NIU History Graduate Student Association (HGSA) and the NIU Libraries Regional History Center (RHC) are pleased to announce the first-ever NIU History-Con on April 18-19, 2025, at NIU's Swen Parson Hall in DeKalb. This two-day event combines the HGSA’s Graduate Student Conference (now in its 17th year) with the Northern Illinois Regional History Conference (now in its third year) to feature dozens of history scholars and students presenting on a variety of regional, national, and global history topics.

Day two of NIU History-Con (Saturday, April 19) continues with a series of panels related to the history of technology, science, and innovation in the greater northern Illinois region. Joe Anderson, Professor of History at Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and author of “Capitalist Pigs: Pigs, Pork, and Power in America” (West Virginia University Press, 2019), will give the keynote address on the history of industrial corn and hybrid seed production in Northern Illinois and the American Midwest. Professor Anderson’s research focuses on agricultural history, technology, and the environment in mid-continental North America. Professor Anderson’s address kicks off the day at 9 a.m., followed by concurrent panel sessions to 4 p.m.

NIU History-Con is free and open to the public and participants may attend all or any part of both conference days. Doors open each day at 8 a.m., with lunch breaks from noon to 1 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided. No registration is required but attendees are encouraged to RSVP by April 16, 2025. To RSVP, please fill out this webform. The program schedule and details will be posted on the conference webpage by March 15, 2025. Please forward all other NIU History-Con inquiries to Bradley J. Wiles at bwiles@niu.edu or 815-753-9392.