Call for Papers 

7th World Conference of the International Federation for Public History, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 3-7 September 2024

The International Federation for Public History (IFPH) now welcomes applications for its 2024 World Conference that will take place on 3-7 September, 2024. The conference will be hosted by the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH, University of Luxembourg), which is also the IFPH’s headquarters. Participants will enjoy a very international and multicultural environment in the heart of Western Europe.

International, Hybrid, and Green Event

Our aim for the conference is to be as inclusive and accessible as possible. In order to foster more international discussions, the IFPH and the C²DH have decided to offer hybrid opportunities for those presenting and attending the conference. Presenters can choose to present their papers on-site in Luxembourg or online through our video conferencing tool. Sessions will be facilitated to allow discussions between on-site and online presenters and attendants.

Hybrid conferences offer notable environmental advantages by curbing the carbon footprint associated with traditional, fully in-person events. By using the virtual attendance options, participants can significantly reduce travel-related emissions, contributing to lower air pollution and energy consumption. To go further, the conference will follow the recommendations of the General Directorate of Tourism of the Ministry of Economy of Luxembourg on Green Events organisation (a focus on local, organic and seasonal food, plant-based and vegetarian options, waste reduction, reusable and biodegradable serve ware, sustainable goodies, selection of hotels with Ecolabel). We encourage on-site participants to think green while preparing for their stay in Luxembourg: using public transportation (free in Luxembourg) and soft mobility, bringing your own coffee tumblers and refillable water bottles, digitising your business cards, etc.

Open Call

The field of public history is expanding rapidly. Similar to C²DH’s many activities, public history fosters accessibility, engagement, and participation for a wide range of people. The links between “history” and “publics” can take many forms including different audiences, contributors, spaces, projects, and uses of the past. In line with previous IFPH conferences, the 2024 event has an open call that invites proposals and discussions on history for, with, by, of, in, or among different publics.

Proposals may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:

• Museums, archives, collections
• Displaying, exhibiting, curating the past
• Cultural heritage (historic sites, monuments, historic preservation)
• (Video) games, audiovisual production, podcasts
• Oral history, memories, family and community histories
• Historical fiction, graphic novels, storytelling
• Reenactments, pageants, festivals, performances
• Digital public history (user-generated, crowdsourcing, social and transmedia)
• Shared authority, coproduction, community-based practices
• Commemoration, public policy, government, business, consulting, applied history
• Teaching, ethics, theories of public history
• Trauma, conflict, and reconciliation
• Human rights, inequalities and discrimination, social justice
• Migration, colonialism, decolonisation
• Environment, landscape, natural resources, climate change

Application and Terms of Attendance

To support accessibility, there will be no conference registration fee. However, all presenters have to be members of the IFPH - please consult the website of the IFPH for more information on memberships. While online attendance will be free, we encourage you all to become members of the IFPH. Unfortunately, the conference organisers cannot provide any travel fund.

Applicants can propose:

• a panel (thematic sessions, up to 4 presenters)
• a working group (to explore in depth a subject of shared concern before and during the annual meeting and working towards the creation of an end output, white paper, publications, reports, guidelines - up to 10 discussants)
• a workshop (hands-on and participatory experiences that impart practical information or skills)
• a single paper
• a poster (a separate call for poster proposals will be announced in early 2024)

If you wish to discuss your ideas about possible topics and sessions, you may use our online shared document. 

Although fully online proposals are possible, we invite applicants to have at least one member of their session on-site to foster hybrid discussions. All sessions (including workshops) must be in English and will last 90 minutes.

Proposals (with abstracts and short biographies) must be submitted in English via our website.

For further details please visit our page of instructions for submitting a proposal.

Agenda

Call for Papers 

Opening: 15 September 2023

Deadline for applications: 29 November 2023

Announcement of results: January 2024 

Call for Posters

Opening: January 2024 - to access the call please visit the call's page.

Programme of the conference

The programme of the conference shall be available around April 2024

Deadline for Registration

The deadline for registration for on-site attendance is August 2024, further information will be available on our website. 

Conference Dates

3-7 September 2024

Location 

Belval Campus - University of Luxembourg

More Information

For any questions or inquiries please browse our website or contact us. 

Submit Proposal 

Download the Call for Papers