Call for Abstracts

The Construction History Society of America announces the

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 

for the 2025 meeting on Construction History

Held at the University of Virginia School of Architecture in Charlottesville, Virginia, June 12-14, 2025

We invite researchers and practitioners from all aspects of the history of construction to submit paper abstracts on subjects for the 2025 Meeting on Construction History, to be held in Charlottesville, Virginia. The meeting will be hosted by the Construction History Society of America and the University of Virginia School of Architecture and follows successful meetings of the CHSA held in Urbana-Champaign, IL (2023), Marrietta, GA (2022), College Park, MD (2018), Austin, TX (2016), Minneapolis, MN (2014), Cambridge, MA (2012), Philadelphia, PA (2010), and Atlanta, GA (2008).

The Program Committee wishes to encourage a broad range of papers dealing with construction history.  This includes not only the physical results (infrastructure and building) but also the materials, processes and systems used in their development. While we seek a broad range of eras and geographies, topics focusing on the Americas and particularly the American South and Mid-Atlantic are encouraged.

Abstracts for Presentation 

Abstracts will be compiled in a hard-copy catalogue to be distributed at the meeting.  Presenters will be asked to give their talks within 20-minute time slots. 

Curated proceedings, including completed papers of 4000-6000 words, may be assembled and edited by the Scientific Committee following the conference for publication in a special issue of the journal Construction History (more information will be forthcoming). Alternatively, CHSA encourages authors to also submit full papers directly to Construction History according to their publication schedules. The submission of an abstract for the CHSA Meeting does not exempt papers from the Journal’s review process.  

Key Dates:

November 1 2024  EasyChair Submission Website Open

December 20 2024 Abstract Deadline

Mid-February 2025 Author Notification/Registration Opens

April 2025 Author Registration Deadline

June 12-14 2025  Conference 

SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT:  https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=chsa9

Each abstract must include:                   

·       Authors’ names and institutional affiliations,

·       An abstract of 400 words maximum,

· Keywords (selected, if possible, from the list of topics and subjects),

·       A short biography with your contact information, academic or professional affiliation, and relevant work for each author [250 words max].

·       All presentations must be in English. 

·       4-5 learning objectives for use in AIA CES documentation.

Abstract topics may include, but are not limited to:

·       Construction and engineering in the American South and Mid-Atlantic regions

·       The role of education in the building professions, especially in the region

·       History and construction of specific projects

·       History of the building trades or specific builders

·       Organization of construction work

·       Wages and the economics of construction

·       The development of building codes and regulations

·       Trade unions and guilds

·       Military or Army Corps of Engineers

·       Structural analysis and the development of structural forms

·       Development of construction tools, cranes, scaffolding, etc.

·       Building techniques in response to their environments

·       Building materials, their history, production, and use

·       History of services (heating, lighting, etc.) in buildings

·       The changing role of the professions in construction

·       Building archaeology

·       Computer simulation, experimentation, and reconstruction

·       Use of construction history for dating of historic fabric

·       Recording, preservation, and conservation

·       Construction in architectural writing

·       The role of construction history in education

·       The bibliography of construction history

·       The theory and practice of construction history

Scholarship Opportunities for Emerging Scholars

Current graduate students with accepted papers who are interested in a $500 conference travel stipend should indicate so when submitting their abstract. A limited number of awards will be selected before the conference and distributed in person at the meeting.