The 2022 AASLH Virtual Conference is now only three weeks away and will be held November 1-3.
A number of sessions this year address diversity in history. Your registration includes access to these sessions live and to recordings of all conference sessions, so you can watch any session you’re interested in later.
Registration is only $60 for AASLH Members and $80 for non-members. The preregistration deadline is Wednesday, October 26.
Expanding the Power of Place Through New Narratives
If history organizations hope to remain significant, we need to tell stories that are fuller, more relevant, and more compelling. This session will explain how to create “next narratives” about our communities by reconsidering collections, listening to new voices, realigning our institutional structures, and engaging more actively with our communities.
Place, People, and Stories: New Ways of Using Recent History
Site descendants (white and Black) and professionals will discuss perspectives about the documentation of a historic place’s recent past. Drawing from George McDaniel’s recent book Drayton Hall Stories: A Place and its People, they will discuss how to do so from multiple points of view to enhance outreach and enliven an organization’s image.
Preservation as Activism: Preserving Black Space as Praxis
Preserve Black Space functions to co-design tools that facilitate a decolonized way of practicing preservation with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). BIPOC communities will develop methodologies that are reflective of their specific cultural norms and values to survey, document, and preserve cultural heritage and address historical disparities related to the field.
Telling True and Untold Stories: Museums at the Flash Point of Social Change
Museums and cultural institutions have long played a role in preserving and contextualizing history, providing a sense of certainty in an uncertain world. In today’s turbulent times, they play an even more vital role, giving voice to the marginalized, demonized, and forgotten. In this roundtable, museum professionals on the front lines of social and cultural flash points will discuss the role museums and cultural institutions play in the process of unlearning biases and deeply held beliefs. Museums, through their programming and exhibitions, can engage visitors with experiences that challenge assumptions and inspire change. How do we prioritize diversity and find common ground? How do we bring true and untold stories to more audiences? Panelists will share their storytelling and experience design techniques that help open the door to embrace new perspectives and create paths to new understanding.
In addition to these learning sessions, you can also explore diversity in history at two networking sessions on Thursday, November 3.
The Women’s History Affinity Community will hold a discussion from 2-3:15 p.m. Eastern.
Museums & Race will host a Happy Hour from 6-7:15 p.m. Eastern. Activities and games will provide opportunities for participants to get to know each other in deeper, unconventional ways. Attendees should come prepared with a willingness to participate, something to write with/on, and a beverage or whatever puts you in the “happy hour” spirit!
These are just some of the learning sessions and networking opportunities available at this year’s Virtual Conference. See the entire program here.
