The year 2024 was a year of growth for the Historical Network Research Community. At the last annual conference in Lausanne, 23 long papers and 19 short papers were presented. As we work to publish the proceedings of the conference, the book of abstracts can be consulted here.
The July conference was also an opportunity to reflect on the future of the community as it moves towards a more solid structure. The two main news concerning the community are the following:
Membership system
For a few months now, we have considered HNR members to be anyone who is registered in HNR Slack.
We want to keep things simple, while at the same time having a clear list of people who want to be able to express their opinions on the major decisions to be taken over the next few years, run for the board, etc.
It’s a simple infrastructure that also allows us to create small discussion communities, organize tasks and so on. This doesn’t mean that members have to be permanently logged into Slack, nor that they have to be active there; the main communications will be made directly by email (to the address given when registering for Slack). But with all our communication channels (the site, newsletter, social media, etc.), it’s good that we make it clear that it’s your Slack subscription that means you’ll receive “official” communications from time to time.
If you want to be an official part of the community, you can subscribe to the HNR Slack channel here. People who are already on HNR Slack and who would not like to be considered full members of our community are of course free to leave the platform.
A new board is now live!
A new nine-member board now structures the HNR community.
In addition to the Community Chairs, the HNR Board consists of the Communications Team, the Events Team, the Seminar Series Team, and a representative from the Journal of Historical Network Research.
For more details about the board members and to contact them, please visit the HNR webpage.
Latest JHNR publications
The Journal of Historical Network Research has recently published an article on maritime trade in Medieval Japan; make sure you are up to date with other articles from volume 10.
What’s coming in 2025
The HNR conference 2025, which will take place from May 21-23 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Applications have closed on December 15th, but you can follow all the news about the conference here.
The HNR community is relaunching the Lunchtime Lectures in early 2025, offering opportunities to share upcoming and ongoing research in historical networks. The deadline for submissions is December 31; more information can be found here.
The program for the 2025 Graphs and Networks in the Humanities Conference “Data Biographies” (February 12-14) can be consulted here. Also, keep an eye on our other events, such as the and the 4-day Barcelona Past Networks Summer School (applications possible before January 26).
Lastly, if you have news worth sharing, please contact us at: news@historicalnetworkresearch.org
With warm regards,
The Historical Network Research Community Board
