June 4-6, 2026
Call for Proposals
Alternative Agricultures
Instructions:
Conventional session proposals should include the organizer's contact information, a two-hundred-word abstract for each paper, and a one-page CV for each panel member.
Session proposals in other formats (roundtables, workshops, etc.) should include the organizer's contact information, a two-to-three-hundred-word abstract, and a one-page CV for each participant.
Individual paper proposals should consist of contact information, a two-hundred-word abstract, and a one-page CV.
Poster proposals should include contact information, a two-hundred-word abstract, and a one-page CV.
Film proposals should include contact information, a two-hundred-word abstract, a link to the film or trailer if available, and a one-page CV.
Please note that in order to keep conference fees reasonable, this will be a low-tech conference. Most breakout rooms will not have a projector, screen, or laptop available. If your presentation depends on visuals, please note this in your proposal and we will do our best to accommodate.
All proposals should be submitted electronically in a single file in MS Word format to the Program Committee by email at 2026aghistoryproposals@gmail.com
Deadline for submissions to the annual meeting is September 15, 2025.
The 2026 meeting of the Agricultural History Society will convene in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is a city of contrasts: star of the "New South" and center of corporate industry, but also critical ground for African American civil rights and immigrant communities. As we gather in Atlanta, we invite scholars to engage with histories of "alternative agricultures."
Atlanta has a long history of engagement with ideas and identities related to agriculture, both domestic and international, alternative and conventional. Once home to rural sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois as well as farmer-president Jimmy Carter, the city has played a prominent role in the nation’s conception of the farmer identity. Since 1945, the Atlanta-based Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE) has positioned the city as an important center for the use of food and agriculture in international development. The Federation of Southern Cooperatives (FSC), an association of Black farmers, landowners, and cooperatives, is also headquartered in Atlanta. Born out of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, FSC and other Atlanta-based entities (like the historic Black-owned restaurant Paschal’s) form a historical precedent for many influential 21st century organizations and practices of alternative agricultures, both in Atlanta and around the country.
Agricultural historians play an important role in distributing the stories of people and communities who mobilized to grow food, preserve knowledge, and share resources both within and outside of conventional farming systems. The 2026 meeting in Atlanta will offer a space for reflecting on and imagining new histories of alternative agricultures.
Possible theme-related proposals might include – but are not limited to – the following topics:
Histories of Organic, Biodynamic, or otherwise Non-Conventional Agricultures, as well as the history of certifications
Histories of Community-Sponsored Agriculture (CSAs) and other forms of cooperatives, brokerages, networks, and alternative funding, cost-sharing, and tool and seed banking methods
Community farms and gardens, ejidos and collective lands, as well as gardens in schools, prisons, hospitals or other institutions. Spaces for agriculture that go beyond the private property and for profit regime
Culturally diverse foodways and agricultural knowledges
The struggle over land and critical resources such as water, seeds, or labor
Urban agriculture and urban foraging
Silvopasture, agroforestry, milpas, permaculture, regenerative and other mixed-use farming methods
The role of the state in supporting or hindering alternative agricultural production methods
Black, Latin(x), Indigenous, Trans, Disabled, Immigrant and all agricultural spaces that emphasize the inclusion and liberation of marginalized communities
Changing historical notions of "alternative" and "conventional"
More-than-human histories of agriculture
The very nature of this conference theme reinforces the Agricultural History Society's long-standing commitment to inclusive and trans-disciplinary scholarship. The program committee encourages contributions from diverse scholars, researchers, and practitioners covering understudied or underrepresented people, geographical regions, periods, and types of agriculture. We look forward to proposals for individual papers, full panel sessions, posters, and films related to any aspect of agricultural history, broadly defined.
Program Committee:
Tim Lorek, College of St. Scholastica (Chair)
Greta de Jong, University of Nevada, Reno
Rachael Storm, History Colorado
Sanjay Paul, Harvard University
Max Harrison, Iowa State University
Contact Info:
Tim Lorek (tlorek@css.edu)