A small, dynamic, and award-winning publisher, the South Dakota Historical Society Press seeks a forward-looking individual to be a part of its editorial team in the position of associate editor. Primary duties for this position include preparing manuscripts for publication by editing, verifying statements, checking facts and footnotes, and coordinating with authors, illustrators, map makers, graphic designers, printers, and indexers. The associate editor also solicits, reviews, and tracks manuscripts to determine whether submissions meet the standards of the South Dakota Historical Society Press. The associate editor reports to the Director of the Press and serves on the team that sets press policies and publishing directions.

The ideal candidate will hold an advanced degree in history, American Studies, English, or a related field. Two or more years of experience in editing is preferred. The ideal candidate will also possess knowledge of American history and the history and culture of South Dakota and the Northern Great Plains region; editing methods and standards; English grammar; the Chicago Manual of Style; Microsoft Word; Adobe Photoshop; copyright law, rules, and regulations; and research techniques and resources.

The ideal candidate’s skills should also include the ability to analyze research data and internal structures of written material; read and extract information from various reference materials and other resources; recognize historical error and solve problems of fact and conjecture through research; manage people and establish and maintain effective relationships; and organize, schedule, direct, correct, and prioritize simultaneous editing projects. The ideal candidate should also be comfortable with assisting the inventory manager with shipping-related tasks as needed.

This is a full-time position (40 hours per week), administered and funded by the South Dakota Historical Society Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising arm of the South Dakota State Historical Society. It is not a State of South Dakota position. Compensation and benefits are provided by the Foundation and include vacation leave, sick leave, a retirement contribution match, and a health insurance stipend. Salary range is $21 to $24 per hour, commensurate with previous editing experience. This position is located on-site at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre; remote work is NOT an option for this position.

Please include a cover letter; curriculum vitae or resume; brief writing sample; and contact information for three references with your application. Send application materials to Dr. Dedra Birzer, SDHS Press Director, at Dedra.Birzer@state.sd.us. Applications are due Feb. 1, 2026.

JOB TITLE: Gale Scholar, Research Historian 

LOCATION: History Center - 345 W Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102

COMPENSATION: Typical starting range $59,092.80  - $63,648.00

STATUS & HOURS: Full-time, (approximately 2,080 annual hours) project position through June 30, 2028. This is a two year position funded by the Gale Family Foundation.

BENEFITS: Eligible to participate in State Employee Group Insurance Program and a retirement program with employer contribution. Generous vacation and sick time accruals with additional paid holidays.

DESIGNATION: Bargaining Unit AFSCME Local 3173

POSTING DATE: December 1, 2025

DEADLINE DATE: February 16, 2026

TO APPLY: Interested applicants must apply online at the Minnesota Historical Society’s career center at www.mnhs.org/jobs and include a resume and cover letter by the application deadline date.  

APPLICATIONS MUST INCLUDE: 

• Cover letter, not more than two pages, stating interest and qualifications

• Curriculum vitae

• A research writing sample. This sample can be a 15-20 page academic research paper or an equivalent sample from a published book, article, scholarly work, or similar work in progress. The sample should demonstrate the applicant’s ability to conduct historical research and analysis, synthesize primary and secondary resources, cite sources appropriately, and communicate ideas and arguments clearly. 

• Answers to all application questions within the online ADP application.

• Two letters of reference: must be from professional and academic supervisors.

DESCRIPTION:  This position exists to support the work of MNHS staff by conducting primary and secondary research and developing historical content use in exhibitions, programs, publications, digital platforms, public presentations, and other delivery methods as needed. Funding for this position is made possible by the Gale Family Foundation.

SUMMARY OF WORK:  1) Plan, organize and conduct historical research to assist in producing content for MNHS exhibits, public programs and initiatives, and/or publication with the guidance of the Director, Research; 2) Work collaboratively to develop and manage a capstone research project that utilizes the MNHS collections and/or serves MNHS’s mission; and 3) Participate in staff presentations, lectures, symposia, programming planning teams, and other forums, and provide public programs on topics researched. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• M.A. in history or an interdisciplinary field. 

• Scholars pursuing research and writing on the regional history of Minnesota, the Upper Midwest, or the Upper Mississippi in the 19th and/or 20th centuries are eligible. The position is open to all areas of the Upper Midwest history, broadly defined, but preference will be given to a scholar whose research and teaching expertise are situated within Women’s and Gender Studies, Environmental History, Indigenous History, LGBTQ+ History, Intersectional History, or transdisciplinary work that combine those areas. 

•  Research interests in borderlands, settler colonialism, women’s history, environmental history, immigration history, social movements, and race.

•  We are also interested in scholars who study processes that reconfigure local and trans-local contexts (such as shifting borders, urbanization, and social movements) and who have a transregional approach or employ a transborder framework. 

• We are looking for someone whose research background and interests can support work focused on publicly presenting the richly layered political, cultural, and social history of Minnesota and situating this history within broader historical contexts.

• Proven grammatical skills, attention to detail, accuracy and strong proofreading skills to ensure that documents are error-free.

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple assignments simultaneously and to maintain a professional and neat work environment.

• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and to handle confidential information discreetly and appropriately. 

• Demonstrated ability to think imaginatively and problem solve.

• Proven ability to work diplomatically with individuals of diverse backgrounds and with diverse communities in Minnesota.

• Self-motivated and able to work independently.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• PhD in History, American Studies, Ethnic Studies, or other fields related to the work outlined above.

SELECTION PROCESS:  MNHS will recruit nationally to attract highly qualified individuals to this appointment. Candidates will complete an application developed specifically for the Gale Scholars Program. Gale Scholars will have a record of superior academic achievement in fields of study relevant to the Minnesota Historical Society’s mission and the ability to clearly articulate their interest in historical preservation, and will demonstrate a potential to succeed at the highest level in their field of endeavor.

EXPENSES:  The Gale Fund will provide the funding needed for the scholar's salary and benefits as well as expenses related to the selection process.

ADMINISTRATION:  MNHS will be responsible for administering the program and assuring that Gale Scholars receive wide exposure to possible careers in public history.

Position title: Associate Librarian-Librarian, Career Status or Potential Career Status

Salary range: The UC academic salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and salary point at appointment. See the following table(s) for the current salary scale(s) for this position: https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2025-26/represented-july-2025-scales/t26-b.pdf. A reasonable estimate for this position is $94,277-$133,296.

Percent time: 100%

Anticipated start: As soon as Spring 2026. Exact start date negotiable.

Position duration: This is a full-time career appointment.

Application Window

Open date: December 16, 2025

Next review date: Saturday, Jan 31, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Thursday, Apr 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position description

Job Summary

The Bancroft Library seeks a Curator for its Western Americana collections to serve as a creative, user-centered, and collaborative professional in stewarding, developing, and interpreting the library's exceptional collection of manuscripts, archives, rare books, photographs, and maps documenting the American West. The Curator will determine strategic priorities for the Western Americana collection, lead collection development, engage in teaching with the collections, curate exhibitions, build sustainable relationships with donors, and participate in research services activities.

The successful candidate will work with Bancroft colleagues to steward and ensure equitable and wide public access to newly acquired and existing collections, while offering intellectual guidance on acquisition and processing. This position requires demonstrated experience working with people from diverse racial, ethnic, religious, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds using a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible approach. The Bancroft Library is committed to a collecting agenda that foregrounds diverse perspectives and historical voices, activating collections for multiple audiences. This position reports to The Bancroft Library director and is part of a curatorial team that includes a University Archivist, Curator of Latin Americana Collections, Curator of Pictorial Collections, and Curator of Rare Books and Literary Manuscripts.

Summary of the Collections
The Western Americana Collection at The Bancroft Library documents the history of human activity in Western North America, with the greatest emphasis on California, from the earliest days to the present. The collection provides an unparalleled opportunity to explore primary and secondary sources about the social, political, economic, environmental, and cultural development of the western half of the United States.

Topical strengths include materials documenting Indigenous, Spanish, and Mexican California; exploration of the Pacific Coast and the American West; the California Gold Rush and subsequent settlement; economic development (mining, transport, lumber, agriculture, commerce); land and water use; the environmental movement; labor; urban development; politics and social movements; and religious and utopian communities.

The Environment
The UC Berkeley Library is an internationally renowned research and teaching facility at one of the nation's premier public universities . A highly diverse and intellectually rich environment, Berkeley serves a campus community of 33,070 undergraduate students, 12,812 graduate students, and 1,525 faculty. The library comprises 20 campus libraries, including the Doe/Moffitt Libraries, The Bancroft Library, The C.V. Starr East Asian Library, and numerous subject specialty libraries. With a collection of more than 12 million volumes and a collections budget of over $15 million, the library offers extensive collections in all formats and robust services to connect users with the collections and build their research skills. Discover more about our collections and services at the UC Berkeley Library website.

The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley, is one of the largest and most heavily used libraries of rare materials in the West. Its holdings include more than 800,000 volumes, 210 million manuscript items, 9 million photographs and other pictorial materials, 86,000 microforms, 9.4 million digital files, and 25,000 maps, as well as numerous other categories of unique material.

Collection strengths include rare books, literary manuscripts, pictorial collections, and the Western Americana and Latin Americana collections, spanning the colonial era to the present. The Bancroft Library is home to three research groups: the Oral History Center (formerly the Regional Oral History Office), the Mark Twain Papers, and the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri. The archival and rare book materials of the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life are also part of the Bancroft holdings. The Bancroft Library is an active center of teaching and research. Supporting the programs of about 30 campus departments annually, it mounts a regular series of public exhibitions, roundtable lectures, and open houses.

Job Responsibilities

• Collection Development and Stewardship: Work collaboratively to build and steward collections of lasting importance, relevance, and interconnectivity, identifying historic gaps and areas of strategic opportunity. Appraise and select materials for acquisition through donation or purchase across manuscripts, archives, visual materials, digital media, and all formats of print materials. Keep abreast of evolving legal and ethical considerations for provenance, intellectual property rights, privacy, and respectful stewardship of cultural heritage materials. Apply resource-sensitive collecting practices through understanding and use of Total Cost of Stewardship tools and frameworks.
• Donor and Community Relations: Establish and maintain dealer and donor relations. Foster collaborative relationships with communities and individuals whose histories are documented in the collections. Partner with Bancroft Library leadership, the Friends of The Bancroft Library, and UC Berkeley Library Development Office colleagues to build and nurture philanthropic support.
• Technical Services Collaboration: Collaborate with Bancroft Technical Services on collection priorities, facilitation of contract terms and collection fund allocations, appraisal and accessioning, cataloging, archival processing, and appropriate levels of arrangement and description.
• Research Services and User Support: Foster collection use by faculty, students, researchers, and the general public from diverse backgrounds and skill levels. Participate in the fellowship selection committee. Ensure excellent service, friendly reception, and positive research interactions for researchers of all skill levels.
• Teaching and Instruction: Prepare and lead instruction sessions, including material evaluation and selection, lesson plan development, and collaboration with faculty on assignments and learning outcomes. Promote inclusive teaching practices and accessibility in service and program development. Strengthen instructional collaborations across the university and integrate collections into new and existing classes and programs.
• Collection Interpretation: Highlight under-researched materials and broaden the scope of historical narratives through collecting, interpretation, and programming. Interpret collections for diverse audiences through exhibitions, lectures, public talks, tours, presentations, conferences, publications, and digital initiatives. Develop public programs and events in collaboration with Bancroft staff and library colleagues.
• Outreach and Communications: Contribute to outreach activities, blogs, social media, library publicity, and public events.
• Internal Collaboration: Function as part of a curatorial team sustaining collection development, scholarly and educational outreach, description, digitization, preservation, and research. Participate in library projects, committees, policy decisions, and strategic planning.
• External Liaison Work: Serve as liaison with other Library selectors, relevant library and academic departments, and other campus museums and collecting institutions, including the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, the Hearst Museum, the Pacific Film Archive, and the Ethnic Studies Library.
• Professional Service: Represent the Bancroft and contribute to professional organizations at local, regional, national, and international levels

UC Berkeley librarians are expected to participate in library-wide planning and governance and work effectively in a shared decision-making environment. Advancement is partially based upon professional contributions beyond the primary assignment; the successful candidate will show evidence or promise of such contributions to the library, campus, UC System, and profession.

The UC Berkeley Library is committed to supporting and encouraging respect and empathy and nurturing a culture where all employees thrive. The library seeks candidates who recognize and appreciate one another’s contributions, expertise, and accomplishments, and who will strive to provide equitable access to a diverse set of collections and services. For more information, please see the UC Berkeley Library Statement of Values.

Bancroft Library Website: https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/visit/bancroft

UC Berkeley Library Website: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/

UC Berkeley Library statement of values: https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/library-values

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

Advanced degree or enrolled in an advanced degree program.

Additional qualifications (required at time of start)

• Advanced Degree
• 3 years of collection development experience acquiring rare books, archives, or pictorial works

Preferred qualifications

• Advanced degree in a field related to the history and culture of the North American West, Ph.D preferred
• MLS degree from an ALA-accredited library school or equivalent
• Understanding of the history, cultures, and multiple transnational migrations in the American West. Demonstrated cultural competencies in the histories and cultures of Indigenous North America
• Record of publications, exhibitions, and/or academic coursework that demonstrates significant knowledge of the history of the American West and current themes and areas of scholarship
• Experience and success with donor relations
• Awareness of copyright laws and permissions, legal, and ethical issues in acquiring cultural heritage materials
• Demonstrated success in negotiating complex acquisition agreements and purchases
• Experience in curating exhibitions, individually and as part of a team
• Proven success in supporting academic programs of research, teaching, and public exhibitions
• Experience with research and teaching trends, methods, and best practices related to special collections
• Demonstrated familiarity with developments in the field relating to managing and stewarding archival materials, including archival appraisal, accessioning, and processing
• Demonstrated dedication to user-centered services, with experience working respectfully and effectively with diverse communities.
• Excellent analytical, interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to work collaboratively, proactively, and constructively
• Commitment to positive, solution-driven responses to challenges. Ability to work as a member of a team
• Demonstrated commitment to the Library's values
• Ability to work in languages other than English (Spanish preferred)

The Bancroft Library is interested in finding the best candidate for the job and recognizes that the successful candidate may be one from a less traditional background. We encourage you to apply, even if you don’t meet all of the preferred qualifications/experiences listed above.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Cover Letter

Reference requirements

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

Apply link: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05229

Help contact: richard.brown@berkeley.edu

The Joy R. Hilliard Fellowship supports a master’s or doctoral-level graduate student doing research in the fields of conservation or environmental history. Special Collections and Archives staff award one $3,000 Fellowship annually to support costs associated with travel to Denver to do research in Denver Public Library’s renowned Conservation Collection. The Hilliard Fellowship directly supports research toward completing a graduate thesis or dissertation. 

The application process is open from January 1-March 1, 2026. Applicants should submit a 500-word project statement, a CV or resume, and a letter of support, preferably from a faculty advisor. Materials can be submitted through the Joy R. Hilliard Application Form online.  The Fellowship awardee will be notified by May 1, 2026. 

The Fellowship recipient is expected to complete at least one week of on-site research at the Denver Public Library between June 1 and October 31, 2026. Successful applicants will describe how the library’s Conservation Collection holdings, including nearly 200 unpublished archival collections on the history of the American conservation movement, contribute to the student’s area of inquiry. 

2026 Joy R. Hilliard Application Form - opens January 1, 2026

Joy and Edward Hobbs Hilliard Jr. played a leading role in preserving Colorado open space until Ed Hilliard's death in a mountain climbing accident on August 15, 1970. Following his death, Joy continued to be active as a conservationist and philanthropist. She made a significant contribution to preserving Phantom Canyon on the North Fork of the Cache La Poudre River. In addition, Joy established the Hilliard Room for the Conservation Library at the Denver Public Library. Her service includes board and trustee roles for Trout Unlimited, the Silver Trout Foundation, Planned Parenthood, and Colorado Outward Bound. A passionate fly-fisher, she climbed all 54 of Colorado’s Fourteeners. For her preservation work, she received both the Ed Hilliard Memorial Award in 1995 and the Colorado Open Lands Cranmer Award in 1999.

Mni is the Dakota word for water. The three letters are also the acronym for the college’s groundbreaking Macalester College Native and Indigenous (MNI) Initiative that has been awarded a $1 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Combined with a financial commitment from the college, the generous grant will enable Macalester to create a multi-faceted program dedicated to engagement with and scholarship by and about Indigenous peoples, cultures and histories. One critical component of the MNI Initiative is to expand the number and (inter)disciplinary range of Indigenous Studies scholars on campus.

Initiating the grant, the College launched a new concentration in Global Indigenous Studies and has hired three scholars in post-doctoral or faculty fellow positions. Macalester is seeking a fourth postdoctoral scholar or faculty fellow who would begin in the fall of 2026. We are seeking a colleague who brings Native and Indigenous perspectives to their work. We are accepting applicants from any field whose research and teaching interests would complement the college’s Indigenous Studies curriculum and one or more majors or other fields of study at Macalester.

Support
This position will include the following support:
- The teaching load will be 3 courses per year for two years.
- The college will work to retain the postdoctoral scholar/faculty fellow at the end of their two-year term through a tenure-track appointment to a position allocated through our faculty allocations and governance processes.
- Postdocs/fellows will receive $5000 per year in travel and research funding.
- Postdocs/fellows will join a community of Indigenous faculty and staff who bring Native and Indigenous perspectives to their scholarship, teaching, and work on campus, including professors Ronald Brisbois (Chemistry), Kehaulani Fagatele-Folau (Educational Studies), Katrina Phillips (History), Phillip Rivera (Biology), Kirisitina Sailiata (American Studies), and Melanie Yazzie (Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies). Additionally, the postdocs will be supported by allied faculty whose teaching and scholarship contribute to the Global Indigenous Studies concentration, including Erik Larson (Sociology), Marianne Milligan (Linguistics and Environmental Studies), and Laura Smith (Geography).

To Apply
Please submit the following materials on Academic Jobs Online (AJO).
1. A cover letter that includes a statement of interest in Macalester and discusses demonstrated activity and contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in your teaching, advising, mentorship, curriculum, scholarship, service or community and professional engagement.
2. A curriculum vitae.
3. A teaching statement that includes a discussion of teaching philosophy, teaching experience, advising, mentoring, and support of students of diverse backgrounds or interests.
4. A research statement that includes a discussion of ways that you bring a Native and Indigenous perspective to your work.
5. Three letters of recommendation.
We will review applications on a rolling basis beginning on December 1 and will continue accepting them until the position is filled.

Macalester College
Macalester is a highly selective, private liberal arts college in the vibrant Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area, with a population of approximately three million people and home to numerous colleges and universities, including the University of Minnesota. Macalester's diverse student body comprises over 2000 undergraduates from all 50 states and the District of Columbia and 99 countries. The College maintains a longstanding commitment to academic excellence with a special emphasis on internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society. As an Equal Opportunity employer supportive of affirmative efforts to achieve diversity among its faculty, Macalester College strongly encourages applications from women and members of underrepresented minority groups.

The Linda Hall Library is now accepting applications for our 2026-27 fellowship program. These  fellowships provide graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and independent scholars in the  history of science and related humanities fields with financial support to explore the Library’s  outstanding science and engineering collections. Fellows also participate in a dynamic  intellectual community alongside in-house experts and scholars from other Kansas City cultural  and educational institutions. 

The Linda Hall Library holds nearly half a million monographs and more than 43,000 journal  titles documenting the history of science and technology from the 15th century to the present. Its  collections are exceptionally strong in the engineering disciplines, chemistry, and physics. In  addition, the Library boasts extensive resources related to natural history, astronomy, earth  science, environmental studies, aeronautics, life science, infrastructure studies, mathematics, and  the history of the book. 

The Library offers residential fellowships to support on-site research in Kansas City, as well  as virtual fellowships for scholars working remotely using resources from the Library’s digital  collections. Applicants may request up to four months of funding at a rate of $3,000 per month  for doctoral students and $4,200 per month for postdoctoral researchers. 

The Library is also offering several fellowships intended for specific groups of researchers: 

• The History of Science and Medicine Fellowship, offered in partnership with the Clendening History of Medicine Library at the University of Kansas Medical Center,  provides one month of residential funding ($3,000 per month) to a doctoral student whose  research examines the intersecting histories of science and medicine. 

• The Pearson Fellowship in Aerospace History provides up to two months of residential  funding ($4,200 per month) to a postdoctoral scholar studying the history of aviation or  spaceflight. 

• The Presidential Fellowship in Bibliography provides up to four months of residential  funding ($4,200 per month) to a postdoctoral scholar whose research focuses on the study  of books and manuscripts as physical artifacts. 

The Linda Hall Library is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive research environment  and encourages members of any groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in  academia to apply for fellowship support. 

All application materials are due no later than January 19, 2026. For further information, visit the Fellowships page on our website or email fellowships@lindahall.org. 

The Department of History at St. Mary's University invites applications for a full time, non-tenure line Lecturer position in United States History to begin August 1, 2026. The successful candidate will teach a 4-4 load (four courses per semester). Teaching responsibilities include survey courses in US history, as well as upper division and graduate courses in the candidate's area of specialization. We especially welcome applications from candidates who can teach world history survey classes.

This is a full-time, 9-month, non-tenure-line appointment, renewable on an annual basis based on performance during annual evaluations. There are no expectations for scholarship or service, unless specified in the faculty member's individual appointment letter or contract. Position is eligible for promotion based on performance and years of experience.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in United States History or a closely-related field
• Evidence of successful teaching at the college level

Preferred Qualifications:

• Willingness to teach world history survey classes
• Comfortability employing dynamic teaching strategies, such as faculty-led student research, collaborative learning, writing-intensive projects, etc.

St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. St. Mary's is the oldest Catholic university in the Southwest and continues to advocate the Marianist mission of forming ethical leaders for the future. St. Mary's enrolls approximately 3500 students in a diverse university with four schools, more than 40 academic programs including Ph.D. and J.D. programs, and numerous pre-professional programs. The successful candidate is expected to support and contribute to the University's Marianist educational mission.

The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications on December 15, 2025. Applications can be found at http://stmarytx.applicantpro.com/jobs/ with the option to upload all supporting documents electronically. Along with the application, please include:

1. letter of application addressing the minimum and/or preferred qualifications listed above,
2. curriculum vitae, and
3. teaching portfolio containing a teaching statement and up to two sample syllabi.

Additional materials and references may be requested in subsequent rounds of the interview process. For questions, please contact Dr. Bradley Root (broot@stmarytx.edu). Any offer of employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a clear background check.

St. Mary's University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Call for Chapters: Llanera/os: The Mexican American and Central American Southern Plains since 1880

Building upon Los Llaneros: The Ethnic Mexican Southern Plains, 1500-1900, which will be out in 2026 with the University of Oklahoma Press, the editors announce plans for a second volume titled Llanera/os: The Mexican American and Central American Southern Plains since 1880. In the first volume, contributors from various fields uncovered a critically important borderland region between the Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo American cultural worlds. To continue that groundbreaking work, we seek contributions on the Mexican American, Central American, and Latina/o experience in the Southern Great Plains (New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado). We welcome contributions from such fields as history, art history, anthropology, literature, folklore, ethnomusicology, and cultural studies as well as art, poetry, and fiction. Contributions from other fields are also encouraged.

Please submit a 200-word proposal abstract and a 1–2 page CV to the editors (Joel Zapata, Aimee Villarreal, and Alex Hunt) by January 15, 2026. If the proposal is accepted for the edition, full essay drafts will be due September 15, 2026. 

Proposals should be sent to joel.zapata@oregonstate.edu with the email subject reading “Llanera/os Volume II Submission.” 

The editors will respond with a decision by January 30, 2026.

Upon landing in Albuquerque to attend my first WHA, I felt something that had, at this point in my graduate school career, become so rare as to be almost unrecognizable: total preparedness for a conference. My luggage was packed with an appropriate number of clothes and shoes, none of which would be extraneous; business cards had been placed in a card holder for easy access; a budget had been pre-approved by my graduate program (a true bureaucratic feat); and emails to students anxious about an impending paper had been all sent in the airport, alongside an out-of-office notice. I had the schedule outlined in my personal calendar, the panels ranked in order of what I wanted to see, the tickets for receptions, lists of scholars I hoped to chat with. My planning would undoubtedly pay off, I thought, as I grabbed a quick burrito in the Albuquerque airport before heading to the conference hotel.  

That airport burrito (which, I would later learn, had a very particular reputation among the Albuquerqueans I met at the conference) supplanted my carefully laid plans with a brief but severe stomach bug and nausea for the rest of the week. After missing the opening panel, I’d thought that surely I’d feel better in time to go to the next morning’s panels, or the panels after that – but each attempt ended in a meek return to my hotel room to drink Ginger-Ale and eat Saltines. As a result, I spent much of my first WHA – a conference I hoped would become my intellectual home – feeling physically awful, and doing little of what I had intended. What on earth, then, might I have to say about what I learned about the WHA, and what the graciousness of the WHA’s graduate student prize committee afforded me professionally?  

While I did not get to experience as many opportunities as I’d wanted to, the fruitful professional experiences I did have more than made up for my physical discomfort. Instructive meetings with press editors interested in my paper gave me a sense of how I might approach the dissertation with an eye towards the book project it will become, and a particular roundtable on carceral history – “Social Control’s Ideologies and the Carceral State” – furthered my thinking of my own project on incarceration. At the awards ceremony, I connected with scholars and students I’d met throughout the conference and learned about the exceptional work that they do. My conference was not the experience I’d envisioned, but I did achieve many of the self-defined goals that constituted a “productive” conference in my mind: meet other scholars, deepen my understanding of the field, and get better at articulating my own projects with clarity and confidence. 

And yet I also think that my strange WHA experience – though I would not recommend it to anyone – stirred up important considerations of how I have defined “success” in conference settings in the past. As I stewed in my hotel room, I asked myself many questions. What was I missing, at its most fundamental level, and how could I rebuild it later? Was it mere exposure to important scholars, or practice in presenting, or the ability “keep up” with the field, or all of the above? I have often felt discomforted at the imperative to maximize quantity, not quality, in conferences as a graduate student: more conversations, more people at your panel, more hands you shake, ad nauseum. I have usually accepted that the intangible parts of conferences I enjoy the most – experiencing a new place and its history, being in community with other historians – are good and even meaningful things to have, but not part of what makes a conference a professional success.  

As soon as I could hold down food and water, I boarded the bus for the Tasting New Mexico tour, determined not to miss one of the events I was most excited to attend. At the Los Ranchos Agri-Nature Center, our group enjoyed a beautiful meal with the doors open to the autumn breeze. The accompanying panel on the chile pepper’s history and future deepened our food’s context and meaning. Later, we meandered around the farm. We learned to husk corn, mill it into flour, and press it into tortillas; we learned how to distinguish between flavors in squash, beans, and chile varieties. We talked a bit about scholarship in between, but mostly about what we were tasting and seeing and thinking about. I enjoyed my time in conversation, eating good food, laughing. I wondered if this might be, in some ways, a part of scholarship, rather than something that I had arbitrarily constructed as separate from it. 

On the last day of the conference, I presented my paper and heard about the excellent research of my co-panelists. I most enjoyed the conversations that spilled over the panel’s allotted time, leaving the confines of the Q&A and turning toward the personal and meaningful while maintaining intellectual rigor. I know that I missed out on many experiences while being sick for so much of the conference, and I worried at first that I would leave the WHA bearing none of the standard markers of “successful” conferencing I’d imposed on myself. Yet I get a sense that the experiences I did have in Albuquerque this year – the conversations, and food, and community-building – are the beating heart of the conference and its community. Those things are hard to describe; they do not make for neatly reported successes on budget reports or in department newsletters. And yet they are what will compel me to return to the WHA next year, and for many years to come. 

Sitting on my flight from Seattle to Albuquerque, I wondered if the Western History Association conference would offer insights into the future of academia. What would my colleagues and mentors say about the state of academia, or the government? As I landed and switched my phone out of airplane mode, news notifications filled my screen. October 14^th, the day many conference attendees flew in, was an exceptional day of news in 2025 and in years prior.

The president announced October 14^th would be a National Day of Remembrance for the recently assassinated Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA. On October 14^th, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize. George Floyd’s birthday was October 14^th. As my ground transportation left me in front of the lobby at the Clyde Hotel, a group of ‘No Kings’ rally organizers tended to their flyers on a streetlight pole. Coinciding with receiving the Graduate Student Award was the ‘No Kings’ rally through Albuquerque. During the rally, when I walked through the convention center to go to the awards conference room, I passed by several rally participants with capes and paper crowns holding signs like one inscribed “Not my King” and “Deport Musk.” The government shut down two weeks prior to the conference. Pete Hegseth announced that the 1890 murderers at Wounded Knee would keep their Medal of Honor awards.  Do we wait until after the welcoming reception to talk about it? During the reception, my friends and I compared who saw Secretary of Homeland Security Kristie Noem’s videos while in TSA lines and who did not.

My experience, at least at this year’s conference, would be defined by how the Western History Association community tends to the general sense of anxiety around the future of academia. Among the most enriching conversations I participated in was one that included several Indigenous historians. We talked about how excited we were to see so many Indigenous-led panels and roundtables and how excited we were to have a food-focused tour option again. We talked about how many of us see the WHA conference as our conference “home.” We even talked about our chic hotel bar called 1922 and its claims to prohibition-focused cocktails despite the “Lemon Drop” being their featured cocktail. Perhaps most importantly, we talked about future roundtable ideas, presentations we aspire to give, and articles we want to write because the conference environment instigates the most productive conversations. As career outlooks remain bleak, focusing on ways we can contribute to the future of academia feels important. 

Several productive conversations came from panel discussions. I had the privilege of serving on panels about my dissertation research alongside historians I admire.  The people who attended my panel were considerate, asked thought-provoking questions, and made an effort to welcome me deeper into the Western History Association community. Panel discussions included ideas about what our conference theme meant to different individuals. One panelist discussed roots/routes as the deliberate actions someone takes across a geographic space to bind new relationships. Our conference theme—routes and roots: what it means to stay in relation even in times of disenchantment—made me think about the Quinault River in western Washington State. For Quinault people, routedness meant calling upon extended kin networks when our salmon and lands were threatened. Rootedness meant resilience or finding ways to remain in right and respectful relations with our salmon and our river even when those strategies seemed uncustomary to outsiders. These conversations helpfully inspired ideas for next year’s conference in Portland, Oregon on Coast Salish territory.

Ultimately, I left Albuquerque feeling hopeful in doing historical work. Despite the salient contrast between a nation dealing with assassinations, shutdowns, and political extremism, gathering to think, discuss, and teach felt important in a moment that feels unsteady. Communities, like that of the Western History Association, help remind us that scholarship is not created in isolation. The work continues outside scheduled panels in hallway chats, hotel bar introductions, and finally running into that person you hoped you would meet. Academic conferences matter. Academic gatherings, even though they can be expensive, serve as important spaces for nurturing relationships, fostering collaboration, and exchanging great new research. As I flew home, I did not feel defeated by the politics of the moment. I do believe that it’s the relationships we build with others that invigorate our many routes and roots in life.

The Western History Association Graduate Student Prize covered a substantial amount of travel expenses for me this year. This award aided in my professional development and helped me build relationships within the organization.

Siokwil (thank you) to the Western History Association for financial support during this year’s conference.