We welcome papers that focus on any time period and geographical location, from both early career researchers and established scholars. Topics may include effects of public health measures on historic epidemics and pandemics; changes to public health as a result of experiences during pandemics; people’s reactions to public health recommendations; attempts to compare COVID-19 to past pandemics; efforts by historians and others to collect and preserve evidence from COVID-19 for future research; and any other topic that fits within the theme. We especially welcome submissions from people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Colour.

Papers should be no more than 12 minutes in length and may be delivered in either English or French. Presenters will record their papers some weeks in advance of the conference. Their recordings will be played live during the session, and will be followed by a synchronous question and answer period. Further instructions on pre-recording presentations, including specific deadlines and best practices, will be available in the months to come.

Presenters will be encouraged to submit their papers for publication in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association. Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words along with a CV of 1-2 pages to Mairi Cowan, at mairi.cowan@utoronto.ca, by 20 December. Notifications for acceptance on the panel will be sent out soon after the due date, so that authors whose submissions have not been selected will have time to resubmit their proposals to the general Canadian Historical Association Call for Papers.