SSHA Conference Update

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July 15, 2020

2020 SSHA Conference in Washington DC has been canceled

Dear SSHA Colleagues,

I’m writing with the unfortunate news that, based on the worsening COVID-19 environment in the United States, the SSHA Executive Committee has voted to cancel our 2020 annual conference. I want to thank the 2020 Program Committee Co-Chairs (Linda Reeder, Jonas Helgertz, Timothy Thurber, and Steven Sprick Schuster) and every SSHA Network Representative, for the hard work that went into preparing what was shaping up to be an excellent conference program. Your efforts are very much appreciated!

While I am sorry that we won’t be able to meet in person this fall, I want to especially note the Association’s regret to early career scholars and graduate students who were planning to present their work at the 2020 conference. We are already thinking ahead to 2021, and our plan is to make it easy to re-submit (or update) conference proposals from this year to next, to ease the process of participating in our 2021 annual meeting. Note that with annual SSHA conferences already scheduled in Philadelphia (2021) and Chicago (2022), we hope to reschedule our Washington location for our annual conference in 2023.

Please stay tuned for our plans for a virtual 2020 SSHA Presidential Address and Business Meeting. The work of the Association must go on and I look forward to interacting with many of you virtually in that setting! And if you haven’t yet renewed your annual membership in SSHA, now would be a good time.

Meanwhile, I hope each of you take steps to be well, and please accept my best wishes for the coming months.

Sincerely,

Phil Hoffman
SSHA President 2019-2020

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June 15, 2020

SSHA Executive Committee Statement on Racism and History

Throughout the world, people have been outraged by George Floyd’s death at the hands of the police. They have protested and demanded action, for his death was simply the latest chapter in a long and painful history of injustice, discrimination, and violent oppression visited upon African Americans. Floyd’s death and the demonstrations that followed force us all to confront that history and to call for lasting change, change both in government policy and in our own behavior.

As officers and members of the executive committee of the Social Science History Association, we support the protestors who call for action and condemnation of acts of racism. We urge all members to reflect on the harm that our history causes African Americans, from deaths at the hands of the police to higher pandemic mortality rates and systemic inequality that keeps children from realizing their potential. And we ask members to consider too how their own silence may aggravate that harm.

Most of us will conclude that we have to do something. Some may redirect their research toward analyzing the sad consequences of our history. Others may choose to protest and to work for lasting reform.

Other academic organizations have issued statements about the tragic events in our country, their historical roots, and the need for change. We endorse the spirit of their suggestions, which may help us decide what course of action to take. Here are examples from associations of anthropologists, economists, historians, political scientists, and sociologists:

• https://americananthro.org/StayInformed/NewsDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=25731
• https://www.aeaweb.org/news/member-announcements-june-5-2020
• https://www.neaecon.org/nea-anti-racism-statement/
• https://www.historians.org/news-and-advocacy/aha-advocacy/aha-statement...(june-2020)
• https://www.apsanet.org/Portals/54/Advocacy/APSA_statement...signatures.pdf
• https://www.asanet.org/news-events/asa-news/asa-condemns...system

Whatever you decide to do, please do not simply stand on the sidelines.

SSHA Executive Committee

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2020 Conference Update

2020 Conference Update (PDF)