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Call for papers, 9th IMHA Congress of Maritime History

Published on by Constantin Ardeleanu

Call for Papers

The Programme Committee appointed by the International Maritime History Association (IMHA) invites proposals for panels, papers and roundtables to be presented at IMHA’s 9th International Congress of Maritime History in Busan, Korea. The congress will be hosted by the IMA (Institute of International Maritime Affairs), affiliated with the Korea Maritime & Ocean University, and the Korean Association of Maritime History, on August 19 – 24, 2024, in cooperation with KASPS (Korean Association of Shipping and Ports Studies) and WCMCI (World Committee of Maritime Culture Institutes), the academic consortium of research institutes for maritime culture in East Asia.

The main theme is Oceans: Local Mobility, Global Connectivity, and the aim is to address multiple aspects of the relationship between humans and the oceans. Oceans were regarded by humans as barriers in ancient times, although, in modern times, they became routes for exploring, travelling and connecting peoples and worlds separated by spatial and cultural distance. 

As with previous IMHA congresses, the meeting in Busan adopts a broad conception of maritime history, treating it as an interdisciplinary field that covers all historical periods, all regions of the world and all aspects of human interactions with the seas. 

Papers will therefore be welcomed on a wide range of research areas, chronological periods and regions of the world. We welcome submissions by young, mid-career and senior scholars alike, whether working on individual projects or in larger research groups. The Programme Committee also welcomes proposals for full panels and roundtables. We are particularly keen on proposals addressing new, high-risk collective research that integrates different areas of expertise and colleagues from different academic cultures. 

The Congress wishes to create opportunities for researchers to share their work with colleagues in their own areas of interest and with researchers in adjoining fields, seeking to identify and define new avenues for individual and collective research in maritime history.

Participants are invited to submit a proposal in English of up to 500 words indicating the scope of their paper, panel or roundtable.  This should be accompanied by a biographical note of up to 150 words, plus contact details and institutional affiliation if needed.  For panels and roundtables, we require a short biographical note for each participant. It is expected, that proposers of papers, panels or roundtable are members of IMHA or becoming a member when submitting their proposal. 

Papers from the Congress will be considered for publication by the International Maritime History Association in the International Journal of Maritime History.

Venue : Korea Maritime & Ocean University, Busan, Korea at Korea Maritime and Ocean University.

Deadline for Proposals : December 1, 2023

Registration Fee : $250 (Graduate students: $120)

Apply for Presentation

E-mail : 9th.imha2024@kmou.ac.kr

Call for bids to host the 2028 IMHA Congress

Published on by Constantin Ardeleanu

GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF A BID TO HOST A QUADRENNIAL CONGRESS

The International Maritime History Association Executive Committee (IMHA EC) formally considers submissions from institutions wishing to host a Quadrennial Congress at their Quadrennial Meeting held during the International Congress of Maritime History.
Consideration of bids for hosting the 2028 Congress will be undertaken at the General Assembly of the IMHA held parallel to the International Congress of Maritime History taking place in August 2024 in Busan, Korea.
Bid institutions will be expected to submit their bids to the Chair and the Secretary of the EC through email. If approved by the EC, final bids are presented to the General Assembly of the IMHA in person. The General Assembly then decides by majority.
To ensure impartiality and objectivity the EC utilises a weighted matrix evaluation tool based on a set of defined evaluation criteria. It is important that bid institutions respond to the evaluation criteria as closely as possible to ensure their bids are considered thoroughly and fairly.
Institutions should develop their bids sufficiently to enable a comprehensive application to be submitted to the EC. The EC does not expect institutions to have all the hosting arrangements in place at the time of submitting the bid.
The EC expects comprehensive applications to be submitted not later than May 15, 2024, and is asking institutions who are considering a bid to inform the EC of their intent as soon as possible.
Once an institution has been awarded hosting rights, the Chair and Secretary of the EC must be immediately notified of any substantial changes or variations to the agreed bid that may arise during the organisation of the Congress.

General Guidelines for Hosting an International Maritime History Congress
• The host institution must be historically linked to maritime history research and/or maritime historical engagement with the broader public.
• The host institution should be prepared to take the lead role in the logistical preparations for the quadrennial Congress. With the agreement of the EC, it may use the services of a professional conference and/or event management agency provided this does not result in the delegate registration costs exceeding the agreed maximum.
• The development of the academic programme is co-led by the host team and the EC. Hosts will be expected to work closely with the Academic Committee in the development of the programme.
• Venues should be easily accessible to overseas and local delegates via good airport, railway, and road networks.
• Venues should be able to offer conference facilities for a minimum of 150 delegates: including conference accommodations, catering arrangements, and technical support services.
• By agreement with the Programme Committee, the host venue will provide an appropriate and attractive programme for accompanying partners at a registration cost to be agreed.
• Venues should be able to offer hotel accommodations capable of accommodating at least 200 delegates, including accompanying partners, within a reasonable distance, and at a range of affordable rates. The venue or its conference organisers are expected to administer the conference budget, including registration fees, and provide advice and suggestions for hotels where pre-negotiated conference rates have been agreed.
• The venue will provide a webpage for the Congress at least 18 months prior to the Congress date and will ensure that all relevant information regarding the Congress is updated on a regular basis. All development and hosting costs for the webpage should be covered by the host institution.
• The conference will be conducted in English.
• The venue is expected to provide reasonable conference technical facilities for presentations including sound systems, computer-generated PowerPoint, and video, with the necessary technical support. It is expected that the venue can provide internet access for the registered conference participants during the Congress.
• A minimum of five half days should be scheduled into the Congress programme to accommodate the academic programme and the General Assembly with the overall Congress being held over four to five full days. It is recognized that flexibility is key and precise arrangements might be dependent on local circumstances.
• The host is expected to provide an office/meeting room for the IMHA EC for the duration of the Congress including internet access and standard computer printing services.
• The Congress is expected to include a social programme including a formal Congress Dinner and may, for example, include receptions or similar events in local historic locations.
• Any excursions included in the programme should be aligned and consistent with the theme of the Congress.
• The host venue will have sole responsibility for the Congress budget which is expected to be self-financed from registration fees and any local funding.
• The Congress budget needs to include the travel, accommodations, and conference registration costs for three keynote speakers. The three keynote speakers will be mutually agreed upon by the host and IMHA EC, with the final decision resting with the EC.
• The Congress registration fee will be agreed between the host venue and the EC. In recent years it has been € 250 for career scholars and € 180 for graduates, or equivalent local currency. This should include all Congress administration and operation costs as well as catering during the Congress sessions. It is acceptable that the conference dinner, excursions etc. are an additional cost charged directly to participants that register to participate in these events.
• The host venue is encouraged to find local sources of funding, including sponsorship where possible, to offset the costs of the Congress and any supporting events. IMHA EC reserves the right to reject sponsorship arrangements that are considered non-desirable by the IMHA EC.
• The host venue will arrange a payment mechanism for Congress registration fees that is based on the use of standard, internationally accepted credit cards.

Bid Evaluation Criteria.
Bid institutions should prepare a presentation to the EC that responds to the information requested below. Sufficient detail should be provided to enable the EC to consider the bid fairly and thoroughly.

1.0 General
1.1 We would like to learn about your institution (max 500 words). Please provide us information about your institution including:
• The name of your institution
• Where it is located
• How your institution is governed
• How your institution is funded
• What is its Purpose, Mission, Vision, Values
2.0 Concept (max 500 words)
2.1 Tell us what motivates you to host the Congress.
2.2 Will the timing of the Congress coincide with any significant events or anniversaries and if so what event or anniversary will be celebrated during the Congress?
2.3 Tell us about your concept and plans for the non-academic programme for the Congress. Include broad details of the activities and social programme that you plan to offer at the Congress.
2.4 What will the cost per delegate be to attend the Congress?
3.0 Support (max 250 words)
3.1 Tell us about how you intend to fund the Congress. Do you have for example a solid reputable organisation underwriting the Congress for you? If so, tell us about who will be underwriting the Congress.
3.2 Tell us about any partners that will be supporting your institution in hosting the Congress.
3.3 Tell us about the organisation and structures you will have in place to deliver the Congress
4.0 Location (max 200 words)
4.1 Tell us more about the location of your institution. We are particularly interested to know how accessible your institution is to delegates, particularly from international locations.
4.2 Is the location served well by airlines and internal transportation systems? Please provide details of how delegates will be able to get to the Congress location and access transportation within the local area.
4.3 Please provide us with an assessment of travel costs for delegates to get to your location.
5.0 Facilities (max 150 words)
5.1 Tell us about where you intend to hold the Congress. We are particularly interested to know whether the Congress will be hosted in your institution, in other premises, or a combination of both.
5.2 If the Congress is to be hosted in a variety of venues, how do you plan to get delegates between venues?
5.3 How many delegates can your venues comfortably accommodate?
5.4 Will break out facilities be provided at the venue? How many will be available and how many delegates can be accommodated in the breakout venues?
5.5 Tell us about the quality of the venue in terms of comfort, seating, and environment for delegates.
6.0 Accommodations (max 150 words)
6.1 Tell us about the range of accommodation that will be offered to delegates at the Congress. We are interested to know:
• The range of prices for accommodations that that will be offered to delegates.
• The standard and quality of accommodations available at your location.
• What is the proximity of accommodations to the Congress venue?
• Provide details of how delegates will get from the accommodations to the venues.
7.0 Partners (max 200 words)
7.1 Tell us about your concept and plans for the partners programme for the Congress. Include broad details of the activities and social programme that you plan to offer.
7.2 What will be the cost to attend the partners programmes?
8.0 Sponsors (max 200 words) (only mention sponsors that are not also partners)
8.1. Tell us about the sponsors you are planning to bring in that are not also partners to the Congress, if any. Include information on how these sponsors will help the Congress beyond mere financial sponsorship.
8.2. Is the support of these sponsors a make-or-break situation for the Congress?

Contact
Should clarification of any aspect of the General Guidelines or the Bid Evaluation Criteria be required; institutions should in contact the IMHA Secretary (Constantin Ardeleanu, cardelanu@nec.ro) or the President (Ingo Heidbrink, iheidbri@odu.edu).
Notifications of intent to place a bid (as early as practical) and complete bids (no later than May 15, 2024) should be send to the IMHA Secretary and copied to the President.

Obiturary for Graydon Henning

Published on by Constantin Ardeleanu

Graydon Henning’s passing leaves the international scholarly community in the field of maritime history not only with the loss of an important scholar, academic instructor, and for many a friend to be missed dearly but also with the loss of an important co-architect of today’s landscape of international scholarly maritime history organizations. As the last President of the International Commission of Maritime History (ICMH) his work was critical for the amalgamation of ICMH and the former International Maritime Economic History Association (IMEHA) into today’s International Maritime History Association (IMHA).

I met Graydon first time at the 19th International Congress of Historical Sciences in Oslo in the year 2000. ICMH, at this time an affiliate of the International Congress of Historical Sciences (CISH/ICHS) had organized a conference to be held as part of the main congress and I was lucky enough to be invited to present a paper on the subject of my PhD thesis. Over 2000 historians gathered at one conference was overwhelming but meeting Graydon and other senior maritime history scholars felt immediately like coming to a group of welcoming mentors. Not sure how it happened, but despite of being a very junior scholar I became part of an informal meeting where Graydon together with the late Skip Fischer and some other silverbacks were chatting about potential publication venues for the maritime history papers presented at the congress. While I had expected a certain sort of parish-pump politics between the different maritime history associations, I needed immediately to realize that Graydon always strongly advocated for the best option for the respective paper/author regardless of if directly in the interest of the organization or not.

A couple of years later Graydon had become President of ICMH, and I had the honor of serving as Secretary General of this organization which was in fact an international umbrella organization for the various national umbrella organizations in the field of maritime history. IMEHA on the other hand was an organization always based on individual membership of maritime historians but de-facto the members being active in both organizations were a small group often simply changing hats to decide if they were representing one or the other group. Wearing many hats might be attractive to some but Graydon was definitely not interested in such a fashion but in the best organizational structure to achieve a certain goal. Consequently, he realized at a certain moment that the parallel structure of having one international maritime history organization that was an international umbrella of national umbrella organizations and another one that was based on individual membership made no real sense or was a structure that was overly complex for a comparable small academic discipline. Thus, Graydon developed the idea of an amalgamation of the two organizations into one. As always, such an idea was not easy to accept for everybody, especially as IMEHA was dealing exclusively with maritime economic history while ICMH was dealing with maritime history at large. As this was taking place before the advent of zoom, teams or any other easily available teleconferencing system, it is hard to believe how Graydon successfully managed to bring everybody on the ICMH side of the equation on board and that he was able doing so is just another witness for me on his qualities as an academic and organizational leader who always put achieving the best result for the discipline above everything else. When in 2016 the International Congress of Maritime History came to his home country Australia, the time was ripe for him to achieve his major goal and at the same time to personally give up all international offices without any hesitation. In Perth the General Assembly of IMEHA and representatives of ICMH decided not only for the amalgamation of the two institutions into one unified global organization for all maritime history scholars but also to drop the E(conomics) from the name of the organization and make the new organization the International Maritime History Association. Persistent organizational work had finally come to a conclusion that substantially simplified the landscape of international organizations within the field of international maritime history with Graydon being to a large extent being responsible for this development. Despite of him being the co-architect of the new organizational landscape and thus being a clear candidate for a leadership position in the new amalgamated organization, he decided that leadership should be handed over to a new generation and did not put in a candidacy for any of the new leadership positions. Malcolm Tull became the first president of IMHA and I was elected as secretary after having held the position of secretary of ICMH already since 2009.

Again, Graydon clearly showed that humbleness was a main part of his character and the legacy for Malcolm and me was clearly set as never putting an organizational structure or an association per se above the aims and goals of such an organization.

Having worked with Graydon for many years in the context of international scholarly associations and having co-organized with him a variety of international conferences organized by ICMH within the complex framework of CISH/ICHS I need to admit today that I am mourning the loss of a senior colleague, mentor and friend and am thankful for his leadership and showing by living example how to lead an international association. Many of today’s colleagues in the field of maritime history never had the opportunity to meet Graydon and might not even have heard his name but today’s landscape of international scholarly organizations with only one organization representing all maritime history research instead of a variety of organizations with doubled responsibilities goes clearly back to his efforts. I mentioned humbleness as one of Graydon’s main character traits and thinking that he had finally set sail for his last journey to the unknown makes me humble when remembering him and all the projects he had worked on in the context of restructuring international organizations in the field of maritime history. Let us hope that we can follow his example of always adjusting the structures of international organizations to contemporary and future needs and in understanding that such organizations are never an end in itself but a tool to support research in maritime history and to help a younger generation of maritime historians with their research and international scholarly cooperation.

Ingo Heidbrink

President

International Maritime

History Association (IMHA)

Åland’s first UNESCO honour: Gustaf Erikson’s shipping company archive included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register

Published on by Constantin Ardeleanu

Autonomous island of Åland recieves its first UNESCO heritage honour as the Gustaf Erikson shipping archives were included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Register.

Inclusion in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register is a fantastic recognition of the value and importance of the Gustaf Erikson Archive, strengthening Åland’s cultural heritage as a seafaring nation.”

The autonomous island province of Åland has today received its first UNESCO heritage honour as the Gustaf Erikson’s shipping archives were included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Register, thus joining the same echelon of invaluable cultural heritage as England’s Magna Carta, the French Declaration of Human Rights, the Gutenberg Bible and Isaac Newton’s manuscripts.

Read more at the link below:

https://www.einpresswire.com/article/635330144/land-s-first-unesco-honour-gustaf-erikson-s-shipping-company-archive-included-in-unesco-s-memory-of-the-world-register

The Estonian Maritime Museum rewards theses in the field of maritime history

Published on by Constantin Ardeleanu

Alumni of higher education institutions whose thesis deals with Estonian maritime history are invited to apply for a financial prize of the Estonian Maritime Museum. They have to submit the thesis to the according competition by 5 February 2023.

‘There is still a lot left to research in the history of our country’s maritime affairs. We will have more expected thesis if we will motivate to do them and also will recognize the work done. That is exactly why we encourage the students of universities and institutions of professional higher education to research Estonian maritime history and to apply for the prize of our museum with their completed thesis,’ said Hele Kiimann, Head of Research at the Estonian Maritime Museum.

The winners of the prize are announced during the competition for the best theses in the field of maritime history, which was founded by the Estonian Maritime Museum. The prize fund is 2, 000 euros. The best theses are selected by an expert evaluation committee. The results are announced on the anniversary of the Estonian Maritime Museum – on 23 February of next year.

‘The initiative of the Maritime Museum values completed theses and motivates future thesis writers to research the topics of maritime history. From my own experience, I encourage to take part in the competition if the thesis is in any way linked to Estonian maritime history – for example, even a quite technical topic may also include an important part of the history of maritime affairs of Estonia,’ said Tauri Roosipuu, who was awarded the main prize in the previous competition.

This year, diploma´s, bachelor’s and master’s theses, which have been defended at an Estonian or foreign university within the last two years can be submitted to receive the award. The application together with the supervisor’s opinion must be sent to info@meremuuseum.ee by 5 February 2023. Additional information is available at the statute of the competition on the website of the Estonian Maritime Museum.

The Estonian Maritime Museum rewards theses in the field of maritime history for the third time already. During the first competition, special prizes were awarded to Artur Kaljurand for his thesis Engineers of the Estonian Navy 1919–1940 defended at the Estonian Military Academy and Maria Velikanova for her bachelor’s thesis Pärnu Laev public limited company and the development of tourism in the Republic of Estonia defended at Tallinn University. Last year, when the competition was held for the second time, the main prize was awarded to Tauri Roosipuu for his master’s thesis Comparison of previous investigations of MV Estonia in relation to new information defended at the Estonian Maritime Academy and the special prize was awarded to Tuuli Jõesaar for her master’s thesis Methods of making medieval footwear on the example of the Kadriorg cog find complex defended at the Viljandi Culture Academy.

Photos: link to download – https://photos.app.goo.gl/bykyX19kzvX4SGFu7  

  • Hele Kiimann, Head of Research of the Estonian Maritime Museum (Estonian Maritime Museum/ Kristi Sits);
  • Tauri Roosipuu, who was awarded the main prize in the competition of last year and Urmas Dresen, Head of the Estonian Maritime Museum (Estonian Maritime Museum/ Aron Urb);
  • Tuuli Jõesaar and Tauri Roosipuu, who were awarded in the competition of last year with Urmas Dresen, Head of the Estonian Maritime Museum and Hele Kiimann, Head of Research of the Estonian Maritime Museum (Estonian Maritime Museum/ Aron Urb).

Additional information: Katja Sepp – the head of Communications of the Estonian Maritime Museum, mob 530 74 951, email katja.sepp@meremuuseum.ee.

A message from IMHA president, Ingo Heidbrink

Published on by Constantin Ardeleanu

Dear Colleagues:

It’s already a while since the most successful International Congress of Maritime History in Porto and while we are all back to our regular jobs and are dealing with various day-to-day obligations, the new Executive Committee of IMHA has also started work.

The new Executive, which will serve only for a two-year period up to our next congress to be held in 2024 in Busan, South Korea, instead of the regular four year period, has decided on the following points as its top priorities:

  • Preparation of the 2024 Congress, which will be the first International Congress of Maritime History ever to be held in an Asian country. Right now, the Executive is developing together with the local organizers headed by June Kim the basic framework for the congress. As always, preparing an international congress is the work of many colleagues and while the local organizers and the Executive are prepared to carry out most of the work, there will be a need for volunteers from the membership to staff the program committee, to help with identifying the best keynote speakers, to spread the word about the congress and much more. Please be prepared considering serving in one of these functions. More details will be published on the IMHA webpage.

  • 2024 Frank Broeze Award for the best PhD thesis in maritime history. During its most recent meeting the Executive has decided to announce again a Frank Broeze Award for the best PhD thesis in maritime history to be awarded at the 2024 congress in Busan. The full announcement of the award including details on eligibility, the selection committee for the award, instructions for submission etc. will become available in Spring 2023. Nevertheless, please start spreading the word already now and most important, please inform your PhD students that there will be a new round of the Frank Broeze Award for the best PhD thesis in maritime history.

  • Realizing that we are in the 21st century and thus in the era of digital communications and social media, the Executive has decided to discontinue the traditional IMHA newsletter. Instead of publishing a quarterly newsletter, IMHA will use the news-section of the IMHA webpage as well as the IMHA Facebook page to continue with the dissemination of all kinds of news related to the association, news on maritime history conferences, CfPs, CfAs, news from national maritime history umbrella organizations etc. We are hoping that this new format of communication will allow for a timelier distribution of news.
    If there are any pieces of information you would like the Executive to consider for distribution via the IMHA webpage, please submit either to Constantin as Secretary of the Executive or directly to me.
    Please note, the quality of any newsletter or news-section on the web-page of an association like IMHA directly depends on the information available for distribution. If we don’t receive information from our members and partnering institutions, there is only little we can share. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you are not sure if something might be a good fit for the news section of the IMHA webpage.

Finally, please allow me a brief remark on the future of IMHA: Having been member of IMHA association and its two predecessors, the International Maritime Economic History Association (IMEHA) and the International Congress of Maritime History (ICMH) for more than two decades, I think the main strength of IMHA is being a network and such a network is depending on all members of the network. Way too often our area of research is understood as somewhat exotic or even marginal at many of our home institutions and colleagues at the office next door to yours will often have no idea at all about your research or about what are cutting-edge research topics in maritime history. While we might not be able to change this situation, we are able to build up an international network of colleagues (and often professional friends) that are sharing the same research interests and understand the needs of each other. Let us use this network to design new international research cooperation, to organize guest professorships and research stays, to bring together colleagues working on comparable subjects, and much more.

Doing so will require all members becoming active and in addition to convince our young colleagues that there is a benefit in joining an international association like IMHA. Even if some of our younger colleagues might be somewhat reluctant when they are hearing the term maritime history as they are wrongly associating the term with an outdated antiquarian approach to maritime history and old salts telling sea-stories, many of them are doing fascinating research that deals with various aspects of the interaction of humans and the ocean throughout all historical periods. Thus, let us not focus too much on the term of maritime history but on the subject itself regardless whatsoever term we are using for it. Ask those young colleagues to publish their research in the International Journal of Maritime History as our flagship project, ask them to apply for the next Frank Broeze Award if they are recent PhDs or are working on completing a PhD thesis, ask them to propose a paper for our upcoming congress in Busan, and finally offer to them the whole network of IMHA as a resource they can utilize. Be prepared to guide them to a colleague that might reside and work in a different country or continent but might be the highly familiar with their research topic. In short, try to make them part of our network – not by simply asking them to join IMHA, but by explaining to them why this network might be of help to them and their research.

Allow me to conclude with a note that is not directly related to maritime history. Many of us grew up professionally at a time when we were thinking that major international conflicts and wars were to a certain degree just a thing of the past. The Cold War had come to an end at nearly every place of the globe and despite hundreds of smaller conflicts continuing or breaking out, we were convinced that international cooperation of scholars was more or less always possible, regardless of the nationality of the colleagues involved. In the recent past we needed to learn that this was at least to a certain degree a naïve take on the world around us.

What does this mean for us as a community of international maritime historians, or you might say scholars or intellectuals? Shall we give up continuing all cooperation with certain colleagues just because they are working in certain countries, regardless if they are close to the respective regime or not? In my opinion the answer to this question is a clear No. Not all members of IMHA might agree with this and not necessarily even all members of the Executive Committee, so this is a strict personal opinion: Cooperation between scholars might not be able to change the world for the better in the immediate, but in the long run, working together in our quest to analyzing the past for understanding the today will help to create a better future for all and IMHA and our network might be a very minor part when it comes to achieving this goal, but a part that is equally important than all the other very minor parts. Maritime history is international by its very nature and let’s not forget this simple fact right now, but embrace it and bring it to live, even if only with the limited means available to us as a global network and umbrella organization of maritime historians.

Ingo Heidbrink

-President-

International Maritime History Association (IMHA)