By Lisa Mighetto, ASEH director and Melissa Wiedenfeld, local arrangements committee chair, 2015 conference

 

ASEH conferences are known for their collegiality. Years of conference evaluations and comments from outside observers have demonstrated that ours is an unusually tight-knit, supportive, and engaged organization. Our conferences could not take place without the dedicated commitment of many volunteers - or without the 400+ presenters who generously come to share their research. Even so, a review of one aspect of conference etiquette might be useful, with the planning for our 2015 meeting in DC now in full swing. Recent articles and blogs on conference etiquette highlight the importance of professional behavior during the meeting, but we suggest that it is equally important before the conference.

 

An increasing number of presenters are cancelling within six weeks of the conference date (reaching 7% for some meetings). These cancellations affect the other session presenters (who must find and accommodate a new speaker); the audience (many of whom come to hear specific presenters listed in the program); and the conference organizers (who scramble to enter last-minute edits to the printed, posted, and mobile app versions of the program as well as to negotiate with caterers regarding continually shifting attendance numbers). Here are several points to consider:

 

1. When you agree to be included in a session proposal, or when you submit an individual proposal for a poster or paper, you have committed to attending the conference and presenting that research.

 

2. ASEH conferences have a proposal rejection rate of 30-50%, and when the program committee accepts your session or paper, it is important to realize that someone else's has been rejected - perhaps someone who would have truly valued the opportunity to present.

 

3. If you sign up to present a poster and don't show up or fail to provide adequate notice of cancellation, you waste the society's money and time (poster boards are expensive and require space and storage in the conference hotel). More important, people attend the poster session expecting to see the research as promised in the conference program.

 

4. Orders for poster boards and AV equipment, banquet food, bus transportation, and other items are submitted at least a month in advance.

 

True emergencies do occur - accidents, deaths, serious illness, severe weather, sudden financial hardships, and unexpected events affect presenters at every meeting. Conference planners, session organizers, and attendees are understanding and sympathetic when people have to cancel owing to a catastrophe; however, many last-minute cancellations are due to poor planning. If one's institution denies travel funding, the professional and collegial response is to cancel immediately and not wait until the last minute. Moreover, feeling overwhelmed or inconvenienced by conference commitments are not valid reasons to cancel within a few days of the meeting. A good rule of thumb is to cancel as soon as you think you cannot attend - and at least six weeks in advance.

 

A recent post on conference etiquette for grad students applies to the greater academic community as well. The recommendation to be a "generous scholar" is a sound one, and we suggest that it is also important to be a "respectful scholar" by showing up for your session as promised. Although scholars can research and publish with minimal contact with others, it is the in-person interaction that makes conferences special. As the ASEH community expands, the collegiality of our meetings continues to bind our community, fostering vibrant discourse. Everyone appreciates the respect we demonstrate by participating as promised.

 

If you have comments or suggestions, e-mail the authors at mwiedenfeld@dwiedenfeld.org

or director@aseh.net

Assistant Professor, History, University of Chicago

The British Origins of the Anthropocene: Coal, Climate, and Deep Time 1784-1884

 

John P. Murphy / Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship in American Art Doctoral Candidate, Art History, Northwestern University Comrades in Craft: Arts and Crafts Colonies in the United States, 1894-1915

 

Cynthia Radding / ACLS Fellowship

Professor, History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Bountiful Deserts and Imperial Shadows. Seeds of Knowledge and Corridors of Migration in Northern New Spain

 

Gregory Rosenthal / Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship Doctoral Candidate, History, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Hawaiians who left Hawai'i: Work, Body, and Environment in the Pacific World, 1786-1876

 

Congratulations to all! For more info. on ACLS Fellowships, click here.

Final Notice - ASEH awards submissions for 2014

 

The next year's prize committees will evaluate submissions (published books and articles and completed dissertations) that appear between November 1, 2013 and October 31, 2014. 

Please send three copies of each submission for books and articles (these must be hard copies, or paper copies) for receipt by November 14, 2014 to:
Lisa Mighetto, ASEH, UW Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program, University of Washington, 1900 Commerce Street, Tacoma, WA  98402

Articles that appeared in our journal, Environmental History, are automatically considered by our journal's editorial board, and there is no need to submit copies for the Leopold-Hidy Prize.

Electronic submission of dissertations:
We encourage electronic submissions of your dissertation, if your dissertation was approved between Nov. 1, 2013 and Oct. 31, 2014. Submit in pdf format as a single file less than 5 megabytes in size to director@aseh.net by November 14, 2014.

Note: ASEH also offers awards for distinguished scholar, distinguished service, and distinguished career in public environmental history. Deadline for applications: November 14, 2014. Click here for more info.

  

It is open to practicing historians (either academic, public, or independent). Graduate students are ineligible. A Ph.D. is not required. Submissions will be accepted between June and September 30, 2013, and the recipient will be selected and notified in December 2014 for funding in January 2015.

  

To apply, please submit the following items:

• A two-page statement (500 words) explaining your project and how you intend to use the research funds.
• A c.v. no more than two pages in length.

All items for the Samuel P. Hays Research Fellowship must be submitted electronically by October 1, 2014 to Barry Muchnick, committee chair, at 

brmuchnick@smcm.edu

 

Final Notice - ASEH Hal Rothman Fellowship Applications

Students enrolled in any Ph.D. program worldwide are eligible to apply. Applications will be accepted June 1- September 30, 2013, and the recipient will be selected and notified in December 2014, for funding in January 2015.

  

To apply, please submit the following three items:

• Two-page statement (500 words) explaining your project and how you intend to use the research funds.
• A c.v. no more than two pages in length.
• A letter of recommendation from your graduate advisor

All items for the Hal Rothman Research Fellowship must be submitted electronically to director@aseh.net by October 1, 2014. 

  

Newberry Library Fellowships

 

ASEH has partnered with the Newberry Library in Chicago to offer an annual research fellowship. Click here for more info.

 

Positions Open

  

Currently there are several positions for senior scholars and assistant professors posted on ASEH's website (Oberlin College, Lake Forest College, University of Wisconsin, University of Montana, and others). Click here to view.

ASEH Mentoring Program

 

ASEH conferences are known for their friendliness and collegiality - a characteristic enhanced by our mentoring/hosting program. Would you like to introduce a student or new professional to our conference by meeting with them in Washington, DC and explaining our events and including them in some of your discussions?

 

If you are interested in serving as a mentor or in being a mentee, please contact director@aseh.net by March 1, 2015.

 

Indicate your preference (mentor or mentee) and we will match people before the conference and send them one another's contact info.

 

Note: If you are a non-academic mentor willing to talk about your work and if you are a student or new  professional who would like to talk with a non-academic mentor in Washington, DC, please indicate that preference as well.