2025 Graduate Student Forum – Colonial Society of Massachusetts
Graduate students preparing original research on any area of early American history (up to 1815) at both the M.A. and Ph.D. levels are invited to submit proposals for the Colonial Society of Massachusetts’s annual Graduate Student Forum. They will discuss their work with between six and ten peers from other universities and with the Colonial Society’s members at our Beacon Hill house (87 Mount Vernon Street). Presenters invited to Boston will have all travel expenses reimbursed and will be provided accommodations in Boston.
The Forum will begin on Thursday afternoon, May 29, with a tour of the house, a reception, and dinner. We will meet all day on Friday, May 30, to share and discuss graduate student presentations. The event will conclude on Friday afternoon with remarks on the presentations from our honored guest speaker, Professor Peter Mancall, Distinguished Professor of History, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, and the Linda and Harlan Martens Director of the Early Modern Studies Institute. Presenters should plan to present a major finding from their research anchored in the relevant historiography.
How to Submit a Proposal: Proposals, not to exceed four double-spaced pages (including notes), should describe the larger historiographical intervention the presenters seek to make with their research as well as the specific finding, question, and/or sources they hope to share during the Forum.
Though the selection committee may give preference to New England topics, we are open to hearing from researchers whose work extends throughout early North America. The committee is especially eager to hear from researchers—historians as well as scholars from allied disciplines—whose work sheds new light on the diverse peoples of early New England and/or work that puts early New England history in conversation with that of other places and peoples.
To apply, please submit your CV and proposal together as a single pdf: the filename should be Lastname.CSM2025. Please use the subject line: "CSM Grad Forum application."
Applications are due to Chris Parsons ([email protected]) by noon Eastern time on Friday, March 14, 2025.
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Presenters from the June 2024 Graduate Forum after the event. |
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Testimonials
Since our first Graduate Forum in 1999, more than 150 graduate students have participated in this annual event. Here are some comments from previous participants: “A wonderful new venue for young historians of early America; may it long continue.” (John Demos). “The warm, positive feedback and direction I received fired my enthusiasm for research. It was truly invaluable” (University of California, Davis). “Challenging, and energetic; I took away practical suggestions from both the CSM membership and other graduate student presenters” (Tufts University). “. . . stimulating scholarly exchange combined with wonderful food” (University of Connecticut). “It was my first presentation, and I certainly appreciated the comfortable surroundings" (Princeton). “A platform to voice concerns, dilemmas, and even accomplishments to a distinguished audience” (Salem State University). “My participation in the forum was really the highlight of my graduate career to date” (SUNY Stony Brook).
Programs for Graduate Student Forums from 2009 through 2024 may be downloaded at the links below.