Call for Proposals: Pop-Up and Working Group Sessions

The 2019 Program Committee for ARCHIVES*RECORDS 2019: TRANSFORMATIVE! invites you to submit proposals for Pop-Up and Working Group sessions at the Joint Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, July 31 - August 6. Pop-Up sessions enliven the conference program by focusing on ideas and content that may have “popped up” since November 2018 (when initial proposals were due).  New this year: The Program Committee also invites proposals for Working Group sessions, which we hope will help to facilitate intentional conversations around topics that require more focused discussion directed to specific deliverables or actionable items. We strongly encourage experimentation for Pop-Ups and Working Groups and ask you to think creatively to engage and challenge participants, prompting them to consider possibilities and new directions—even if it means jumping out of their comfort zones.

In crafting your proposals, we encourage you to consider the theme of the Joint Annual Meeting (TRANSFORMATIVE!). In describing projects, processes, experiences, etc., as transformative, it means we are able to identify, to some degree, a profound, meaningful change or shift--affecting the core or dominant structure of that work--toward growth and/or empowerment.

To help spark your creativity, the Program Committee co-chairs offer some examples of topics. These are examples only and are not required for Pop-Up or Working Group sessions:

• Addressing the points in the archival process that have an impact on transgender, non-binary, genderqueer (mis)representation, (in)visibility, discoverability, and physical access in “mainstream” archives, donor relations, appraisal, and archiving towards the future.
• A working group in which directors/department heads/managers of archives, etc., explore anti-oppressive strategies for collections management, repository management, mentoring, and/or sustainable leadership.
• A working group in which directors/department heads/managers of archives, etc., explore ways to foster meaningful support for Black and Indigenous colleagues/colleagues of color who experience racialized trauma in the workplace, affecting all aspects of archival work, including but not limited to tenure, morale, and outreach.
• As archives is a colonialist project, the nature of archival work, then, is violent.
• Addressing settler colonialism and the insistence of institutional ownership, acquisitions, and stewardship as they relate to “equitable” partnerships.
• Teaching/learning archival concepts by examining and/or addressing historical erasure, repatriation, reparations, white supremacy, and/or ableist and classist assumptions in respect to university or government archives.
• Toward liberatory government archives.
• Disability justice as an archival imperative.
• A working group geared toward white archivists, records managers, educators, and students addressing—as an archival imperative—the impact of white supremacy and racism as part of their institutional commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity.
• Dr. Ashley Farmer’s article, “Archiving While Black” (The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 22, 2018), and Jarrett Drake’s article, “I’m Leaving the Archival Profession: It’s Better This Way” (Medium, June 26, 2017).
• The extent to which archivists disrupt the cis-hetero gaze of archival standards that police and manage description and access of LGBTQ+ collections; or build sustainable working relationships with LGBTQ+ community archives.
• A working group session to identify structural issues with SAA’s decommissioned Archives & Archivists listserv toward shaping possible alternatives.
• Michelle Caswell’s article, “Teaching to Dismantle White Supremacy in Archives” (Library Quarterly, 2017) and Mario H. Ramirez’s “Being Assumed Not to Be: A Critique of Whiteness as an Archival Imperative” (The American Archivist, 2015).
• Archives, including government archives, as sociopolitical interventions.
• Corporate recordkeeping and confidentiality of employment-based non-immigrant and immigrant petitions.
• Student records, privacy, government interference, and university protection.
• “Mainstream” archives advocating for funding and/or sharing institutional resources to help sustain the work of ongoing community archival initiatives.
• Archivists sitting with (and learning from) their discomfort.
• Normalization of exploitative labor? Black and Indigenous archivists/archivists of color assigned to diversity committee work; unpaid/under-paid student internships; government institutions’ calls to crowdsource assistance with description work.
• Cultivating archivist labor unions.
• Addressing historical debt.
• ...Theory informs practice informs theory informs practice informs theory…: Effective, meaningful (non-conference) praxis partnerships among archival practitioners and researchers to more fully advance the field.
• “Jam hands” in the reading room: Boosting primary sources and archives in early education (K-5) curriculum, particularly in under-resourced schools, toward long-term advocacy for archival field.
• Jeopardy, Archives/Records Management Edition!

Again, these are only examples to help generate proposal ideas. Please feel free to propose an entirely different topic related to the Joint Annual Meeting theme for a Pop-Up or Working Group session.

POP-UPS

The Program Committee has no format preference; select the format that is best suited for the purpose of your session. See the initial Call For Program Proposals for descriptions of session formats (e.g., panels, lightning talks). PLEASE make sure that you do not exceed the maximum--and that you meet the minimum--number of co-presenters indicated for your selected session format. 

Complete Pop-Up submissions include:

• An *abstract (250 words maximum) that explains the purpose of the session; the intended audience; and how the session will proceed.
• Short description (100 words maximum) of how your Pop-Up session promotes inclusivity and/or intends to address, for example, power structures, erasure, marginalization, repatriation, reparation, etc., in archives/records management.
• The names of the designated session chair and all CONFIRMED co-presenters, plus everyone’s contact information (institution, email address, phone number).
• Type of session format best suited for your purpose. 
• Session preferences: a) 60- or 75-minute slot (or indicate no preference); and b) preferred date: August 4, 5, or 6. Please note that we cannot guarantee your preferences, but we want to try to accommodate them so that they help facilitate your conference plans, travel itinerary, and budget.

WORKING GROUPS

We’re experimenting with Working Groups, so you should feel free to do so, too! The purpose of Working Group sessions is to provide time and space during the Joint Annual Meeting in which a more focused, intentional conversation is facilitated in order to generate action items from which we can learn and/or identify potential archival pursuits or projects. We hope Working Groups will help to build on and sustain collaborative work in an effort to advance various interlocking goals in archives and records management.

Minimum requirements:

1. Working Group sessions require a minimum of two individuals: one session chair/facilitator and one note-taker. Additional facilitators are optional and we ask that the note-taker is part of the official Working Group team, not a random participant. The chair/facilitator(s) is/are responsible for guiding the conversation and related activities of the Working Group session, and the note-taker is responsible for recording notes and action items generated during the session.
2. Shortly after the Joint Annual Meeting, the Working Group session chair will provide CoSA and SAA with a deliverable (polished notes, outline, workflow, an established working group or research team—the possibilities are endless!—toward sustainable collaborative work). The deliverable(s) will be shared and publicly accessible via the conference website.

Complete Working Group submissions include:

• An *abstract (250 words maximum) that explains the purpose of the Working Group session; why your topic would benefit from a more intentional conversation with interested participants; and how the session will proceed. You are not required to identify specific deliverables/action items within your proposal. If your session is selected, we are open to these emerging organically as the Working Group session progresses.
• Short description (100 words maximum) of how your Working Group promotes inclusivity and/or intends to address, for example, power structures, erasure, marginalization, repatriation, reparation, etc., in archives/records management.
• The names of the confirmed session chair/facilitator and ONE note-taker. Additional facilitators are welcome. Please include everyone’s role and contact information (institution, email address, phone number).
• Session preferences: a) 60- or 75-minute slot (or indicate no preference); and b) preferred date: August 4, 5, or 6. Please note that we cannot guarantee your preferences, but we want to try to accommodate them so that they help facilitate your conference plans, travel itinerary, and budget.

All rooms will be equipped with standard media hookups (LCD projector, screen, podium microphone). Wireless connections cannot be guaranteed. Rooms will be set either in theater-style or in rounds; we will do our best to accommodate your preference, but cannot guarantee a particular room set.

*If your submission is a resubmission of a proposal that was not selected for the 2019 program, we ask that you address the Program Committee’s suggested revisions, if any, in your proposal.

DEADLINE for SUBMISSIONS:
11:59 PM Central time on Wednesday, May 15.

Session Selection

Sessions will be selected in two different ways. First, to ensure that under-discussed, salient, challenging topics/issues are included, the Program Committee co-chairs will select up to two sessions that connect strongly with the conference theme. Second, the remaining sessions will be selected for inclusion in the program based on an online vote of CoSA and SAA members. If the Program Committee co-chairs select your session, you will be notified shortly after their decision. Voting results will be shared by Wednesday, June 12.

Questions concerning Pop-Up and Working Group proposals may be sent to conference@archivists.org.

The 2019 Program Committee has created a Google spreadsheet to be used as an informal tool to connect individuals who are seeking ideas and/or collaboration on Pop-Up or Working Group proposals for the 2019 Joint Annual Meeting. It is not monitored by CoSA, SAA, or the Program Committee and is not part of the official submission process.