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HOTCUS is delighted to invite panel and roundtable proposals for our 2026 annual conference. We welcome proposals for sessions on any and all topics concerning the history of the United States – broadly conceived – from 1890 to the present. Proposals are encouraged from all HOTCUS members and anyone working on US history, but we are especially keen to showcase underrepresented scholars and topics. In addition, we particularly welcome proposals that adopt a broader perspective, such as innovative use of different sources, specific texts, themes, events and anniversaries, pedagogy, or other issues relating to academic culture and careers.

Proposals should include an overall abstract outlining the panel’s theme and relevance; short, 200-word abstracts and titles for each proposed presentation; and 1-2 page CVs for each speaker listing relevant publications and experience. Please place these in a single document. Panel slots will be approximately 90 minutes. Traditional panels of three/four speakers and a chair should ensure all speakers take a maximum of 50 minutes in total to allow plenty of time for wider discussion. We also encourage proposals that suggest a different format and that aim to rethink the approaches taken to conference presentations. This should be clearly outlined in your panel proposal. Chairs can be included in the proposal or added later by the conference committee.

Anybody seeking fellow panellists can use our online Panel Finder document to make connections and share ideas. Postgraduate students unable to find other panel members are welcome to ask for assistance from the program committee.

Submission Note: We strongly encourage panels that include a mix of participants from across the career spectrum (i.e., from postgraduate to professor). Historically, women have been underrepresented at HOTCUS events. As positive action under the Equality Act 2010, we seek to encourage the increased participation of women by asking conference participants not to submit all-male panels.

Please email all submissions to events.hotcus@gmail.com by midnight, UK time on 25 March , 2026.

HOTCUS welcomes applications for its 2026 Article Prize and 2026 Early Career Article Prize, both of which are designed to recognise the outstanding research published by HOTCUS members.

The 2026 Early Career Article Prize is open to doctoral (and pre-doctoral) students and recent PhD graduates not yet in academic employment, as well as those on short-term (less than three years), fractional, or hourly paid contracts.

HOTCUS is dedicated to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion, and so particularly encourages submissions from women and scholars from minority backgrounds, who have been traditionally underrepresented in previous competitions.

For both the Article Prize and the Early Career Article Prize, £100 will be awarded to the best article on a twentieth-century US history topic published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal during the 2025 calendar year. Articles published in 2025 as “First View” (i.e. online only and not yet part of a specific issue published in 2025) are eligible, but articles can only be submitted for consideration once. Submissions may be made by authors or editors. Authors may be at any career stage, but they must be members of HOTCUS. Authors may submit one article per year.

The HOTCUS committee will judge entries according to the following criteria:

• Potential contribution or significance to both the specific sub-field and the wider field of twentieth century American history;

• Originality and quality of research undertaken, and/or sophistication of methodological approach applied;

• Value and accessibility to both specialist and non-specialist readers

To enter, authors or editors should email a PDF of their article to membershipsecretary.hotcus@gmail.com by 13 February 2026. (Please specify whether you are eligible for the Early Career Article Prize in your email.)

HOTCUS welcomes applications from doctoral students and recent PhD graduates not yet in academic employment, as well as those on short-term (less than three years), fractional, or hourly paid contracts for its 2026 Research Award competition.

HOTCUS Research Awards support research in any area of twentieth-century United States history. Applications may be made for up to £500 for research expenses (including the cost of hiring a research assistant) and/or research travel to take place within 12 months after the date of application. There are no residency restrictions and travel may be to, or within, any country.

To address current patterns of under-representation in the makeup of our scholarly community and the wider discipline of History, HOTCUS especially welcomes applications from scholars with an ethnic minority background. Applicants must be members of HOTCUS at the time of application.

Successful applicants for a HOTCUS Research Award agree to submit a short report within two months of the research activity for publication on the HOTCUS website and to acknowledge the award in future publications.  We also warmly encourage award recipients to present their research findings at a future HOTCUS Annual Conference.

All applications must be submitted to membershipsecretary.hotcus@gmail.com by 1 March, 2026. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of the competition in April 2026. (Please note that applications must not exceed the stated word count in the relevant rubrics and should not include external links.)

The 2026 application form can be downloaded here. 

To assist applicants with their proposals, we present this example of a previously successful Research Award applicant that can be downloaded here.