Big Berks 2027

2027 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Gender, and Sexualities

“Beyond Boundaries: Gender, History and the Futures We Imagine”

Minneapolis, MN · June 10–13, 2027

Registration is now open for the 2027 Big Berks.

Call for Proposals

Beyond Boundaries: Gender, History and the Futures We Imagine

The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians invites proposals for its 2027 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Gender, and Sexualities, also known as the “Big Berks,” which will be held at the Hilton Minneapolis June 10-13, 2027. Since its founding, the Big Berks has consistently served as a vital space where historians, educators, activists, and artists from around the world come together for intellectual exchange, mentorship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community-building, while also adapting to reflect new directions in feminist and historical scholarship. The Big Berks offers plenaries, sessions, workshops, performances, and social events that promote scholarly rigor and transformative dialogue.

Our 2027 theme, “Beyond Boundaries: Gender, History and the Futures We Imagine,” calls us to reaffirm the centrality of feminist, queer, Black, Brown, and trans histories to our collective understanding of the past and to the preservation and progress of democratic life. At a moment when histories of women, gender, and sexualities are under attack—in classrooms, archives, museums, parks, and public discourse—the Berks stands in defense of historical truth and the right to teach, research, and tell stories that reflect the complexity of human experience.

Accessibility & Inclusion

The Program Committee is committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and accessible conference environment. We encourage session proposals that include participants from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, particularly scholars and practitioners from historically underrepresented and marginalized communities. We welcome proposals bringing together participants across a range of professional paths and career stages.

If you require accommodations such as ASL interpretation, CART captioning, wheelchair-accessible seating, a room near an elevator, dietary accommodations, lactation space, quiet or low-stimulation space, or scheduling considerations, please note this in your submission. This information will be used solely to support accessibility and will not impact consideration for the conference program. We approach accessibility and inclusion as ongoing practices and are committed to working with participants to ensure the conference is accessible and welcoming to all.

Read our full accessibility statement ›

We strongly encourage pre-constituted panels. If you are looking for collaborators, we invite you to fill out the Big Berks Collaborator Form to connect with others whose research complements your own. It’s a great way to meet potential co-panelists and build new intellectual partnerships.

We’re also delighted to share that the conference will be free for all K–12 educators in Minneapolis and the surrounding area. We welcome your participation and look forward to learning from the important work happening in local classrooms and communities.

We want to share, with genuine regret, that the 2027 conference will be held in person only. While we recognize the many benefits of virtual and hybrid access—including expanded reach, accessibility, and greater flexibility—the financial costs and the significant human labor required to plan, coordinate, and execute a high-quality hybrid or fully virtual experience are beyond what we can sustainably support at this time.

We are deeply mindful that this choice may limit participation for some members of our community, and we do not take that lightly. We remain committed to exploring additional ways to share scholarship and foster connection beyond the conference itself, and we hope to continue building more accessible opportunities in the future, including the potential for virtual programming leading up to the Big Berks.

Session Formats

All concurrent session slots are 90 minutes. Choose the format that best suits your work.
Please note that all sessions are in person only.

Traditional Panels

Traditional panels consist of three presenters plus a chair, with two format options: three 20-minute papers with a chair, OR three 15-minute papers with a chair and a commentator. A panel with four 15 minute presentations and one chair is also allowed. The chair cannot also be a presenter. The chair and commentator roles may be filled by the same person, but that person cannot be a presenter. The chair’s role is to introduce the papers, while the commentator’s is to provide commentary on the papers. Presenters will be held to stated time limits by the chair to ensure time for at least a 30-minute question-and-answer period. All panel organizers must submit a 250-word session abstract that describes the overall themes and goals of the session, as well as 250-word abstracts and titles for each paper in the session. Paper abstracts, written by the individual scholars and submitted by the session organizer, should explain the presentation’s argument and specific contribution to scholarship in the field.

Lightning Sessions

Lightning Sessions are an opportunity for up to eight scholars to deliver very short presentations of their work (about five minutes each in length) followed by questions and answers from the audience. This format is ideal if a group wants to explore a range of perspectives on an issue, get a broad sense of the state of the field on a topic, or offer several different answers to a larger question or problem. Lightning sessions require a chair; the chair cannot also be a presenter. Lightning session organizers must submit a 250-word session abstract that describes the overall questions and goals of the session, as well as 250-word abstracts for each paper in the session. Paper abstracts, written by the individual presenters and submitted by the session organizer, should explain the presentation’s argument and specific contribution to scholarship in the field. Lightning sessions do not have a commentator.

Roundtable Discussions

Roundtables are structured discussions revolving around field-specific themes and questions. The session consists of a minimum of three and a maximum of five presenters/discussants and a chair/moderator, who takes an active role in the session. The chair/moderator cannot also be a presenter. The purpose of this format is discussion and interchange among a group of scholars about a debate, question, or issue in the field and can be structured as a “State of the Field” panel. After everyone on the panel has spoken and engaged with other panelists, the moderator will open the discussion up for participation by audience members. Roundtable organizers must submit a 250-word title and session abstract, and individual presenters should each submit a 75-word abstract. Roundtables do not have a commentator.

Workshops

Workshops are designed to foster sustained engagement with works in progress. These sessions center on pre-circulated scholarly papers or creative projects. All materials must be posted online by April 1, 2027, so that participants and possibly audience members can review them prior to the session. Workshops may include up to 8 participants and a chair (who may be the same person as the organizer). Authors will also give 5-7 minute presentations that highlight key questions or problems in their papers. Participants engage in back-and-forth discussion among themselves and with audience members about their work. All workshop organizers must submit a 250-word session abstract that describes the overall questions and goals of the session, as well as a 250-word abstract for each paper in the session. The paper abstracts, written by the individual scholars and submitted by the session organizer, should explain the presentation’s methodology, sources, argument and specific contribution to scholarship in the field. All workshops will run concurrently on the Sunday morning of the conference. Papers for distribution should be no more than twenty pages.

Single Paper Submissions

Poster Sessions (individual presentations)

We invite individual poster presentations that visually present research, projects, or creative work. Poster sessions allow presenters to share their ideas through a large-format visual display that highlights the central question, approach, key insights, and significance of the work using concise text, images, charts, or other graphics. These sessions facilitate dialogue, feedback, and networking as participants circulate through the session and learn about multiple projects. Poster sessions are especially well suited for works in progress, collaborative initiatives, community-engaged work, or research that benefits from visual presentation and discussion.

Submission Guidelines

Proposal Submission Guidelines

Panel proposals should include the following components

Panel Summary (up to 250 words): Provide an overview of the panel’s theme, central questions, and objectives. Explain how the individual papers connect to one another and to the conference theme.
Individual Paper Abstracts (200–250 words each): Each paper abstract should clearly outline the main argument, sources, and contribution to the broader panel discussion.
Participant Bios (50 words each): Provide title and institutional affiliation, if applicable, for all participants (presenters, chairs, and commentators).

For each participant, provide

Name, Affiliation, Email
50-word bio

Participant roles

Organizer — submits session title and full abstract title in panels
Chair — no title/no abstract
Presenter — title/abstract
Commentator (not required) — no title or paper

Additional requirements

Incomplete proposals will not be considered
Participants are limited to two sessions (as presenter and/or organizer)
All attendees must hold active Berks membership
All accepted presenters must become members and register by May 1, 2027
Presenters must comply with the Big Berks Code of Conduct and accessibility guidelines

Important Dates

March 20, 2026 Proposal Submissions Open
July 17, 2026 Proposal Submission Deadline
September 15, 2026 Decision Notification
October 31, 2026 Session Scheduling Notification
January 20, 2027 Session Confirmation Deadline
May 1, 2027 Conference Registration Deadline
June 10–13, 2027 Conference Dates

Nine Thematic Tracks

Resistance, Censorship & Repression

Histories of resistance to political or social censorship, state or institutional repression, and heteropatriarchy.

Intersectional, Trans & Queer Histories

Analyses that foreground race, gender, sexuality, and intersectional identities in shaping historical experiences.

Archival, Public & Digital Histories

Projects and methodologies that recover silenced histories and violences, reimagine archives, and democratize historical knowledge by expanding public access and engaging communities as co-creators in the production of history.

Reproductive Justice & Bodily Autonomy

Histories of reproductive politics, bodily autonomy, and struggles for gender self-determination.

Disability, Embodiment & the Life Course

Histories that analyze and interrogate norms of health, ability, age and maturity, and (re)productivity.

Migration, Empire & Decolonial Frameworks

Studies of movement, displacement, and contact that reimagine the histories of women, gender, and sexualities in relation to imperial, colonial, and national frameworks.

Power, Precarity, and Unfreedom

Histories of political and economic inequity, including labor movements, underground economies, and our changing relationship with the environment.

Religion, Magic & Systems of Belief

Interrogations of faith and belief, including the role of organized religion, heterodoxy, and other cosmologies in gendered history.

The Joys of Sex?

Histories of romance and play, courtship, marriage and family dynamics, and sexual practices and identities.