Extended deadline: 22 April 2026! 

Please make sure paper submissions for panels are done 22 April at the latest. 

Call for Paper and session proposals for the ESSHC 2027,  21-24 April,  hosted by ENS, Lyon, France.   
We invite you to submit your paper and panel proposals for the 16th edition of the European Social Science History Conference. The deadline for submission is April 15, 2026. 

The aim of the ESSHC is bringing together scholars interested in explaining historical phenomena using the methods of the social sciences. The conference is characterized by a lively exchange in many small groups, rather than by formal plenary sessions. The conference welcomes papers and sessions on any historical topic and any historical period. It is organized in 28 thematic networks.

We strongly encourage interdisciplinary and international sessions.

New platform:  For this edition we are working Oxford Abstracts for the registration and abstract handling.   

Click here for guidelines of how to submit a paper or session proposal.

Click here to submit  your paper and here for a panel/session proposal on the Oxford Abstracts Platform 

PhD students are invited to enter their paper for the Prof. Jan Lucassen Award for best paper by a PhD student in the conference programme.

See you in Lyon April 21-24, 2027. 

For a short impression of the conference check out the ESSHC 2025 Aftermovie 

We welcomed over 1500 participants in Leiden, who presented and discussed their research in 370 sessions.  During the general meeting the winner of the Jan Lucassen Award was announced:  Karmen Misiou.  You can read the jury report  here. 

The spoken word performance by Kevin -Ahn Kwang Soo- Groen with musical support by Sofija Gajić was a highlight of the conference.   His Ode to Research/ers  written especially for the ESSHC participants is powerful and empowering.  (When you share or quote from the text, don't forget to mention Kevin as the author.)

The museums and the Hortus in Leiden greeted many of our participants and the walking tours were a succes and fully booked.   

A new network was introduced: Disability History.  Making the total number of networks 28!

Check out the special events like the General Meeting and Walking Tours.  We also have some nice conference offers lined up for you:  discounts at local museums and lunch deals at selected restaurants.

Start the ESSHC fresh and join our colleague and Leiden local Rombert and your fellow ESSHC joggers for an early morning run along the canals of Leiden on 26 March. The distance is 6.4 km and should take 35-50 minutes.  We will start at 06:30 AM, to ensure that you are back in time for the first conference session.  We will meet in front of the entrance to the Molen de Valk, the iconic windmill in the northwest corner of the historic city centre.

The route can be found here

The deadline for sending in your paper and session proposals is April 15, 2024

The 15th European Social Science History Conference 2025  is organized by the IISH in co-operation with Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands

The aim of the ESSHC is bringing together scholars interested in explaining historical phenomena using the methods of the social sciences. The conference is characterized by a lively exchange in many small groups, rather than by formal plenary sessions. The conference welcomes papers and sessions on any historical topic and any historical period. It is organized in 27 thematic networks.

We strongly encourage interdisciplinary and international sessions.

Click here for guidelines of how to submit a paper or session proposal.

Click here to submit  your paper and session proposals on the Ex Ordo platform.

PhD students are invited to enter their paper for the Prof. Jan Lucassen Award for best paper by a PhD student in the conference programme.

Impressions of the 2023 conference held in Gothenburg, Sweden 12 - 15 April.

Photographs by Robert Lipic and Astrid Verburg.

Many thanks to all participants.

See you in Leiden, the Netherlands March 2025.

Download: 480p (71 MB), 720p (145 MB), 1080p (328 MB)

At the general meeting of the ESSHC in Gothenburg the winner of the Jan Lucassen Award was announced and presented by jury member Silke Neunsinger.

The Winner: Maya Adereth (London School of Economics)

with the paper: Trade Unions and Universal Welfare: The Importance of Organizational Context

She wins the prize consisting of: € 1000  

There were two Honorary Mentions

for Claudio Monopoli (Università degli Studi di Padova) with his  paper: The agency of pornographic photography: sexuality and visual culture in Italian censorship nets, 1839-1919

and Josep Mas-Ferrer (Universitat de Girona) with his paper: Forks and napkins on poor tables. Production and consumption in humble rural households at the end of the Ancien Régime (north-eastern Catalonia, 1750-1807)

Each receiving an encouragement prize of:  €250

Congratulations!

The Winner: Maya Adereth (London School of Economics)