Brian Bertoti Innovative Perspectives in History Symposium
2026 Brian Bertoti History Symposium
The annual Brian Bertoti History Symposium will take place on April 10-11, 2026 in Blacksburg; the time and campus location will be announced at a later date. The Call for Papers is now open and will close on December 5, 2025. Click here to submit your proposal information, including a title, one-page abstract, and a two-page curriculum vitae.
This conference is an opportunity for passionate history students to share research projects in a supportive, professional environment and to network with future colleagues. HGSA believes that anyone, regardless of academic year, can write strong, well-researched histories and should have the opportunity to present them. While this is primarily a graduate student focused conference, motivated undergraduate scholars are encouraged to submit their work for consideration. Presentations on any aspect of history are welcome; we are especially interested in history projects that contain a public history or digital history component.
Our students are excited to share their passion and work with everyone! Stay tuned for more information.
2026 Keynote Speakers
Rob Willingham has taught at Roanoke College since 2004. His scholarship and teaching focus on German-Jewish history, including the Holocaust and life under the German Democratic Republic. He has won the Exemplary Teaching Award and served two terms as Chair of the History Department. He has spoken and published broadly on issues of memory and memorialization and is currently working on a study of German Jews in Mandatory Palestine. He is married and has twin daughters, Molly and Sydney.
Akwasi Kwarteng Amoako-Gyampah is an Associate Professor in the Department of History Education at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Ghana, and a Senior Research Associate in the Department of History at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is Vice Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at UEW and serves on the Advisory Board of the WomanAtwork project. He sits on the editorial board of Sankofa – Ghana Journal of Archaeology and Heritage Studies and is Managing Editor of the African Journal of Social Sciences Education. His research spans the social history of medicine and public health, sanitation and public hygiene, African religious beliefs and healing practices, and African political economy, labour, and economic history.
Conference History
Since 1998, the History Graduate Student Association (HGSA) has organized an annual conference for graduates students studying history at Virginia Tech and other M.A. and Ph.D. programs. Our conference is an opportunity to share graduate research projects in a supportive, professional environment and a chance to network with your future colleagues.
The conference is named after a former student who sparked interest among his peers to create a venue for public presentation of student research. Sadly, Brian Bertoti passed away before planning for the first conference was completed. The conference name acknowledges his interest in studying the past and his commitment to sharing that study with others.
The conference is a major undertaking and all HGSA members play a role in planning it. The students host invited keynote speakers, invite papers and create conference panels, attend to local arrangements, advertise the events, and solicit funds to cover conference expenses.
Brian Bertoti Award
Each year, HGSA acknowledges the best paper presented at the conference with the Brian Bertoti Award for Outstanding Historical Scholarship. To be considered for this award, participants must submit their paper at presentation length (3,000 words maximum, excluding bibliography and notes) to the Panels Committee. The paper selected for the best paper prize will represent exemplary scholarship, innovative methods, and unique perspectives in the historical discipline. Only graduate students are eligible for this award.
Publication in the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review
Outstanding undergraduate papers will also be considered for publication in the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review (VTUHR), which is published annually each spring. All submissions are reviewed by the undergraduate editorial board. Our editors utilize an anonymous peer-review process and employ a standard rubric to evaluate submissions.
