Call for Papers /// Revolution, Revelation, Reconciliation / Revolución, Revelación, Reconciliación - July 21-24, 2026, Washington, USA
- s-architecture
- Aug 18
- 3 min read
Revolution, Revelation, Reconciliation / Revolución, Revelación, Reconciliación
July 21-24, 2026
National Union Building, Washington, DC
The International Nineteenth Century Studies Association (INCSA)—in collaboration with the Nineteenth Century Studies Association (NCSA), Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies (INCS), and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History–invites proposals for its second biennial conference.
We welcome submissions for individual papers, panels, posters, roundtable discussions, digital humanities projects, and performances exploring the nineteenth century from interdisciplinary, international, and intertemporal perspectives.
Conference Theme
In Thinking About History, Sarah Maza reminds us that historical scholarship thrives on debate, reexamination, and innovative inquiry: “Commemoration is crucially important, so is keeping the past alive by constantly reframing and rewriting history: This means disputation and disagreement, but also research, new questions, and new ways of looking at old problems.” Similarly, historian Trevor Getz describes the nineteenth century as “an age of revolution and industry, oppression and resistance,” a period of profound transformation whose legacies continue to shape our present.
The words Revolution, Revelation, Reconciliation invite broad interpretation. Revolution can signify political upheaval, industrial or technological transformation, or the cyclical nature of historical change. Revelation may encompass ideological shifts, scientific discoveries, artistic innovations, or spiritual awakenings. Reconciliation addresses repair, restoration, and negotiation—whether between individuals, communities, or historical narratives.
Revolution, revelation, and reconciliation may be applied to historical topics and themes such as period film, adaptation studies, neo-Gothic literature, and cultural memory studies; community relationships; institutional histories and practices; scientific studies and digital humanities projects that use contemporary tools to mine and make visible historical data and experiences; scholarly and pedagogical strategies, including experimental approaches in classrooms and exhibitions; historiographical reflection; visual and material culture preservation; reenactment and performance research; and other ways in which nineteenth-century research is centered.
Possible Topics
We welcome intertemporal, interdisciplinary, and international approaches to topics including, but not limited to:
Art history and visual culture
Business, capitalism, and labor
Colonialism, empire, and imperial studies
Reckoning with historical harm, trauma, and grief
Cultural approaches to scholarship and knowledge exchange
Cultural theft, restitution, reparation, and repatriation
Environmental history and ecological impact
Historical inclusion, exclusion, reconsideration, and recovery
Migration and displacement—voluntary and / or forced
Indigenous rights and sovereignty
Nation-building and identity formation
Knowledge preservation, collection, and display
Political movements and responses—unions, anti-/nationalism, and human rights
Performance and entertainment—individual, collective, musical, theatrical, dance, spiritual, and cultural expressions
Technological advancements and their societal impacts
Conceptions of time and periodization across cultures
Literary production, writing, and print culture
Youth education, training, and cultural participation
Proposal Guidelines
Individual proposals: Maximum 300 words.
Panel proposals: Maximum 600 words, including a theme and individual abstracts.
Digital humanities and performance proposals: Provide a 300-word description and relevant links (no file uploads).
All proposals must include a brief biography (max. 300 words) for each participant.
Submission Portal: Will open August 2025
Submission Deadline: October 31, 2025
Notification of Acceptance: January 2026
Inquiries: incsa2026@gmail.com
We look forward to welcoming academics, scholars, curators, librarians, archivists, graduate and undergraduate students, editors, researchers, and the historically-minded to an engaging and dynamic conversation centered on the nineteenth century.
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