FCH Participant Guidelines
The annual meetings of the Florida Conference of Historians resemble other professional academic conferences in history, such as the American Historical Association or the Organization of American Historians. The following is a brief description of the roles of the various conference participants. Approximately a month after the deadline to submit, you will receive an email notice that a draft of the program is ready to view. Locate the time and date of your presentation, and immediately notify the organizers of any errors.
More guidance on the roles of all participants may be found at the American Historical Association website. We also recommend that you read the views of Linda K. Kerber, a past president of the AHA, who wrote a three-part series on the "best practices" for all of those involved in presenting at a history conference.
Individual Paper and Panel Participants: Reading a paper to an audience is the most traditional way that historical research is presented, and individual presentations are organized in a panel around a similar theme, time period, etc. The FCH encourages participants to form their own panels. However, if you decide to submit an individual paper, local organizers will be glad to assign you a panel, chair, and discussant. Please provide copies of your paper to designated Chairs and/or Discussants at least two weeks before the meeting. Local organizers normally make technology available (e.g., Powerpoint, Internet, etc), but participants should plan in the event that technology is not available or fails. For example, it is a good idea to bring copies of handouts or other visuals to the meeting. Please be respectful of others by keeping to your designated time limit, which usually runs fifteen or twenty minutes depending on how many presenters are on the panel and the length of the session. The FCH encourages panelists to contact the Chair, who will provide more guidance about time and generally how the panels will be run.
We have additional guidance for undergraduate presenters, who may be presenting and publishing for the first time.
Chairs: Your basic obligations as Chair of a panel are few but nonetheless important. You should gather basic biographical information about the presenters prior to the session so as to introduce them appropriately. You should inform those present that it is customary to defer questions to the end of the session. It is also crucial to manage your scheduled time appropriately. In most sessions, presenters are allotted about fifteen or twenty minutes, and it is the Chair’s duty to cue them when their time elapses, perhaps providing a "five minute warning". As Chair, you are also charged with managing the question-answer period, and you are certainly free to pose questions or make comments yourself. Finally, you should bring your session to a timely close by thanking all those who participated.
Discussants: Discussants are usually allotted ten to fifteen minutes to comment on the papers and should be respectful to participants by providing constructive criticism. Discussants may focus their comments on various aspects of the paper, including how the paper is organized, what evidence is used, or the logic of the author's arguments. It is important for panelists to provide their papers to discussants well before the meeting.
Poster Presentations: The FCH is now accepting poster presentations. More detailed information on setting up, formatting, and presenting posters may be found on our Poster Guidelines page. Only undergraduate participants are eligible for the Astolfi Award for the best poster.
Media/Film Presentations: The FCH accepts multimedia proposals, such as documentary films or animation. Please visit our Media/Film proposal page and provide as much detailed information about the proposal as possible. You will want to contact the Chair of the Media, Arts, and Culture Special Interest Section to make sure that the local organizers can provide the technology needed. The FCH also awards a jury prize to the best multimedia presentation, and you will need to inform the FCH if you would like to be eligible.
More guidance on the roles of all participants may be found at the American Historical Association website. We also recommend that you read the views of Linda K. Kerber, a past president of the AHA, who wrote a three-part series on the "best practices" for all of those involved in presenting at a history conference.
Individual Paper and Panel Participants: Reading a paper to an audience is the most traditional way that historical research is presented, and individual presentations are organized in a panel around a similar theme, time period, etc. The FCH encourages participants to form their own panels. However, if you decide to submit an individual paper, local organizers will be glad to assign you a panel, chair, and discussant. Please provide copies of your paper to designated Chairs and/or Discussants at least two weeks before the meeting. Local organizers normally make technology available (e.g., Powerpoint, Internet, etc), but participants should plan in the event that technology is not available or fails. For example, it is a good idea to bring copies of handouts or other visuals to the meeting. Please be respectful of others by keeping to your designated time limit, which usually runs fifteen or twenty minutes depending on how many presenters are on the panel and the length of the session. The FCH encourages panelists to contact the Chair, who will provide more guidance about time and generally how the panels will be run.
We have additional guidance for undergraduate presenters, who may be presenting and publishing for the first time.
Chairs: Your basic obligations as Chair of a panel are few but nonetheless important. You should gather basic biographical information about the presenters prior to the session so as to introduce them appropriately. You should inform those present that it is customary to defer questions to the end of the session. It is also crucial to manage your scheduled time appropriately. In most sessions, presenters are allotted about fifteen or twenty minutes, and it is the Chair’s duty to cue them when their time elapses, perhaps providing a "five minute warning". As Chair, you are also charged with managing the question-answer period, and you are certainly free to pose questions or make comments yourself. Finally, you should bring your session to a timely close by thanking all those who participated.
Discussants: Discussants are usually allotted ten to fifteen minutes to comment on the papers and should be respectful to participants by providing constructive criticism. Discussants may focus their comments on various aspects of the paper, including how the paper is organized, what evidence is used, or the logic of the author's arguments. It is important for panelists to provide their papers to discussants well before the meeting.
Poster Presentations: The FCH is now accepting poster presentations. More detailed information on setting up, formatting, and presenting posters may be found on our Poster Guidelines page. Only undergraduate participants are eligible for the Astolfi Award for the best poster.
Media/Film Presentations: The FCH accepts multimedia proposals, such as documentary films or animation. Please visit our Media/Film proposal page and provide as much detailed information about the proposal as possible. You will want to contact the Chair of the Media, Arts, and Culture Special Interest Section to make sure that the local organizers can provide the technology needed. The FCH also awards a jury prize to the best multimedia presentation, and you will need to inform the FCH if you would like to be eligible.