By Stacy Klingler, AASLH Diversity and Inclusion Committee 

Diversity and inclusion work in history organizations goes beyond inclusive history content and audience development.  We have to consider how our organizations operate and how we function in the larger world. AASLH’s newly created Diversity & Inclusion Committee’s role is to educate and empower AASLH members with the ability to think, discern, and create inclusive environments for history practitioners. In the AASLH Annual Meeting program, the Program Committee identified many incredible sessions about how to do inclusive history (noted with “DI” for “Diversity and Inclusion.”)

Below, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee has identified several sessions where the primary focus is on how we change the field and our institutions to function more inclusively, as well as sessions that ask what roles history organizations can and should take to increase inclusion within and beyond the history field. If you are interested in how we change our systems to be more inclusive and our roles in the larger society, be sure to put these sessions and events on your conference schedule!

Wednesday, August 28

  • Women Leading with Power and Authenticity (8:30-12)
  • Presenting, Interpreting and Discussing Difficult History: How to Build Organizations’ Capacities to Respond to Opportunities and Challenges (8:30-5)

Thursday, August 29

  • Drawing the Line: Gender Equity and Facing Sexual Harassment and Mistreatment in the Cultural Field (10:45-12)
  • Museums as Site for Social Action (10:45-12)
  • The Future is Female: Championing Women in Museum Leadership (4-5:15)

Friday, August 30

  • Afrocentric History Museums—Shall We Start an Afrocentric Museum Resistance Movement? (8-9:15)
  • Making a Statement: Bringing Transparency to Institutional Point of View (8-9:15)
  • Managing a Public History Career with Chronic and Invisible Illness (8-9:15)
  • The Warm-Minded Museum (8-9:15)
  • Advocating for Equity: How to Talk about Salaries in Your Museum (4-5:15)
  • Imagining a Reparations Movement for Racial Justice in Museums and Historic Sites (4-5:15)
  • Diversity and Inclusion Mixer (5:30-7:30)

Saturday, August 31

  • #KnowBetterDoBetter: Measuring DEIA Impact at Your Organization (9-10:15)
  • Deferred Maintenance: Investing in the Upkeep and Care of our Frontline Staff (9-10:15)
  • Bringing the Past into the Present: Immigrant Storytelling through Museum Tours (10:30-12)

If you identify other sessions that focus on how we create inclusive environments for history practitioners, please share them in the comments below!

Learn more about #AASLH2019 and register by July 26!