Call for Abstracts: 47th Annual NESAH Student Symposium

The New England Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians is pleased to announce its upcoming 47th Annual Student Symposium. The Student Symposium features presentations by outstanding students from programs across New England in the history, theory, and criticism of architecture, art history, urban studies, historic preservation, and related fields. This year's symposium is hosted by the Connecticut College Right to Housing public scholarship initiative, which examines the national housing crisis through a regional lens. The symposium will take place on Saturday, November 14, 2026 at Connecticut College, and will be broadly themed around the topic of housing. 

Proposals centered on issues of housing, broadly conceived, may come from any historical and geographic areas. Projects that address current events and issues, and have local or regional relevance, are especially welcome. Potential topics might include:  

• aesthetics and philosophies of dwelling; 
• cultures of home; 
• gender and domesticity; 
• the political economy of housing; 
• residential design; 
• intersections of housing justice with class, race and ethnicity, health, education, or transportation; 
• histories of segregation; 
• meanings of home and place in (im)migrant or diasporic communities; 
• social and environmental impacts of redevelopment and gentrification; 
• urban ecology and climate change; 
• land use policy; and others.

Student symposium presenters are typically engaged in producing a thesis or dissertation, or are interested in developing work done in connection with a seminar or lecture course. Presenters should be current students – either graduate students or advanced undergraduates – at an academic institution in the New England region. Paper presentations should be 15 minutes in length and accompanied by slides. Student presentations will be followed by brief panel-style Q&A sessions moderated by NESAH directors.

Student presenters are encouraged to present their papers in-person, though the event will be held in a hybrid format for remote viewing. Some travel reimbursement may be available for presenters traveling longer distances. Presenters will receive a $150 honorarium. 

If you are interested in presenting your work at the symposium, please submit an abstract and short biographical note by Sunday, September 27. Abstracts should be less than 300 words in length; biographies should be less than 100 words and include the student’s name, the name of their faculty advisor, their field of study, and their institutional affiliation. Please submit these statements as a single PDF document to nesah.president@gmail.com. 

We will notify students of acceptance decisions by October 4. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us at nesah.president@gmail.com with any questions that you may have. Thank you for your participation."