Call for Session Proposals: Madison 2022

Celebrating its 50th anniversary and first in-person meeting in three years, the Midwest Archives Conference will hold its 2022 Annual Meeting May 5-7, 2022 at the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club in Madison, Wisconsin. The city of Madison is located on ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. Madison is known for its extensive parks and bike trails, organic architecture, and scenic lakes.

The Wisconsin state motto is “Forward,” which provides a useful lens through which to examine the archival profession. What are some of the professional, environmental, societal, and cultural factors that affect the way we move forward, the way we see trends, and the way we identify challenges and opportunities?

The Program Committee invites session proposals touching on the 2022 theme “Moving Archives Forward” from all areas of archival practice and research and from allied fields. The Program Committee particularly encourages submissions from newer professionals and members of underrepresented groups. Membership is not required. Presenters may submit more than one proposal, but may present only one session OR poster.

Possible topics include but are not limited to: 

  • Moving forward in areas like equity, inclusivity, and diversity
  • Documenting historically underrepresented or marginalized groups 
  • Making collections discoverable and accessible to all
  • Reframing and illuminating the contested past in order to move forward
  • Advances in technology and/or practice
  • Moving forward to fulfill professional missions to support our communities and patrons
  • Post-custodialism or decolonizing archives
  • Environmental impacts that affect how archives will function moving forward
  • Lessons learned and moving forward from the pandemic
  • Advocacy, or building internal/external support for undertaking new initiatives

 The Program Committee will also consider outstanding proposals not related to this theme or these topics.

Session Types

  • Standard Presentation: Two to four speakers present on a common theme. May include a moderator to steer discussion and/or introduce speakers and theme.
  • Open Forum: Topical discussion with moderator leading discussion with everyone present. May include additional moderator(s) to direct breakout conversations.
  • Roundtable Discussion: Three or four participants make very brief remarks, then discuss a topic together. Includes a moderator to steer discussion.
  • PechaKucha: Each presentation consists of 20 slides or images displayed for 20 seconds each, with comment. Each presentation lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
  • Lightning Talks: Like PechaKucha, but without a set format. May or may not include slides or images. Presentations may be from 3 to 10 minutes long, with the time allotted depending on the number of presenters.
  • Debate: Moderator announces the topic, and two other people debate. May include more than one topic and additional debaters.

In January 2022, there will be a call for poster proposals as well as a call for pop-up sessions for less traditional session types or time-sensitive topics.

Session Lengths and Formats

45 minutes and 90 minutes. Please be mindful of your number of presenters and session type when indicating preferred session length.

We are still in the planning stages, but portions or all of the conference may be recorded or life-streamed. Please indicate on the proposal submission form if you are willing to have your presentation recorded.

Speaker Representation

The Program Committee seeks a diverse slate of presenters representing a variety of personal and institutional backgrounds, perspectives, and voices. We seek to foster a culture of inclusion in the MAC program and encourage submissions from anyone who is interested in presenting, including students, new professionals, first-time presenters, and those from allied professions. In order to facilitate this, the proposal submission form will ask voluntary questions about presenters past presentation experiences as well as some demographic information.

To facilitate collaboration among those brainstorming session ideas, the Program Committee encourages use of the MAC Facebook page and the spreadsheet for brainstorming session proposal ideas.

Proposal Evaluation

The Program Committee will evaluate all proposals submitted by the deadline using the following criteria:

  • Merit and clarity of the 1750-character abstract;
  • Well-developed content and sufficient speakers to address all relevant aspects of the topic;
  • Originality of proposed topic;
  • Diversity and inclusivity of session;
  • Appropriateness of proposed format with session content

 All proposals will be considered in the context of the overall structure of the meeting and availability of time slots for proposed sessions.

You can preview a PDF of the proposal form here.

All individuals involved in an accepted proposal must sign a presenter agreement and are expected to abide by the MAC Code of Conduct.

Proposal Submission

The call for proposals for the 2022 MAC Annual Meeting is now closed. A call for pop up sessions and posters will be announced in January 2022.

If you have any questions about the proposal process, please contact the 2022 Program Committee co-chairs, Sarah Dorpinhaus ([email protected]) and Kahlee Leingang ([email protected]).