Women’s History in Scotland: Then and Now
Friday 18th September 2026; Online via Zoom

Women’s History Scotland are delighted to announce a call for papers for a one-day conference taking place on Friday 18th September 2026. This conference will be held online via zoom. This conference explores the development of women’s history as a field, examining shifts in historiographical approaches and the changing attention given to women in historical scholarship from earlier periods to the present day.

Under the theme “Then and Now” we invite contributions and hope to foster dialogue across the Women’s History Scotland community. By focusing on this theme, we hope to encourage research that challenge historical and academic narratives, discuss biases in women and gender history, and address the challenges in the heritage sector as the theme looks back on women’s history and gender history as a discipline and how it evolved.

This theme welcomes the voices of people studying or researching with an interest in comparing or discussing the changes in women’s experiences across Scotland. We would like to invite contributors from across Scotland who are involved in all aspects of researching, curating, and presenting new gender-studies to submit an abstract. Papers from a wide variety of perspectives and disciplinary approaches are strongly encouraged, and from scholars at all career stages and by those working within and out with the academy.

The field of women’s and gender history is broadly defined, and includes trans and non-binary histories, the history of men and masculinities, and queer history and the history of sexuality. We are particularly interested in research on Scotland, or which pursues Scottish themes.

Paper proposals are now welcomed on aspects including, but not limited to, the following areas:

• Historical Practice and theory, including traditional and innovative methodologies
• Contested Narratives/Challenging narrative in an academic sense
• Structural and professional challenges in historical scholarship and heritage practice
• The marginalisation of women’s/gender history
• Revisionist approaches to women’s and gender history
• Material culture and museum studies related to women’s heritage
• The teaching and study of women’s and gender history in Scottish and UK Higher Education institutions

Abstract Submission Details and Guidelines:
We welcome abstracts for individual papers (15-minute presentations) that address these themes or related topics. Contributions should be framed to challenge narratives and bias in Scottish gender history and beyond.

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, along with a personal introduction, here, and send it to
whs2026conference@gmail.com by 1 July 2026. (Download a copy by clicking on the link/opening the file and navigating to File > Download > Microsoft Word.docx)

If you have any questions, please contact whs2026conference@gmail.com. We look forward to receiving your proposals and fostering meaningful conversations on women and gender history studies. Updates on the conference will be provided on our social media channels: Bluesky @womenshistscot.bsky.social and Womens History Scotland on Facebook.

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