Category: Call for Presentations

CFP: “The Architect Beyond the Building: Design and the Decorative Arts” ICOM-DESIGN Annual Conference, Barcelona, due date 30 June 2026

The Architect Beyond the Building: Design and the Decorative Arts  

Host institution: Museu Nacional D’Art Catalunya (MNAC)

CFP Due: 30 June 2026; notification of acceptance: 15 July 2026

Conference Dates: 11–12 November 2026 (Conference); 13–14 November November 2026 (Post-Conference Tour)

In 2026 Barcelona has been designated the World Capital of Architecture and  commemorates the anniversary of the death of the architect Antoni Gaudí, whose  imprint has shaped the city and its Mediterranean identity. 

Within this context, the 2026 annual meeting of ICOM DESIGN, to be held at the  Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), focuses on the figure of the architect  beyond the traditional role associated with architectural and urban projects. The  conference will revolve around architectural practice through the lens of design,  craftsmanship, and the intimate scale. 

This call invites papers that examine the wide range of outputs that architects  contribute to as part of, or outside of, building projects, including: furniture, glass,  lacquer, ceramics, jewellery, and goldsmithing; fashion and textiles; as well as graphic  design, mural painting, muséographie, and atmosphere, while also addressing the  fields of interior design and architectural ornamentation.  

We welcome submissions that explore these multidisciplinary practices beyond the  large scale, addressing projects, creative processes, and cultural influences from the  Middle Ages to the present day and across the globe.  

Could the intimate scale of design be the true space in which an architect’s identity is  manifested? What does an architect bring to the design of smaller scale objects or  interiors that makes their practice unique? How, in which historical contexts and for  which audiences have architects employed traditional techniques and crafts to enrich  sensorial experience? What are the challenges in conservation, exhibition, and  restoration of this heritage? What intimate stories are behind the creation of the  designs? How do architects use design as a bridge to imagine and construct other  possible worlds or to create playful and imaginative works?  

Proposals offering critical perspectives may consider (but are not limited to) the  following themes: 

– Architecture, a home for the total arts 

– Design and architectural photography 

– Material practices and intimate craft 

– Identity and gender 

– Heritage, conservation and collections

– Microarchitectures 

– Visionary, utopian, and playful creations 

– Sustainability, circularity, and materials 

This international congress aims to gather a limited number of contributions,  representing original studies and intended to foster discussion at the intersection of  academic and curatorial scholarship and professional practice.  

Why MNAC? 

The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), in Barcelona is an ideal site for this  productive dialogue, as an institution dedicated to all artistic disciplines from the  Romanesque period to the twenty-first century, and it houses a unique collection of  decorative arts by architects such as Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, artists who  pushed the boundaries. 

The museum is entering a new phase marked by an ambitious expansion project at the  Palau Victoria Eugènia, scheduled for completion in 2029 to coincide with the  centenary of the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition. This expansion will further  strengthen the Museum’s role as an institution without chronological or stylistic  boundaries, capable of representing and promoting the full scope of Catalan artistic  production.  

The ICOM DESIGN meeting in Barcelona proposes a rich programme of visits to  significant historical sites and museums throughout the city and its surroundings, while  engaging with contemporary collections and makers. 

How do I apply?  

– Abstract of 300-400 words 

– Short Resume or CV 

– Submit to icom-design-2026@museunacional.cat by June 30th. – Notification of acceptance: 15 July 2026  

– Post-conference tour: 13–14 November 2026 

Participants will be expected to give their presentations in English, which should last 15  minutes and include a visual presentation component. Proposals will be peer reviewed  and the results of the conference may be published. 

Presenters will be expected to cover their own registration and travel expenses. Travel  grants for young ICOM members (under 40 years old) will be available. Information will  follow for those applications.  

Membership requirements 

Please note that all participants must be individual members or representatives of  institutional members of ICOM DESIGN at the time of the conference. 

Find more information about how to become a member of ICOM and ICOM-DESIGN  here: https://icom.museum/en/get-involved

Contact Email

icom-design-2026@museunacional.cat

URL

https://icom-icdad.org/call-for-papers-annual-conference-barcelona-2026

CFP: British Records Association 2026 conference ‘All Mapped Out: Maps, Plans and Charts in the Archives’

BRA Conference 2026: Call for Papers

British Records Association conference 2026: ‘All Mapped Out: Maps, Plans and Charts in the Archives’

Date:       Tuesday 24th November 2026

Location: The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EJ

Call for papers: abstracts submission deadline 5pm on Wednesday 1st July 2026

This year the British Records Association (BRA) annual conference will be held on the topic of records and archives which take the form of maps or geographical plans and charts. 

Submissions are invited which link this theme to the aims of the BRA, namely the preservation, understanding, accessibility and study of our recorded heritage for public benefit. Areas to be explored could include:

  • challenges of preserving maps owing to their scale or format
  • survival or absence of significant maps, or collections thereof
  • little known material, whether significant for design or purpose, for example
  • misleading maps
  • different reasons why maps have been produced
  • interesting discoveries or interpretations based on the study of maps
  • maps as a tool for public engagement
  • broadening access through digitisation, grant funded projects, or other means
  • relevant collaborations, such as between historians and collections managers
  • changes in how maps have been created, and insights these provide, such as the rise of digital cartography
  • whether existing map collections are under threat from technological advances

Abstracts of papers (twenty minutes) or lightning talks as part of a panel (five minutes) should be a maximum of 200 words and should be accompanied by a biography of all participants of up to 150 words. These should be submitted to the BRA Chair:  chair@britishrecordsassociation.org.uk

The British Records Association is a charity which aims to promote the preservation, understanding, accessibility and study of our recorded heritage for public benefit. It is open to anyone interested in records and archives whether local historians, academics, professional archivists, or custodians and owners of collections, or simply those who are curious about the record of our past. http://www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/

Matti Watton, BRA Chair, on behalf of the conference organising committee.

Contact Information

BRA Chair

Contact Email

chair@britishrecordsassociation.org.uk

URL https://www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/news/call-for-papers-for-our-2026-conference/

CFP: The Black Press at 200

“The Black Press at 200,” which will be held March 17–18, 2027 at Howard University in conjunction with the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, home of the Black Press Archives. This free two-day symposium commemorates 200 years of Black journalism and examines the enduring significance of the Black Press as “one of the most vital and enduring institutions in American public life.” The symposium will convene scholars, journalists, archivists, artists, students, and community researchers to explore the historical legacies, contemporary practices, and futures of Black journalism.

Symposium schedule and deadline:

  • Abstract Submission Deadline: September 18, 2026
  • Notification of Acceptance: October 30, 2026
  • Symposium Dates: March 17–18, 2027 at Howard University

This conference particularly encourage submissions from graduate students, early-career scholars, community scholars, independent researchers, and practitioners whose work engages Black journalism, Black intellectual history, media studies, African American history, diaspora studies, archives, digital humanities, and related fields.

Contact Information

Questions and submissions for the conference may be directed to:

Michael Guy
mguy@blackpressresearchcollective.org

Contact Email

mguy@blackpressresearchcollective.org

URL

https://msrc.howard.edu

CFP: Black Journalism in Global Perspective: Intellectual Exchange Across the Diaspora

“Black Journalism in Global Perspective: Intellectual Exchange Across the Diaspora,” is a collaborative workshop co-sponsored by the African American Intellectual History Society and the Black Press Research Collective. The workshop will take place at Brown University on October 15–16, 2026 and is designed for early-career scholars and ABD graduate students working on themes related to the Global Black Press. The workshop seeks to rethink the Black Press “not simply as a historical institution, but as a dynamic space of global Black thought,” with particular attention to transnational exchange, intellectual production, and the cultural work of journalism across the African diaspora. Selected participants will have opportunities for publication in Black Perspectives and Global Black Thought.

These are the submission details and timeline for the workshop:

  • Expression of Interest / Abstract Deadline: July 1, 2026
  • Notification of Acceptance: August 1, 2026
  • Workshop Dates: October 15–16, 2026 at Brown University

This call encourages submissions from graduate students, early-career scholars, community scholars, independent researchers, and practitioners whose work engages Black journalism, Black intellectual history, media studies, African American history, diaspora studies, archives, digital humanities, and related fields.

Contact Information

Questions and submissions for the workshop may be directed to:

Michael Guy

mguy@blackpressresearchcollective.org

Contact Email

mguy@blackpressresearchcollective.org

CFP: Ephemera Society of America 2027 Conference

Ephemera Marks the Day: Holidays & Celebrations

Request for Presentations:

Holidays and celebrations give us a chance to take a break from our regular schedules and focus on something special. They can mark or commemorate historically significant events, such as Independence Day, Juneteenth, or Memorial Day. They may mark a holiday, religious or otherwise, like Christmas, Mardi Gras, Halloween or Mother’s Day. Celebrations may also be held for personal events, such as a birthday, wedding anniversary, religious confirmation or graduation.  And increasingly, a plethora of national days have been promoted by industry or interest groups, some of which have been instituted through government resolution. Earth Day (an international observance) is more serious in nature. National Peanut Butter Day, Sibling Day, or Hug an Australian Day are more light-hearted. Almost every holiday has its “trappings,” many of which take the form of ephemera. And the look of these trappings evolves over time and can vary significantly according to culture or region.

Ephemera 47, the Ephemera Society of America (ESA) annual conference, will take place at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich, Connecticut, on Friday, March 19, 2027. Each speaker will address a topic related to a celebration or holiday, relying heavily on tangible ephemera—invitations, decorations, posters, advertisements, greeting cards, tickets, brochures, menus, trade cards, broadsides, receipts, souvenirs, correspondence, itineraries, photographs, postcards, maps, diaries—to illustrate their subject. Keep in mind that our focus is not just the images of your chosen subject but the story of your subject, its significance, how it is celebrated and how it evolved over time. 

Each presentation will be 30 minutes in length, followed by a brief Q&A. Please submit the following:

·         Presentation title and a written abstract, focusing on the way ephemera tells the story of your chosen topic. Please describe the specific types of ephemera you will use to illustrate your topic. Each presentation needs to feature at least three different types of ephemera. Proposals should not exceed 150 words.

·         5 to 6 representative ephemera images

·         Single-paragraph biography, including any affiliations

·         A .jpg photograph of yourself for publicity purposes

·         Mailing address, phone number and e-mail address

Following a review of all proposals, finalists may be asked to submit 10 to 15 images of the types of ephemera that will be used to illustrate their talk. Proposals must be submitted via e-mail or post by September 15, 2026 to Barbara Loe, Ephemera 47 Conference Chair.

e-mail: bjloe@earthlink.net 

post:      Ephemera Society of America, Inc., P.O. Box 95, Cazenovia, NY 13035-0095.

Decisions and notification about proposals will be made by November 30, 2026. Presenters will be requested to sign a release at the time of acceptance allowing their presentation to be filmed for use by the ESA.

If selected, a draft PowerPoint presentation must be submitted by February 28, 2027. The final presentation must be submitted by March 12, 2027. Presentations must include 25 or more ephemera images. At this time, funding is not available from ESA to support travel or presentation costs. 

ESA is eager to expand the use of ephemera in the classroom, and we encourage presentations on all subjects addressing the use of ephemera in teaching and academic research. We encourage undergraduate and graduate students to submit proposals for the Emerging Scholars Program to be held on Thursday afternoon, March 18th.  For more information, please see “Emerging Scholars” under the “Discover” tab on our website:  www.ephemerasociety.org

CfP: Practicing the Archival Commons: Publics, Power and Perspectives (STIAS Feb 2027) deadline 5 JUNE 2026

This workshop seeks to examine refigured archiving work currently undertaken in Africa as well as to learn more about the ways in which this refigures scholarship. Introducing the concept of the ‘archival commons’, it particularly aims at studying diverse forms of archiving as common, communal or communing practices that have significant effects on both preservation and critical historical work.

Practicing the Archival Commons: Publics, Power and Perspectives

In 2002, scholars and archival practitioners, mainly thinking from and working in South Africa, published Refiguring the Archive amidst the transformative imperative against apartheid and the colonial past. The book’s authors argued that archival conceptualization, practice and use all “required transformation” (Hamilton et al. 2002, 7). The publication turns our attention to the convergence of a range of developments in the twenty-first century including a broader archival turn across academic disciplines, a transnational professional reexamination of archival praxis, the rapid expansion and acceleration of digital technologies, and public demands to address the past and its discontents.

Against this backdrop, this workshop seeks to examine refigured archiving work currently undertaken in Africa as well as to learn more about the ways in which this refigures scholarship. Introducing the concept of the ‘archival commons’, it particularly aims at studying diverse forms of archiving as common, communal or communing practices that have significant effects on both preservation and critical historical work. Rooted in the broader notion of commons as shared cultural, informational, and natural resources, the ‘archival commons’ contrast an understanding of archives as static, institutionally controlled spaces. The concept aligns with decolonial and liberatory approaches by envisioning archives as dynamic, participatory spaces governed collectively by archivists, researchers, and communities.

The goals of the workshop are twofold. First, the workshop aims to assess the making, workings, functioning, and meanings of archives which accentuate cooperation and reciprocity on the one hand and work towards greater justice, if not compensation, for past injustices or practices of silencing on the other. Second, acknowledging that archives are characterized by practices and their aliveness, it aims to study the affordances and limitations of common-based approaches to archiving for history and other academic disciplines and to explore their implications for research methodologies more generally. To meet these objectives, the workshop is planned as an event that includes both practical and theoretical elements and reflections. On the one hand, it is comprised of visits to, and active engagement with, archival projects in and around Stellenbosch University and from other parts of the African continent. On the other hand, it invites researchers, especially early in their careers, and practitioners in history, archival studies, heritage, postcolonial studies and anthropology to think of the ‘archival commons’ together and investigate it as a way of engaging the past. Therefore, we invite proposals for papers that address the ‘archival commons’ with reference to one or more of the following themes and questions:

Publics

– How does archiving as a common, communal or communing practice contribute to transformative discourses and which publics are involved? What are the roles of trained archivists and professional identities in this context?
– What social and cultural work is performed by the ‘archival commons’ in general and by specific archival projects in particular? How can/do/should scholars consider this in their engagement with such projects?
– What do the ‘’archival commons’ create? Who makes, sustains and takes care of them? Which (digital) infrastructures do they need? How do digital infrastructures enable or limit their possibilities?
– How do or can the ‘archival commons’ or specific common archival initiatives contribute to refiguring social, economic, political, environmental and digital relations?

Power

– How does power operate in the ‘archival commons’? In how far does the ‘archival commons’ constitute a possibility to reconsider power relations in current archival practice?
– What renders archival labor visible or invisible? How do practitioners preserve their archival work in precarious conditions? How do they refigure archival practices such as selection, description, preservation, and access considering critiques of archival conventions?
– How do archival practitioners engage with digitization and the new conventions, challenges, (in)equalities and possibilities it brings about?
– How do archival projects deal with difference, conflict and difficult histories? Considering that archiving documents involves more than ‘simply’ preserving them –by adding value through appraisal, processing, description and – how is value created and maintained?
– What cooperations and disjunctures have formed between archival professionals, researchers, and ‘subjects’?

Perspectives

– Which epistemological and social perspectives have been, are being or could be opened by archival projects in the twenty-first century?
– How does common archiving impact knowledge production and in which societal fields? How does it impact research practices and methodologies?
– What material conditions, relationships and understandings are needed or desired to practice and sustain the ‘archival commons’ as a socially responsible and epistemologically meaningful project?

Please send a proposal of no more than 300 words and a one-page CV by June 5, 2026 to archivalcommonsworkshop@gmail.com. Participants will be notified by the end of August 2026. The workshop will be held in English and focus on the discussion of pre-circulated papers of about 3,000 words (submission due by December 15, 2026). In case of submissions with more than one author, we will only be able to accommodate one person per proposal due to budgetary restrictions. Please indicate in your proposal who should be considered as the main applicant.

The workshop is organized in the framework of the “Programme Point Sud” of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and Goethe University Frankfurt. Costs for travel and accom-modation will be covered.

Contact Email

archivalcommonsworkshop@gmail.com

CFP: Professional Development Workshop, Society of Southwest Archivists

The Society of Southwest Archivists (SSA) Professional Development Committee (PDC) is accepting proposals for its virtual workshop/panel presentation series.

Workshop/panel topics can cover any aspect of the archival enterprise (including analog, digital, and records management). Such topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Digital archives and applications of technology
  • GIS mapping
  • Environmental controls for archival materials
  • Rare books for archivists
  • Social media and marketing in archives
  • Project management for archivists
  • Advocating for yourself in the workplace
  • Digital humanities
  • Archival management
  • Copyright in archives
  • Diversity in the profession
  • Oral histories

Workshops

Timeframe: 60 to 90 minutes

Proposals should include: Objectives and learning outcomes for the session, target audience, technical requirements, prerequisite knowledge or experience, and time expectation.

Panel Presentations

Timeframe: 60 to 90 minutes, including Q&A

The PDC is open to review any new and innovative initiatives and conceptual work (completed or under development) for training and professional development sessions with consideration to diversity and inclusion.

We strongly encourage panel/presentation sessions that address topics from multiple perspectives and institutions.

Proposals should address the target audience, an explanation of hands-on/interactive components, and the learning objectives and outcomes for attendees to come away with a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills that can be applied to the field of archives.

The PDC highly encourages co-presenters, first-time presenters, early-career professionals, lone arrangers, current graduate students, and community members who work with archival (analog and digital) materials in less traditional or unconventional settings to apply.

For any questions, please contact the SSA Professional Development Committee at pdc@southwestarchivists.org.

Please submit proposals using the SSA Professional Development Call for Proposals form.

CFP: Borders and Sustainability: Human and Natural Resources across Time and Space (Seminar Series 2026–2027)

Call for Papers: Entangled Histories Seminar Series 2026–2027

Following the success of the current edition, the Entangled Histories Seminar Series invites abstracts for its 2026–2027 cycle: 

“Borders and Sustainability: Human and Natural Resources across Time and Space.”

This edition explores sustainability not as an exclusively environmental concern but as a multifaceted concept that intersects with borders across diverse cultural, material, and ecological contexts. 

The series adopts a diachronic and interdisciplinary perspective, spanning from prehistory to the contemporary world.

Sustainability and Borders: A Broad Perspective. We seek to investigate sustainability in its multiple dimensions:

  • Material sustainability: recycling of resources (manuscripts, architectural structures, waste, and landscapes).
  • Ecological sustainability: relationships between humans, animals, and environments; balance between preservation and exploitation.
  • Social, linguistic, and cultural sustainability: transmission of knowledge, endangered languages, healing practices, migration, and community resilience.
  • Symbolic sustainability: representations of ecological limits, hybrid beings, and cultural imaginaries of nature and borders.

Conceptual Framework At the heart of the series lies the concept of borders, understood as dynamic thresholds that shape access to resources and regulate interactions. Borders are not only physical or political: they can be ecological, cultural, social, linguistic, political and material. While we encourage long-term temporalities and global spatial entanglements, we also offer the elements (earth, water, air, fire, ether, wood, etc.) as a possible heuristic framework to explore these dimensions across different historical strata.

Topics of Interest: We encourage contributions from a wide range of disciplines, including but not limited to:

  • Archaeology and Prehistory: Resource use, landscapes, indigenous practices, and environmental interactions over time.
  • Medieval Studies, Philology, and Manuscript Cultures: Material sustainability of manuscripts, palimpsests, intellectual ecologies, literatures and languages, and the transmission of knowledge.
  • Art History and Visual Culture: Representations of nature, landscapes, borders, and material practices across different periods.
  • Anthropology and Folklore: Vernacular ecological knowledge, oral traditions, liminal beings, and environmental imaginaries.
  • History of Science and Medicine: Healing practices, scientific knowledge, and environmental understanding across cultures.
  • Environmental Humanities and Ecology: Human–non-human relations, ecosystems, climate, and resilience.
  • History of Economy, Trade, and Food Systems: Circulation of resources, subsistence, scarcity, and sustainability practices.
  • Architecture and Infrastructure Studies: Built environments, water and soil management, roads, and material borders.
  • Geography, Cartography, and Media Studies: Spatial representation, mapping, and communication of environmental knowledge across borders.

 High-Impact Publication Opportunity: A selection of the most significant contributions will be published in a dedicated edited volume or a special issue with a leading international publisher (past collaborations and ongoing projects include prestigious venues such as Brill, De Gruyter, and Routledge). This ensures that the research presented reaches a global audience of specialists.

Submission Guidelines

  • Format: Online seminar (approximately 30-minute talk + discussion).
  • Schedule: October 2026 – Summer 2027.
  • Required: Title, Abstract (250–300 words), Short Bio (100–150 words), Affiliation, email address, and preferred months of availability.
  • Deadline: 31 August 2026.
  • Send to: entangledhistories.seminars@outlook.com.

Contact Information

Organized by:

  • Dr. Maria Pia Ester Cristaldi (Üsküdar University)
  • Dr. Elisa Ramazzina (University of Insubria)

Under the patronage of: The Faculty of Communication and the Master’s Programme in Media and Cultural Studies at Üsküdar University.

Contact Email

entangledhistories.seminars@outlook.com

URL

https://sites.google.com/view/entangledhistories/home

CFP: 2026 Dress and Body Association Conference

2026 Dress and Body Association Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Dress and Body Association invites submissions for the organization’s seventh annual conference, which will be held on November 7-8, 2026. Consistent with our long-term goals for inclusivity and sustainability, all activities will be 100% online.

Join our Google Group to learn about opportunities and converse with members of the DBA year-round! Email to request membership: dress.body.assoc@gmail.com.

Opening the Archives of Dress and the Body

This year’s theme focuses on the many types of archives that inspire learning and making such as libraries, museums, corporate archives, personal wardrobes, costume shops, photo albums, and diaries. It also invites reflection on histories of scholarship and activism. How do we know what we know about dress and the body?

Proposals on any topic related to dress and the body will be considered, but abstracts related to this year’s theme are most likely to be accepted. Topics might include:

  • Well-known and little-known collections
  • Historical costumes as inspiration for new designs
  • Interacting with physical artifacts in the era of AI
  • Stories that are told (and not told) by archives
  • Addressing biases and privilege in archives
  • Decolonizing archives (theories, methods, practices, activism)
  • The science of historical colors and materials
  • Old and new technologies for imaging the body
  • The ethics of displaying bodies and personal artifacts
  • What is ‘archival fashion’ and who buys and wears it?
  • Scholarship and activism informed by archival discoveries
  • Recreating historical moments/eras in media (films, TV, games, and literature)
  • Practices of the archive/archiving

Both beginning and advanced scholars are welcome. Abstracts should be 200-300 words. Presenters do not need to submit a paper before the conference. Depending on the number of submissions and the time zones of presenters, each person should have approximately 20 minutes to speak with additional time for discussion.

Although we welcome scholars, educators, artists, designers, and activists from any country, the language of the conference will be English. We will consider a group of presentations in another language if there is sufficient interest.

Abstracts must be written in English and should be drawn from your own, original work. We ask that presenters not simply recycle presentations from classes or other conferences. Pre-recorded presentations are allowed, but presenters must join the Zoom meeting to hear other speakers and participate in the discussion in real time.

Please submit your abstract by July 15, 2026. All submissions will be read by at least two reviewers in a single-blind review process. If there is no extension on the deadline, authors can expect letters of acceptance by mid- to late-August. (Given the challenging times we are living in, please be patient with any delays… we are doing our best.)

To submit an abstract, go to this link: https://forms.gle/uoz3ohs9bG21pQDFA

Curious about past conferences? Check out our programs for 2020-2024 on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@dress_and_body_association.

Whether you choose to submit an abstract or not, you’re welcome to attend the conference!

There is no charge. Just email us (dress.body.assoc@gmail.com) to join our Google Group and stay informed.

The Dress and Body Association is registered as a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) in the state of Indiana (United States).

Dress & Body Association | dress.body.assoc@gmail.com

Contact Email

dress.body.assoc@gmail.com

URL

https://forms.gle/uoz3ohs9bG21pQDFA

CFP: Advancing Foundation Archives 2026

The Advancing Foundation Archives (AFA) 2026 organizing committee invites proposals for lightning talks at the group’s third conference. AFA 2026 will take place at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City on October 21 & 22, 2026. Registration will open in the coming months with no cost to attendees.  

About the Conference 

Philanthropy archives hold an essential record of how individuals and communities organize, fund, and sustain efforts to address society’s most pressing issues. These archives and knowledge systems are facing unique challenges from AI disruption to leadership transitions to sunsetting trends as philanthropies grapple with changing local and global conditions.   

The AFA conference will bring together archives and philanthropy professionals to navigate these challenges, discuss solutions, and shape the future of how foundations manage and preserve their records and share the knowledge in their archives.  

Theme for lightning talks 

The history of a philanthropy is found in its records – the documents, data, and institutional knowledge that tell the story of what they have accomplished and what they have learned. Across departments, and sometimes organizations, people work every day to create, manage, preserve, and draw knowledge and insight from this information.    

But the ground is always shifting. As surely as processes and systems are developed and instituted to support these tasks, change inevitably arrives. It could be a new tool that streamlines a workflow, a reorganization that reshapes responsibilities, a sunsetting deadline that accelerates grant making, or a new goal to share more records, learning, and impact with external groups.    

However change arrives, it asks something of those who steward organizational knowledge. Whether you manage knowledge, information, or archives, we want to hear how you responded. What changed at  your foundation or philanthropic organization, and how did you adapt?  What lessons did you learn? How has your organization emerged better positioned to inform grantmaking, deepen learning, or tell the story of a philanthropy?   

Proposal submission guidelines:   

This panel is a lightning round of 5 to 10 minute presentations.   Submit your proposal via this form. 

Proposals must be submitted by July 15. Those submitting proposals will be notified of selection by July 31. There is no fee to attend the conference.  Presenters will need to arrange their own travel and accommodation. 

 For additional information or questions, email Lori Eaton at  lori.eaton@rcwjrf.org.   

The conference is sponsored by the Ford Foundation, Gates Foundation and the Gates Archive, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, the Mellon Foundation, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, the Rockefeller Archive Center, and the Rockefeller Foundation.