On 16 November, the Society hosted ‘Out of Crisis: Advocating for British Studies’, a panel discussion which closed the 2025 North American Conference on British Studies (NACBS), held this year in Montreal.

Panellists were drawn from organisations active in advocacy and campaigning, with presentations from: Lucy Noakes and Philip Carter (President and Director of the Royal Historical Society); Claire Langhamer (Director of the Institute of Historical Research) and Brian Lewis and Amanda Perry (President and Executive Director of NACBS).

Contributors discussed the distinctive role of organisations like these in advocating for history and British Studies; the national dimensions of advocacy; and new initiatives, including a programme of Applied History Fellowships to be launched by the RHS and IHR on 19 November 2025. The event also drew on the advice and recommendations of large audience of North American and British historians.

The 2025 panel was the second in a programme of annual panels, held at NACBS, on the state of history and advocacy and campaigning for the historical discipline and profession.

Earlier sessions at the conference included two panels supported by the Society’s new Panel Grants programme, offering support to enable historians with no alternative source of funds, to create panels for a history conference. This scheme is generously supported by the Scouloudi Foundation and the call for applications for 2026-27 will be made in Spring 2026.

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IMAGE: John Lovell’s map of the city of Montreal, Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, CC BY 2.0