Strategic Cultural Partnerships

Location

Hosted by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture, and William & Mary

In 2026 the United States of America will mark the 250th anniversary of independence. This is an unparalleled opportunity for exploring and reflecting upon the American past, the foundation of the nation, and its legacy into the present. Colonial Williamsburg (CW), the Omohundro Institute (OI), and William & Mary (W&M) are joining together to host a series of five annual conferences to spotlight emerging research, programs, and practice to connect a diverse public to scholars, public historians, museum educators, teacher educators, and classroom teachers, and convene significant conversations about how and why understanding the early American past is especially meaningful today. The first of these conferences, “For 2026: Revolutionary Legacies,” took place October 28–30, 2022. “For 2026: Contested Freedoms” is the second conference in the series and will take place October 26-28, 2023.

In addition to researcher–to-researcher panels and workshops for scholars of the American Revolution and Vast Early America, W&M, CW, and OI are partnering with Teacher InSites, a coalition of museums and historic sites offering teacher professional development, to integrate programming by and for museum educators, teacher educators, and classroom teachers. These sessions, collectively tagged as RevEd, will explore ways to bridge theory and practice to advance an expansive, inclusive history of early America that accounts for the diversity of people and experiences that shaped the period. We invite educators from museums, historic sites, teacher preparation programs, and K-12 institutions to submit proposals for site visits, workshops, keynotes, and other sessions that will share replicable practices and lessons on the theme of "Contested Freedoms." We encourage creating proposals that include representatives from more than one of these work categories. If you have an idea and would like help finding session partners or shaping a proposal, please reach out to us by May 1. 

Conference Theme: Contested Freedoms

If the American Revolution inaugurated new ways of speaking and thinking about freedom, it also took place in and helped to create a world marked by multiple forms of unfreedom. Within the European-dominated colonies, nations, and empires of early America, slavery and subjugation as well as distinct economic and political constraints curtailed its rhetoric of universal rights. Indigenous polities, too, sought to exercise their own ideas about freedom and unfreedom, while African-descended people struggled to enact projects of liberation and belonging. The contests between and within these groups throughout the Atlantic world were powerfully shaped by the efforts of individuals, communities, colonies, and nations to grapple with the opportunities and challenges of freedom and servitude in an Age of Revolution. The United States’ own contest for and over freedom both emerged in this context and reshaped it in ways that we continue to debate today. Those debates require engaging with early America’s contested freedoms.

Collaborations, workshops, field trips, civic projects, student-directed research -- what are you doing with K-12 audiences that engages them with the historical content and encourages them to think about its 21st-century relevance? Sessions that include theory, research, and practice are welcome. Co-presentations between museum educators and K-12 educators are encouraged.

In recognition of the 300th anniversary of the Brafferton Indian School, the conference sponsors are committed to a strong through-line of programming focused on Indigenous history, but welcome content exploring any aspect of Vast Early America across the United States.

Proposal Submission

Proposals for workshops and panel sessions are due by June 1, 2023. Inquiries about session creation support are due by May 1. Please be sure to note on the form that you are submitting as a RevEd presenter. Participants who would like to be considered for travel support should email us directly at [[oieahc]]. This information will be collected by the conference organizer only. The program committee will not consider these requests when evaluating session proposals.

Contact

dfdevlin01@wm.edu

This Event Appears On

• Strategic Cultural Partnerships
• Bray School Lab