Welcome back to Day 2 of the conference!

We hope that you enjoyed Day 1’s offerings – you can still catch up on any panels you missed via our YouTube channel, while the questions and answers in the AMA threads (here and here) make for fascinating reading. We also hope to release the recording of Professor Alex Wellerstein’s (u/restricteddata) amazing keynote address soon – watch this space!

Today, there’s going to be even more to see – we have three full panels to watch, with AMAs for each going live over the course of the day, as well as two networking sessions aimed at people working in or interested in the heritage sector – galleries, libraries, archives and museums. We'll also be recording our first Roundtable discussion on 'Making History in 2020: Contemporary Issues in Historical Practice', which we'll later be releasing publicly via YouTube and our podcast, so stay tuned.

This thread contains an overview of today’s events, with direct links added as soon as they go live, as well as an explanation of how to get involved across all the conference channels. If you have any questions, leave them below and we’ll address them as soon as possible!

Today’s Schedule

Networking (8:00 am, ET): Session on GLAM I

• Register

Panel 3 AMA (10:00 am, ET): Pick Your Poison: Climate, Disease, and Human Disaster from the Middle Ages to Today

• Panel Recording
• AMA thread - Live now!

Panel 4 AMA (2:00 pm, ET): Sinners, Saints, and Spies: Historical Women and Cultural Propaganda

• Panel Recording
• AMA thread - Live now!

Panel 5 AMA (4:00 pm, ET): Power and Projections of Trauma in the 19th and 20th Centuries

• Panel Recording
• AMA thread (live at 4:00 pm)

Networking (8:00 pm, ET): Session on GLAM II

• Register

How to participate

Watch talks: The main body of the conference is made up of eight panels of 3-4 speakers, which have all been recorded in advance. Each speaker gets 10 minutes to discuss their own research, followed by a group discussion led by an expert moderator. Today’s panels have already been released via our YouTube channel – these recordings will be available indefinitely, so you’ll always be able to catch up on anything you missed.

Ask questions: Each panel will have its own AMA-style thread where you can ask the speakers and moderators anything you’d like to about their work. These will go live according to the schedule above, and will continue as long as the participants feel like answering more questions!

Attend live events: Throughout the conference, we’ll also be hosting live networking sessions for participants and audience members to attend. Anyone is welcome to sign up for whichever event they wish – the full list can be found [here]. Today’s sessions are focused on Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums – GLAM! – aimed at anyone working or interested in these sectors. Whether you've just visited the Smithsonian or you run it, you're welcome to drop by!

Be part of the conversation: We’ll be treating these daily conference megathreads like our Friday Free-For-Alls – you’re welcome to use them to discuss the conference, leave questions or comments or chat informally about the day’s papers, though keep in mind that our rules about civility are still very much in force. You can also follow updates on Twitter via @askhistorians and #AskHistorians2020. Finally – if you can stomach it! – you can even leave comments on YouTube.

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If you’re interested in the background, rationale and other details of the conference – as well as comprehensive information about the participants, papers and panels – please check out our conference programme, designed by the immensely talented u/Soviet_Ghosts. Otherwise, feel free to start diving into today’s offerings!