The Midwestern History Association and the Hauenstein Center at Grand Valley State University invite proposals for papers to be delivered at the Eighth Annual Midwestern History Conference, to be held May 19-20, 2022, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This conference continues a vibrant discussion which has grown significantly over the last seven years by placing Midwestern studies at the center of American historiography. Scholars from many different career paths and stages with original research gather at this annual meeting, striving to cultivate rigorous historical understanding of a complex, dynamic, and often misunderstood region. Plenary speakers at the Midwestern History Conference in previous years have included winners of the Pulitzer, Bancroft, and Parkman Prizes, a National Book Award Finalist, and a past president of the Labor and Working-Class History Association.

2021- THE MIDWEST AT THE INTERSECTION OF PAST AND PRESENT

As in 2016, the 2020 election year shined a spotlight on the Midwest. This conference continues a vibrant discussion which has grown significantly over the last six years, a collaborative conference designed to spark – and sustain – a revival of Midwestern studies in American historiography. Infused with the varieties of original research pursued by scholars from many different career paths and stages, this annual gathering strives to cultivate rigorous historical understanding of a complex, dynamic, and misunderstood region.

Hosted for the seventh year by the Hauenstein Center in collaboration with the Midwestern History Association and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, Library & Museum, this conference assembles a broad array of historians, literary scholars, and cultural commentators dedicated to rebuilding the field of Midwestern studies. In casting light upon the vast expanse of scholarly terrain available in Midwestern history to those willing to cultivate it in their minds, classrooms, and research centers, “The Midwest at the Intersection of Past and Present” will continue the project of rebuilding the intellectual infrastructure necessary for studies of the American Midwest to flourish.

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