CFP - DocTalks

[Matthew Heins]

There's a CFP for DocTalks, the online forum for doctoral, postdoctoral and early-career scholars of architectural history and theory (and related disciplines), with abstracts due Sept. 26.

Their description is assembled below or can be found in various places on their website at https://doctalks.net/

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DocTalks CFP / Call for Regular DocTalks

FALL/SPRING 2025-2026

For DocTalks sessions, the organizers welcome any topic within the broad fields of architectural history and its related disciplines. You may also propose to host a complete session, submitting a proposal comprising two presentations and the names of two respondents.

Send your proposals (an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short bio in a single PDF file) to doctalks...@gmail.com

Deadline: SEPTEMBER 26, 2025

We look forward to receiving your proposals!

DocTalks is an informal, peer-to-peer, weekly online forum by and for PhD students, postdocs and early career researchers in architectural history and theory. It is organized by a team of researchers from ETH Zurich, The University of Manchester, IE University Madrid, Hong Kong University, McGill University, MIT, METU, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Wenzhou-Kean University.

The series started in 2018 as in-person meetings among PhD students at ETH Zurich/gta. In 2020 it moved online and opened to participants from other universities. Today, DocTalks is run by an international team and hosts a broad range of speakers and audience members from numerous universities worldwide.

We are all working in architectural history, in a broad range of geographical foci and chronologies, from early-modern to 20th century and even more recent history. The aim of the colloquium is not so much to guarantee fact-heavy input on whatever topic is presented (as would be the case in a research-peer group), but rather to try and draw parallels between different topics and to discuss more broadly how we do research, how we write, how we deal with historiographic tropes and conventions, and how we can situate our (often rather specialized) work within broader contexts and audiences. DocTalks works as a platform in which one can test their work beyond the narrow boundaries of their specific area of expertise.

We meet every week to present work-in-progress, exchange feedback and discuss matters of methodology, writing, narrative, terminology and periodology to draw links between different topics and areas of expertise. Meetings are structured around the canonical twenty-minute presentation, followed by a Q&A open to everyone attending. The format is designed so as to afford useful and direct feedback in a low-pressure environment. You may present anything that is useful for you according to the stage you are in: from the outline of your entire project to the draft of individual papers and/or chapters; from broader historiographical hypotheses to specific case studies.

We are looking for contributions from PhD students and Postdocs and early career researchers within the areas of architectural history and theory, from early-modern to contemporary. Besides those who wish to present their own work, our door is open to anyone that wishes to attend the sessions as an auditor and contribute with constructive comments and feedback.

DocTalks launches calls for presentations twice a year (in June and in December, for the Autumn and Spring seasons respectively). We are happy to receive proposals for presentations or sessions all year long. We welcome work situated in architectural history and theory and related disciplines. We accept proposals from PhD students, postdocs, and early career researchers at all stages (from those who just started to those about to finish).

We strongly encourage presentations of work in progress as well as polished dissertation extracts. A presentation should take no more than 20 minutes, and can be as broad or as specific as the presenter wishes: from a summary of your entire dissertation, to a particular chapter or even a case-study, archival find, or historiographic debate. We also welcome proposals for sessions where a host can bring together two presentations on a particular theme of their choice.

If you would like to present a paper at DocTalks, please send us a title and an abstract (no more than 300 words), along with a short bio (200 words). If you would like to organize a DocTalks session send us a title/theme, along with the bios of two speakers, and their titles & abstracts (see above).

Please send your proposals to doctalks...@gmail.com

Guidelines for Presenters:

As you prepare your presentation, please keep note of the following:

• Presentations should not exceed 15-20 minutes and can (should!) be accompanied by a visual presentation (PowerPoint or similar format).

• Your presentation should reflect the theme delineated in your abstract. You can of course make changes here and there, but you cannot change the overall topic. If in doubt, contact the chair of your session.

• DocTalks is primarily a doctoral and post-doctoral workshop, which means that the presentation should be at the level of a doctoral (early or mature - it doesn't matter) or postdoctoral research. You can turn to material developed earlier only if this is reworked to engage critically with historical and theoretical considerations of the field.

• Practice-based work, technical drawings, master thesis material, and master-level literature reviews lie strictly outside the scope of these meetings.

• DocTalks is not a conference venue; presentations and discussions go beyond the mere broadcasting of information. We gather to discuss, provide feedback, workshop questions and overall help presenters further their work in a safe and collegial setting. For this reason, it is best to format your presentation, keeping some questions in mind that the respondents and participants can help you with.

• It is OK to have unresolved and unpolished thoughts!