The Forty-First Annual Great Lakes History Conference, held in conjunction with the Michigan Council for History Education, will focus on issues associated with Revolution, Reform, and Rebellion, throughout history. Investigations into the role of individual agency, so often lost in larger national or global social movements, are encouraged. Additionally, questions that arise from research on the role of memory and historical understanding are also sought. The Great Lakes program committee will accept proposals that speak toa broad range of topics associated with the research and pedagogy of revolution, reform, and rebellion, as applies to race/ethnicity, political movements, labor, reconciliation, memory, and moral responsibility.  

Our target audience includes scholars specializing in any one of the areas identified, public historians, professors and teachers all of whom shape how we understand individual agency and the changing notions of memory and historical understanding. The theme “Revolution, Reform, and Rebellion” suggests an extensive range of actions and reactions to political and social change, and should attract a wide array of compelling presentations. Additionally we are interested in issues related to pedagogy and assessment, asking fundamental questions about the way we teach histories of change, explored through the various lenses of historical actors.

We encourage not only the presentation of research by academics, graduate students, and undergraduates, but also papers, roundtables, and panels from scholars, teachers, librarians, archivists, activists, and public historians who speak to the many understandings of “Revolution, Reform and Rebellion ” over time.  The program committee will also entertain non-related proposals that may lie on the periphery of this year’s theme.

We are excited to welcome conference Keynote speakers Dr. Anthony Chase, Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs, from Occidental College, and Dr. Fritz Fischer, Professor of History and History Education from the University of Northern Colorado.

The deadline for submission of proposals, consisting of an abstract (500 words or less) and one-page c.v., is June 1, 2015.  For full panels or roundtables, please have one contact person submit the materials for the group. Send proposals via email to the program committee, in care of Gordon Andrews (andrewgo[at]gvsu.edu)