Rocky Mountain Workshop on African History
To be held in beautiful Portland, Oregon, September 18-19, 2026
This is a call for papers and discussants for the Rocky Mountain Workshop on African History. The Rocky Mountain Workshop is designed to provide an intensive and critical discussion of pre-circulated papers on any aspect of African history. Papers with historical dimensions but originating from other disciplines, such as anthropology or political science, are welcome. The Rocky Mountain Workshop is held annually at rotating institutions in the western United States. This year's workshop will be held in Portland, Oregon on September 18-19 2026.
Over the course of two days, the meeting will provide Africanist historians with diverse backgrounds and research interests with the opportunity to present works in progress and receive both substantial commentary and supportive discussion from colleagues in a workshop atmosphere. Although anyone is welcome to present, the organizing committee especially encourages the presentation of unpublished research from Africanist historians based in the Western United States (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). We envision that this workshop will become a fixture for this diffuse community of Africanist scholars, and serve to strengthen the exchange of ideas among this group. We encourage proposals from graduate students at all stages, in addition to work from junior scholars. (For graduate students and those who are in non-permanent positions, there is no registration fee and you may be considered for $500 of travel support.)
The Rocky Mountain Workshop will not be open to the public in order to preserve the intimate nature of the meeting, but scholars may participate in the workshop in two ways:
(1) Present a work in progress
Paper proposals should include the participant’s name, contact information, affiliation, tentative paper title, and an abstract of no more than 250 words. The abstract needs to articulate clearly the research question(s) of the paper, the argument or hypothesis of the paper, the type of evidence that will be consulted, and the historiographical and/or theoretical contribution that the research will make to the field of African history. For the first time, we are also welcoming papers focused on teaching aspects of African history, and hope to have a panel focused on pedagogy.
(2) Serve as a discussant
Proposals to serve as a discussant should include the participant’s name, contact information, affiliation, and historical themes, areas of specialty, and/or geographical regions on which they would be willing to comment. The discussants will be responsible for providing written feedback on the papers to which they are assigned, 5-7 minutes of commentary, and then leading a discussion about the papers with panel attendees.
Proposals should be submitted using the Google forms available on the Rocky Mountain Workshop website under Submit Proposal.
Timelines
All proposals must be submitted by Monday, May 4, midnight.
Decisions about accepted papers will be communicated by the end of May.
Draft papers (in the 5,000-10,000 word range) will need to be shared by August 31, 2026.
Fees
Participants will be required to pay a non-refundable registration fee to reserve their place at the workshop of $150 for tenure-line faculty. Registration is free for graduate students and those in contingent positions. The registration fee covers breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks on Friday and Saturday, in addition to Friday evening dinner.
Graduate Student/Independent Scholar/ Non-Tenure Track Faculty Travel Funding:
We anticipate offering up to two $500 travel awards to graduate students, independent scholars, and those who are in non-tenure track positions to help cover some of the costs of attending the conference. Applicants can indicate their interest in travel funds when they submit their abstract using the proposal form.
Questions should be directed to Jennifer Tappan at Jtappan@pdx.edu
Sincerely,
RMW Local Arrangements Committee
Bright Alozie, Portland State University
Lindsay Braun, University of Oregon
Melissa Graboyes, University of Oregon
Jennifer Tappan, Portland State University
Julie Weise, University of Oregon