Call for Papers:

Western Society for French History at the French Colonial Historical Society, May 2027

As an effort to continue our work in the wake of the cancelled Memphis conference, the Western Society for French History is collaborating with the French Colonial Historical Society for their 2027 annual meeting.  The WFHS will be holding a mini-conference within the FCHS program. 

The WFSH is seeking completed panels or individual papers for at least six sessions within the FCHS program.  While there is a theme for the conference—Contact, Créolité amd Commerce along the Waterways of French Empire—any topic appropriate for the WSFH will be considered.  Proposals can be submitted through this Google form. 

The deadline for these proposals will be December 18, 2026.  Participants will need to be members in good standing with the WFSH at the time of the Conference.

More information about the FCHS Conference and location is below.  Please consider participating in this collaboration as part of continuing the work of the WSFH as we prepare for our next conference in Baltimore in 2028.

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The FCHS theme for 2027: 
Contact, Créolité, and Commerce along the Waterways of French Empire
 

Contact among different peoples and cultures was fundamental to French colonialism during both the first and second French overseas empires.  Much of this contact took place in the context of commerce made possible by waterways such as the Great Lakes and the Mekong, Mississippi, and Niger rivers, among others. By what processes did creolization emerge at the point of contact among differing cultures and societies?  How did ongoing imperial dynamics and networks shape different Créolités as they developed over time, and how did Creole cultures and colonial commercial networks shape the end of empire and decolonization across the francophone world?  How did commercial networks and relations within the French empire affect cultural developments, as well as the other way around?  By what specific mechanisms did waterways such as the Mississippi and Mekong act as conduits of commerce and culture, including foodstuffs and cuisine, music and folklore, art and architecture?  In what ways did waterways act as impediments to contacts, commerce, and creolization? And how did the contact, creolization, and commerce associated with the French Empire alter the waterways themselves?
 
Possible topics for papers and/or panels include:
Trade and Trading zones
Waterways and resistance to colonialism
Cultural contact zones
Créolité and creolization
Hybridity
Water, the environment, and conservation
Palavers, language, and translation
 
The host institution
Founded in 1898, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is a Carnegie Research 1 institution and Louisiana’s second-largest university.  UL Lafayette combines academic excellence, groundbreaking research, a vibrant campus life, and a deep commitment to serving the state and its communities.  It is internationally recognized for preserving and advancing Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage through the Center for Louisiana Studies and programs in Francophone studies and traditional music, among others, that celebrate Louisiana’s unique history and culture.  UL Lafayette is home to one of the nation’s most recognizable athletic identities, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, who compete in the Sun Belt Conference and sponsor 16 NCAA Division I programs.
Lafayette lies at the heart of Acadiana, the Cajun homeland and heart of the historically francophone region of Louisiana.  As a vibrant and welcoming center for Cajun and French Creole food, music, and culture, Lafayette celebrates its diverse French, African, and world history and heritage.

The meeting will be co-sponsored by UL Lafayette’s History, Geography, and Philosophy Department and the Jaimie and Thelma Guilbeau Charitable Trust, CODOFIL (Council on the Development of French in Louisiana), and the University’s Center for Louisiana Studies.  The closing reception will take place at the historic Roy House where the Center for Louisiana Studies and UL Lafayette Press are housed, and will feature an address by Mr. Rodolphe Sambou, the Consul General of France in New Orleans, which is the oldest French consulate in the United States.

Future Conference Locations

• 2028 Baltimore, MD

• Choose Your Own Adventure: We are always looking for volunteers to host the conference!

Previous Conference Programs

Click on the links to find recent conference programs. Any scholars who can provide electronic copies of programs from earlier conferences should contact the WSFH secretary.

• 2025 Global Consortium for French Historical Studies Conference

• 2024 San Francisco, CA

• 2023 Detroit, MI

• 2022 Victoria, British Columbia

• 2021 Virtual Conference

• 2019 Bozeman, MT

• 2018 Portland, ME

• 2017 Reno, NV

• 2016 Cedar Rapids, IA

• 2015 Chicago, IL

• 2014 San Antonio, TX

• 2013 Atlanta, GA

• 2012 Banff, AL, Canada

• 2011 Portland, OR

• 2010 Lafayette, LA

• 2009 Boulder, CO

• 2008 Quebec City, QC, Canada

• 2007 Albuquerque, NM

• 2006 Long Beach, CA

• 2005 Colorado Springs, CO

• 2004 Lubbock, TX

• 2003 Newport Beach, CA

• 2002 Baltimore, MD

• 2001 Indianapolis, IN

• 2000 Los Angeles, CA

• 1999 Asilomar, CA

• 1998 Boston/Lynnfield, MA

• 1997 Saskatoon, SK, Canada

• 1996 Charlotte, NC

• 1995 Las Vegas, NV

• 1994 Des Moines, IA

• 1993 Missoula, MT

• 1992 Orcas Island, WA

• 1991 Reno, NV

• 1990 Santa Barbara, CA

• 1989 New Orleans, LA

• 1988 Los Angeles, CA

• 1987 Las Cruces, NM

• 1986 Baltimore, MD

• 1985 Edmonton, AB, Canada

• 1984 Albuquerque and Santa Fe

• 1983 Riverside, CA

• 1982 Winnipeg, MB, Canada

• 1981 Greeley, CO

• 1980 Eugene, OR

• 1979 Omaha, NE

• 1978 San Diego

• 1977 Las Cruces, NM

• 1976 Reno, NV

• 1975 Denver, CO

• 1974 San Francisco, CA

• 1974 Flagstaff, AZ