korman’s *Les Presque Sœurs* (2022), Laurent Mauvignier’s *La Maison vide* (2025), and Caroline Lamarche’s *Le Bel Obscur* (2025), among others, all of which share a common initial impulse: the discovery, rereading, or retrieval of a physical document or archive that sets in motion a personal investigation in the form of genealogical research, an attempt to understand the complexities of the family past, or the challenge of uncovering a family secret. These texts illustrate, albeit through different narrative approaches, the desire to delve into absences or to exhume, materially or symbolically, enigmatic aspects of the past from a concrete yet intriguing clue.

This 16th edition of the Rendez-Vous de la Critique therefore proposes to examine this movement as a literary phenomenon in its own right, and not as a mere recurring theme or passing fictional fad. The aim will be to explore how the archival object shapes the very form of the narrative (investigative structure, alternation of temporalities, ekphrasis of the document, hermeneutic doubt about authenticity, consideration of incomplete or missing aspects or objects).

We might also ask what becomes of fiction when it takes as its starting point incomplete evidence, an ambiguous archive, or a silent object. How does the writer articulate the interplay between knowledge and hypothesis, document and fiction, writing and investigation? What does it mean to investigate one’s own family when an intimate history intersects with collective history, war, exile, the Holocaust, migration, or political violence? To what extent does the archive (re)activate a post-memorial approach and experience for generations following trauma and collective historical tragedy (Hirsch, 2012)?

We can also look at the formal devices used in these texts: the processing of archives, the use of photographs, the rereading of epistolary exchanges or the testimonial game in its chorality.

This Critics’ Meeting aims to provide a critical and bibliographical overview of this movement, by welcoming communications focusing on critical, theoretical, intermedial studies or comparative approaches.

Thematic areas surrounding the detective novel and family ties in French:

• Narrative status of the document/archive;

• Investigation, parentage and family secrets;

• Investigation as a modality/manifestation of care, of restorative attention;

· “Tiny Lives” in the Face of History;

• Hybrid generic boundaries (autofiction, narrative, essay);

• Comparative perspectives and studies;

• Translations and editorial and commercial circulation;

• Critical escort discourse and literary legitimation/recognition.

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Submission guidelines:

Communication proposals, in French, will include a title, an abstract of approximately 300 words specifying the chosen theme, as well as a bio-bibliographical note of a few lines (institutional affiliation).

Submission deadline: March 31, 2027

Publication is planned following prior scientific evaluation.

Dates: June 3-4, 2027

Location: Salle âmbito Cultural ElCorteInglès (Porto-Vila Nova de Gaia)

Email for submissions and contact: rdvcritique16@gmail.com

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Steering Committee :

José Domingues de Almeida

Maria de Fátima Outeirinho

CFP: Symposium of the 2027 FIAF Congress, “Times of Political Change: Film Heritage, Archiving and Agency”

Symposium of the 2027 FIAF Congress
“Times of Political Change: Film Heritage, Archiving and Agency”
Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 April 2027
Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin

In light of profound political upheavals around the world, the Symposium of the 2027 FIAF Congress in Berlin is dedicated to political changes in the context of film archives. What role does film heritage play in the collective memory of political upheavals? What impact does political change have on film heritage institutions? What can be learned from the past, what questions do archives face today, and how can they position themselves as resilient archives for the future? How have political changes been captured on film, and what has happened to these films once they entered the archive (and what if they did not)? This Symposium builds on the key reflections and proposals put forward in many previous FIAF Symposia, including those held in Bangkok in 2024 and in Rabat in April 2026. The goal is to provide a space for shared learning both within the FIAF community and in dialogue with all film heritage practitioners, scholars and institutions worldwide.

For the purposes of this Symposium, political change is understood broadly as significant moments of transformation, upheaval, instability or uncertainty, whether sudden or unfolding over time, whether perceived as positive or negative by those involved and affected. This may include changes in government and political institutions, legislation and cultural policies, geopolitical situations, wars, revolutions, public protests, reforms, or the political and social aspects of such phenomena as pandemics and climate change. It also encompasses broader changes in social and cultural awareness, visibility and representation, including the emergence of socio-political movements. The Symposium does not seek to define political change in terms of party politics, nor does it imply a particular ideological position. Rather, it asks how significant changes in the political and social environment affect the preservation, accessibility and interpretation of film heritage.

With this call for proposals, we invite contributions exploring two interconnected strands: the archival status of films that have captured, participated in or emerged from moments of political change, and the experience of film archives themselves as they operate within changing political contexts. These strands can include examples from the past, the present and looking into the future.

Films stemming from different political and social movements are often produced under precarious conditions. What happens to these films immediately after they are made and when the political circumstances change? How are they collected, preserved and made accessible, and by whom? Periods of political and social upheaval can result in the loss, destruction, manipulation, displacement and disappearance of audiovisual heritage, creating gaps and distortions in film historiography and determining whose memories and histories are preserved and whose are not. At the same time, political or social change can give new relevance to archival holdings once considered marginal, insignificant or taboo. This strand also invites reflection on the emergence of counter-archives and non-institutional, non-national or grassroots film archives based on independent and self-managed preservation practices.

On the other hand, film archives themselves are always embedded within political landscapes, national frameworks and cultural policies. These conditions differ from place to place and can change through legislation, government priorities, funding, censorship, geopolitical developments or events that challenge the routines in which archives operate. How does political change influence the mission and operational work of archives? What agency do they have in responding to it and what are the (sometimes unorthodox) solutions envisioned or implemented? Through these solutions, archives can provide spaces in which new histories, perspectives and forms of dialogue and knowledge can emerge. At the same time, archives must be mindful that their own actions might contribute to creating and stabilizing (or destabilizing) particular histories and forms of power. What role do archives play here, historically or in the current socio-political climate? This direction also invites reflection on the resilience of archives and on the role of the FIAF community as a space for communication and international cooperation. Contributions may explore strategies for safeguarding cultural heritage in times of crisis, as well as historical examples of preservation projects, agreements and other forms of archival cooperation that have enabled film heritage to survive political upheaval.

The Symposium of the 2027 FIAF Congress will bring together contributions from across the world in Berlin, a city whose history has been profoundly shaped by political change and whose film culture and heritage continue to bear the traces of these transformations. We invite proposals addressing, but not limited to, the following subjects:

  • Film heritage and political upheaval: loss, destruction, manipulation, displacement and disappearance, as well as preservation and recovery of audiovisual heritage in times of political and social change.
  • The archival lives of socio-political movements: the collection and preservation of films emerging from or documenting political and social movements.
  • Marginalized histories and counter-archives: alternative, community-based, non-institutional, non-national and grassroots approaches to preserving audiovisual memories and non-canonized materials.
  • Archives, power and knowledge: the role of archives in producing, shaping and stabilizing or destabilizing knowledge, dialogue, histories and relations of power.
  • Decolonial archival practices and the politics of restitution: past, existing and necessary archival practices aimed at decolonizing collections; the challenges and the outcomes of restitution.
  • Political frameworks and film archives: the impact of legislation, cultural policies, government priorities, funding, censorship and changing political contexts on the work and missions of archives.
  • Archival resilience: institutional resilience and strategies for safeguarding film heritage under political pressure, during war, instability and other moments of upheaval.
  • Archives and changing relevance: the rediscovery and renewed use of films and collections following changes in political or social climates.
  • International cooperation and solidarity: the role of FIAF and the archival community in fostering dialogue, cooperation and support during political crises, including historical case studies.
  • Film historiography and political change: gaps, silences and transformations in film history resulting from political change and respective shifts in archival policies.
  • Past lessons, future archives: what historical experiences of political change can teach film archives about their role and resilience in the future.

The Scientific Committee welcomes suggestions by all interested parties – by staff of FIAF institutions and expressly also by practitioners, scholars and institutions beyond the FIAF community. We look forward to your suggestions for the following presentation and discussion formats:

  • Individual contributions
    Individual contributions (articles, presentations, etc.) should last between 15 and 20 minutes (including extracts), with strict respect for time limits. Each contributor will share a session with a maximum of three other proposals, with room for collective discussion.
  • Pre-constituted panels (roundtables or other formats)
    Pre-constituted panels should last 90 minutes (including discussion). Each speaker needs to fill the submission form individually but abstracts of panelists may overlap or be identical. We encourage you to consider inviting partners and colleagues from outside FIAF.
  • Poster Presentations / Lightning Talk (short project/case presentation)
    Short individual presentations of 5 to 7 minutes to draw attention to projects in progress, aiming at facilitating future collaborations.
  • Other formats not listed above are welcome.

Please submit your proposals via the dedicated online form by 6 December 2026. Submissions via email will not be accepted. The Symposium Scientific Committee will announce the final selection of papers by 22 January 2027.

Presentations may be delivered in any of FIAF’s three official languages (English, French, Spanish). Please submit your proposal in one of these three languages and clearly indicate the language of the proposed contribution.

Note that all contributors in need of financial support will be able to apply for funding offered by the Sunrise Foundation for Education and the Arts for assistance with travel and accommodation costs. In addition, colleagues from the FIAF community delivering presentations at the Symposium will be able to apply for funding from the Christian Dimitriu Fund for assistance with travel and accommodation costs.

Members of the Scientific Committee

Peter Bagrov, George Eastman Museum (Rochester)

Ricardo Cantor Bossa, Cinemateca de Bogotá (Bogotá)

Sanchai Chotirosseranee, Thai Film Archive (Salaya)

Dr. Michael Fürst, Filmmuseum Potsdam (Potsdam)

Heleen Gerritsen, Deutsche Kinemathek (Berlin)

Dr. Elisa Jochum, Deutsche Kinemathek (Berlin)

Dr. Maral Mohsenin, Eye Filmmuseum (Amsterdam)

Prof. Dr. Rebecca Ohene-Asah, University of Media Arts and Communication (Accra)

Drika de Oliveira, Cinemateca do Museu de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro)

Coordination: Anke Hahn, Deutsche Kinemathek (Berlin)

For questions or comments, please contact the committee at fiafcongress2027@deutsche-kinemathek.de.

You can download the Call for Papers as a PDF here.

CFP: IPRES 2027

Get ready for the next installment of iPRES! iPRES 2027 will be happening in Quebec City, Canada, October 4-8, 2027.  We’re pleased to announce the launch of the Call for Proposals<https://event.fourwaves.com/ipres2027>.

Our themes for this conference are Accountability, Authenticity and Adaptability<https://event.fourwaves.com/ipres2027/pages/c1507c8f-9a8b-4d29-8d00-133f5e820202>.

Deadline for peer-reviewed submissions: 12 March 2027
Deadline for Non-Peer Reviewed Submissions: 14 April 2027
More information to come on Digital Preservation ‘Bake Off’

For more details on how to prepare your proposals, please refer to our website<https://event.fourwaves.com/ipres2027> for more information.

We look forward to seeing everyone next year!

iPRES 2027 General Committee

info@ipres2027.ca

About iPRES

Held since 2004, iPRES<https://ipres-conference.org/> brings together colleagues from all over the world to share, learn, and foster relationships on the topic of digital preservation.

CFP: 7th Annual Ozarks Studies Association Meeting

Call for Presentations

Ozarks Studies Association 7th Annual Meeting
April 9th, 2027 at MSU-West Plains, West Plains, Missouri

The Ozarks Studies Association (OSA) invites presentations, papers, and posters for its seventh annual meeting in West Plains, Missouri on April 9, 2027. Presentations from across the disciplines on broad array of issues related to any aspect of Ozarks life throughout Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas are invited. 

We invite proposals 

  • of complete panels (with or without a chair) or individual papers
  • by scholars, archivists, museum staff, independent scholars, and graduate students
  • in the fields of anthropology, archelogy, biology, environmental studies, engineering, geography, geology, history, literature, museum design, pedagogy, preservation, urban studies, zoology, etc.

To be considered, submit

  • an abstract 
  • a two-page CV
  • label it as paper or poster

To Dr. Jared Phillips at jmp006@uark.edu. 

All materials must be received by January 16th, 2027. Notifications will be made by February 16th, 2027. 

Please remember, beginning this year, to present at the OSA Annual Meeting, you must be a member in good standing (meaning you have paid your annual dues of $30 for academics and independent scholars or $15 dollars for graduate students.)

If you would be willing to chair a panel, submit a two-page CV Dr. Jared Phillips by March 5th, 2027.

All inquiries should be sent to Dr. Jared Phillips at jmp006@uark.edu. 

Contact Information

Jared Phillips

Teaching Associate Professor of History 

University of Arkansas

President, Ozarks Studies Association

Contact Email

jmp006@uark.edu

URL

https://history.uark.edu/directory/index/uid/jmp006/name/Jared+Phillips