Checklist for panel organizers to submit a full panel through the online platform for 2023*:

1. Title for Session/Workshop/Roundtable (20 words max)

2. Group Abstract for Session/Workshop/Roundtable (250 words in one paragraph) that is clear in its concept, appropriate of participants and component parts, engages with the conference theme, and adds overall value to the program. 

3. Individual Presentation Titles from each Participant (20 words max)

4. Individual Presentation Abstracts from each Participant (150 words in one paragraph)

5. The name of a confirmed participant to serve as the Chair for your Session/Workshop/Roundtable. One Chair is required for all panels. You may have more than one Chair, and your Chair can also serve as a Commentator if they agree to this request. But your Chair cannot also serve as a Presenter on the panel. 

6. A Commentator is optional and encouraged for your Session/Workshop/Roundtable, but is not required. If your panel seeks to add a Commentator if it is accepted, add that to the “Special Requests” field.

7. Are you submitting a “Book Panel” or an “Honorific Panel”? Not sure? Please consult the WHA’s "Best Practices" for organizing Book Panels and Honorific Panels below.

8. Three Keywords that describe the topic/theme of your Session/Workshop/Roundtable

9. Audio Visual (AV) or Accessibility Requests (screens and projectors will be provided; presenters bring their own laptops)

10. Indication of a Sponsored Session (most submissions are *not* sponsored)

11. Session Representation (200 words max; do not leave this field blank or write “NA”):

This field seeks to answer the following question in regard to the representation of session participants >>> Is there anything about the makeup of your panel participants (backgrounds, positions, occupations, disciplines, institutions/organizations, and other factors of diversity) that the Program Committee should be aware of? Please consult the WHA’s Program Committee Statement on the Diversity of Program Participation (see below).

12. Knowledge of the 2023 travel commitment for all panelists. (See above: all panelists must present their work onsite; the conference meeting space will not include WiFi for online/hybrid sessions.)

13. Confirmation that all participants have reviewed/created/updated their All Academic profiles:

As the panel organizer, you may not create or update other people’s profiles. Everyone must do this on their own. The following items are essential factors of the submission process as they allow for efficient communication with program participants who are accepted for presenting their work at the 2023 conference. The WHA offices asks that, as the organizer, you be responsible for making sure your panel participants do the following:

See "Q3" under the Frequently Asked Questions to view the process for submitting your full panel once you have everything collected. 

*This list is updated annually! Click here for a printable copy of this checklist or click here for a printable copy of the policies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please review the following to assist you while you prepare to submit your proposal for the 2023 WHA Conference in Los Angeles. 

Q1: FIRST THINGS FIRST: I want to submit my work for the 2023 WHA Conference! What is my FIRST step?

Step 1: Review, Update, or Create your All Academic profile >>> Everyone must do this.

All panel participants and individuals must review, create, or update their own profile on the All Academic site before submitting a panel proposal or individual proposal. You can complete this task list when the system opens. Your All Academic profile is NOT your "MyWHA" profile on the WHA website. It's an entirely different platform profile.

CREATE YOUR NEW ALL ACADEMIC PROFILE HERE

Q2: I am submitting my work as part of a full panel submission, but I am not the panel organizer. How can I prepare my materials to make sure our organizer has everything they need to submit our panel on time? 

1. Review, Create, or Update your  All Academic profile:

All presenters and participants must review, create, or update your own All Academic profiles. In these profiles, you must recognize that you:

REVIEW, CREATE, OR UPDATE YOUR ALL ACADEMIC PROFILE HERE

2. Individual Presentation Titles from each Participant (20 words max)

3. Individual Presentation Abstracts from each Participant (150 words in one paragraph)

4. FYI: The panel Chair or Co-Chairs cannot also serve as Presenters on your panel. 

5. Check with your panel organizer and see what else they might need from you.

Q3: I am the panel organizer for a group of people. How do I submit a full session/workshop/roundtable through the system once I have gathered all materials on the Checklist?

1. That's a great question!  Please first follow the Checklist for panel organizers to submit a full panel through the online platform for 2023 found above on this page. This Checklist includes word limits and panel specifics to guide you through the submission process on All Academic. 

2. Make sure you review/update/create your All Academic profile.

3. Do you have all the material from the above checklist and are you ready to submit your panel? Great! Then proceed...

4. LOGIN TO ALL ACADEMIC TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL HERE

Click "Submit or Edit a Proposal," then "Submit a New Proposal." Select "Session," "Workshop," and "Roundtable." 

5. Enter all information required on the form for Sessions/Workshops/Roundtables. Again, you should pre-collect and organize this information using the checklist included in item "1" above).

6. Add your panel presenters: Click "Add Paper" to enter the presentation titles and abstracts for each participant. On the next page search for the author's last name to add them as a Presenter on your Session/Workshop/Roundtable. 

7. After you add each presenter, add the name of your Chair and Commentator.

8. Worth Repeating: Your panel Chair cannot also serve as a Presenter on your panel. Your Chair should hold a stand-alone role on your panel unless they also agreed to serve as your Commentator. 

9. Does your panel appear in the order it should? Place the Chair first, and the participant names in their presentation order. Paper titles should appear underneath the names of panel participants.

10. On the final page look over your information and click "Accept and Continue" to submit your abstract. 

11. You and your panel participants will receive a confirmation email from All Academic after you complete the submission process.

Q4: I want to submit my work as an individual paper (not in a session/workshop/roundtable). What information do I need to prepare before I can submit my paper through the system?

1. Make sure you review/create/update your profile on All Academic, the WHA's online abstract platform. LOGIN TO ALL ACADEMIC TO SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL HERE

2. Once logged into the system, click "Submit or Edit a Proposal," then "Submit a new Proposal"

3. Enter the following: 

4. You will be asked to add an "author" for the paper. At the bottom of this page, enter your last name and click "search." find your name in the list and click "Add Presenter."

5. On the final page look over your information and click "Accept and Continue" to submit your abstract. You should receive an automating email from the online system that confirms your submission.

Q5: Can I begin working on my proposal, save it, and return to the site later to edit it before submitting the final version?

Yes! This system allows panel organizers to return to your panel submission to make changes or updates up until the December 12 deadline. Click on each "Accept and Continue" prompt (lower right-hand corner of each page) to enter and save your work in the system. After the last prompt you will receive a confirmation email letting you know that you submitted your work to the system. But remember, you can go back at any time prior to the CFP deadline to edit your session, add participants, and revise your abstract. You will be unable to edit your submission after the CFP deadline, so please make sure your information is accurate on December 12.

Q6: What’s the difference between roundtables, workshops, and sessions? How do I know what kind of panel I should submit?

If you wish to submit a panel that does not fit into a “Roundtable” or “Workshop” category, submit it as a “Session.”

Q7: Do I need to submit a full panel proposal (participants, chair, commentator) or can I submit an individual paper for the conference program?

The Program Committee prefers full panel proposals (sessions, roundtables, or workshops), but will also accept individual papers. If you want to try and connect with other scholars before the CFP deadline, please check out the "WHA 2023 Potential Panel Spreadsheet" created by Kate Carpenter (Ph.D. Student at Princeton--follow @katebcarp).

Q8: Can the Chair and Commentator be the same individual?

In order to maximize program participation, the Program Committee prefers that the Chair and the Commentator roles are not shared by the same individual. Full panel proposals *must* include a Chair, but a Commentator is optional; Individual paper proposals must include suggestions for people to fill these roles should their proposal be accepted and combined into a full panel. Please note: Do not, under any circumstances, add people to your session in these roles unless they have confirmed their involvement in your full panel proposal (see Q12 below).

Q9: Can I be on more than one panel on the 2023 Conference Program?

Except in special circumstances, no single person should participate in more than two conference sessions, and these would need to be in two different roles (i.e., commentator, presenter, roundtable participant, chair, etc.). For some examples of how this works, see the Program Committee's Policies and Best Practices below. If you are asked to join a panel but find yourself already over-committed on other panels, it would be stellar professional courtesy to point the requester in the direction of a student or scholar who is doing similar work who would be a good fit for the panel: "I am sorry, I am already committed to a panel/panels for the 2023 conference program, but X, Y, and Z, are doing similar work and would be an excellent fit for your proposed panel." The only people who are exempt from this practice are individuals who have been asked by the 2023 President to serve on a Presidential Panel or Plenary.

Q10: What are the lengths and specifics of abstracts for full panel proposals and for individual paper proposals?

Full panel abstracts for the group session/roundtable/workshop must be 250 words in one paragraph; individual abstracts for the group session/roundtable/workshop must be 150 words in one paragraph; individual paper abstracts must be 150 words in one paragraph.

Q11: How do I know if my panel or individual proposal was submitted correctly?

You will receive an automatic message sent to the email address you entered in the system which verifies that your proposal was officially submitted. If you would like to have extra confirmation, email the WHA office with your request.

Q12: Can I add names of session participants without confirming their involvement?

No. The Program Committee assumes that all participants have verbally agreed to their commitment on proposals that are submitted. Proposals submitted without someone’s consent will be automatically eliminated.

Q13: This process seems difficult. Can I just email my proposal?

No. Proposals that are emailed or mailed will not be considered for the program. If you can handle registering for a conference or writing a conference presentation, the online abstract submission platform should be a process you can achieve.

Q14: What kinds of AV equipment does the WHA provide?

The WHA will provide projectors (with an HDMI connection), screens, and podiums (combined estimated price of $1700 per panel, per day). All WHA participants need to provide their own laptops and specialty adapters if they are needed during their panel. It is not guaranteed that WHA Staff or AV Technicians will have the correct adapters, so please plan ahead.

If you have extra requests (such as speakers for a film session), you are required to list it in your panel proposal in the “AV Request” field. High-Speed (or WiFi) Internet will not be available in each session room, so please plan ahead.

Additional AV requests (special connectors, speakers, laser pointers, etc.) made after July 1, 2023 or onsite at the conference will be the *financial responsibility of the presenter*. (The WHA will order the requested equipment and send an invoice to the presenter; if a request is made onsite the presenter will need to pay before the WHA staff makes an equipment request to the onsite AV company). 

Q15: What if someone on my panel cannot attend the conference and needs to Zoom into the session?

The WHA will not have online options or Internet coverage in the session rooms at the 2023 conference. The WHA office and Program Committee recommend that panel participants discuss their plans and commitments to travel to Los Angeles to participate in the 2023 program. 

Q16: I noticed I need to fill out a field titled “Session Representation.” What does that mean?

In this section, the organizer/submitter should answer the following question in regard to the representation of session participants: Is there anything about the makeup of the panel participants (backgrounds, positions, occupations, disciplines, institutions/organizations, and other factors of diversity) that the Program Committee should be aware of? Read the Program Committee's Statement on the Diversity of Session Participants below. We do NOT recommend that you leave this section blank or put "NA" in it.

Q17: If my proposal is accepted, am I required to register for the conference in 2023? What are the consequences if I do not register or show up?

Yes, it is WHA policy that all conference program participants register for the conference. Please read the WHA's Policy on Conference Participation below.

Q18: Do I need to be a member of the WHA to submit a proposal or present at a conference?

No, membership is not required to present your work at the WHA conference (only conference registration). But we hope you consider joining the WHA to benefit from annual membership and registration discounts!

Q19: Who should I contact with my questions?

If you have questions about specific content or sessions you are organizing, email the 2023 Program Committee Co-Chairs (David Rouff dtorres-rouff@ucmerced.edu and Stacey Smith stacey.smith@oregonstate.edu). If you need assistance with the online abstract platform on All Academic, please contact the WHA staff: wha@westernhistory.org

Q20: Presenting Onsite and In Person:

The WHA understands that 2023 might present our communities with another year of uncertainties regarding travel, financial support, and all-around public health safety. Unfortunately, the WHA will not offer online options for program participation in 2023. Only onsite sessions will be offered.

1. Onsite sessions: where all session participants are presenting their work from Los Angeles to an onsite, face-to-face audience (like pre-2020 conference years). These sessions will not be located in rooms that are "hybrid"-capable (some presenting in person, some presenting in real time online). Session rooms will not be equipped with hi-speed Internet to support online or hybrid presentations.

The following includes a list of the WHA's Policies and Best Practices to guide the Program Committee in making selections for the annual conference program. Please review these Council-approved guidelines carefully. For a printable version of this list click here.

Policy: Program Participants and Conference Registration

It is WHA policy that all conference participants (chairs, presenters, workshop leaders, plenary and session speakers, and commentators) must register for the annual conference. WHA Council has an additional policy on conference participation and registration. Conference participants who do not register for the annual conference, or who fail to show up to the conference without alerting the WHA office, will be included on a report that is forwarded to the next three WHA Program Committee Chairs*. This policy was created to address participant cancellation and encourage individuals to follow-through with professional commitments. (*No-shows in 2023 will be forwarded to 2024, 2025, and 2026 chairs.) 

Policy: Diversity of Program Participants Statement

1) The Program Committee will actively promote the full and equitable inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities, diverse Indigeneities, religious minorities, people with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ+ people, and people with various ranks and career paths on the Annual Meeting program. 2) Although not all sessions can reflect the entire diversity of the profession, the Program Committee will encourage proposers of sessions to include diverse sets of participants, addressing gender diversity, racial and ethnic diversity, sexual diversity, religious diversity, disability-based diversity, and/or LGBTQ+ diversity. 3) The Program Committee will encourage session proposers to consider the benefits of including on their panels historians in various career paths and of various ranks (i.e., senior scholars, public historians, graduate students, independent historians, etc.) within their organizations/institutions.

Policy: Program Committee Confidentiality

All deliberations of the Program Committee (which include, but are not limited to, ranking sessions and papers, evaluating sessions and papers, and making recommendations to strengthen sessions and papers for the annual program) remain completely confidential.

Best Practices: Program Participant Repeaters 

Except in special circumstances, no single person should participate in more than two conference sessions, and these would need to be in two different roles (i.e., commentator, presenter, roundtable participant, etc.). Program Committee Co-Chairs must follow through with enforcing this policy throughout the review and program planning process. For an example of different situations, see this list.

Best Practices: Criteria for Honorific Panels (panels that honor an individual)

A. The individual being honored must be or have been a long-time WHA member in good standing. To prove this, the conference submission must include the (estimated) years of an individual’s membership and an overview of their WHA-related activities. The Program Committee is within the right to verify this information with the WHA’s records in the executive office.

B. The panel must adhere to the WHA’s Code of Conduct and Enforcement Policy. To this end, the panel should not exhibit any overlying power structures that suggest an individual or individuals were coerced into creating and organizing the panel out of intimidation.

C. The panel must adhere to the WHA’s official policy on the Diversity of Session Participants (see above) that the Program Committee uses when evaluating all program sessions.

D. The Program Committee maintains the right to recruit an honorific panel to expand the diversity of honored individuals.

E. The Program Committee will typically consider no more than two or three honorary panels per conference program.

F. If a panel is accepted under the requirements of item “A/B/C/D” there is an understanding with the panel organizers that the WHA will not arrange for book signings, sales, and displays to coincide with the panel’s time and location. If the organizers seek this activity, they must coordinate directly with a publisher in the exhibits hall.

Best Practices: Criteria for Book Panels

A. Panels submitted by the Committee on Teaching and Public Education, which use recent publications to connect K-12 Teachers with scholars with the intention of creating lesson plans on the history of the American West are acceptable panels and not considered “book panels.”

B. Panels that celebrate a group of books (3-4) or book that have significantly shaped the western history field (or a western history subfield) are acceptable if they concentrate on books published years prior to the proposed conference year. The organization of these panels must adhere to the WHA’s Code of Conduct and Enforcement Policy and Diversity of Session Participants (see above) policies.

C. If a panel is accepted under the requirements of item “B,” there is an understanding with the panel organizers that the WHA will not arrange for book signings, sales, and displays to coincide with the panel’s time and location. If the organizers seek this activity, they must coordinate directly with a publisher in the exhibits hall or purchase an exhibit booth at the regular price.

“Restorations and Repairs: Lives and Landscapes Across Many Wests”

63rd Annual WHA Conference

October 26-29, 2023

Los Angeles, California

To remain in touch with the past requires a constant imaginative effort.

--Gaston Bachelard

The program committee for the 2023 meeting of the Western History Association welcomes session and individual paper proposals that imagine the western past in conversation with the conference theme, Restorations and Repairs: Lives and Landscapes Across Many Wests. We join in collective assessment of the many ways in which historical engagement empowers us to reckon with, restore, and repair human relationships and landscapes alike. We embrace the obligation that contemplative consideration of the past is urgent in our broken world, and we accept the challenges of keeping at our work.

We will gather in downtown Los Angeles in October of 2023. Despite myriad and thorny challenges – as difficult as any across the globe – Los Angeles remains a place open to individual and community reinvention and innovation. Much of this energy is aimed at the future: how will this place, for example, embrace more sustainable patterns of environmental impact as climate change and drought deepen? How will Los Angeles, California, and the greater Wests of North America reckon with systemic racial injustice and right past wrongs through reparative action? How can we–as practitioners, educators, and activists–harness our expertise, and our access to circuits of knowledge and power, so that we can collaborate with stakeholders to reconsider the past in order to reimagine the future? 

Reckoning can be retrospective, and this vantage might suggest hope. This region is more willing than it once was to grapple with histories inflected with pain.  In neighborhoods, along streets, in parks and playgrounds – all across the vast public spaces of this fascinating metropolis – Angelenos are engaged in re-imagining the many pasts of place. We see the same thing happening all over the West.  This is work every bit as fraught as it is exhilarating, and thus it should be with our fervent encounters with the history of the American West. Our work as historians is, as it has always been, multi-layered as to approach and application. We find conventional and unconventional ways to connect and converse with our audiences: through academic pathways; through pedagogy; through public outreach and dialogue; and through public encounters of all kinds.

Our colleague, historian Donald Worster, writes of “how much has been lost in our short years as a nation.” Loss, pain, degradation of landscape, death born of violence, neglect, and racial conquest: our West is laid atop material and spiritual grief. Yet, all across the West, reckoning with loss has within it suggestions of hope, if not redemption. Commemorative acts and memorialization movements – all of them a long time coming – remind us of the fundamental importance of our collective historical work. 

Join us in October; join us in Los Angeles. Offer your ideas about the history of the West and the reckonings with time and place that are so foundational to the work we all do.  We encourage proposals that engage with themes of restoration, repair, even redemption – either as they play out in our midst or as we insist that they get underway. We will come together in a place that encourages and nurtures imagination and innovation; please feel encouraged to propose your work (and the format for relaying it to your audience) in the same spirit. We come together in a place working hard to acknowledge the enduring and fundamental meaning and power of history. Please help by contributing your work and your ideas to this unending project. 

2023 Program Committee Co-Chairs

Co-Chair, Stacey Smith, Oregon State University

Co-Chair, David Rouff, University of California, Merced

Submission Instructions

To submit a full session (preferred) or individual paper, please visit the WHA 2023 Conference website (www.westernhistory.org/2023) and follow the directions and guide for electronic submissions (which will open in fall 2022). Consult the WHA’s Policy on Conference Participants (below) to adhere to the organization’s requirement that all conference participants must register for the conference if their panel or paper is accepted.

The CFP deadline is December 12, 2022 (11:59 P.M. Pacific Time). If you have questions, please contact the 2023 Program Co-Chairs: Stacey Smith (Oregon State University) or David Rouff (University of California, Merced). You can also contact the WHA Office at wha@westernhistory.org

Diversity of Session Participants:

The Program Committee will actively promote the full and equitable inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities, religious minorities, people with disabilities, women, LGBTQ people, and people with various ranks and career paths on this conference program. The Program Committee will encourage sessions to include diverse sets of participants, addressing gender diversity, racial and ethnic diversity, sexual diversity, religious diversity, disability-based diversity, and/or LGBTQ diversity.

Policy on Conference Participants

In 2018 the WHA Council created a policy on conference participation and registration. In 2023, conference participants who do not register for the conference, or who fail to show up to the conference without alerting the WHA office, will be included on a report that is forwarded to the next three WHA Program Committee Chairs (2024, 2025, 2026). Program Chairs will consult the report when making decisions about future conference programs. The policy was created to address non-registrants and participant cancellation and encourage individuals to follow-through with professional commitments.