April 9, 2020
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It will come as no surprise that because of the Covid19 epidemic, we at ECNU, in agreement with the steering committee of the Weatherhead Initiative for Global History (WIGH), have regretfully concluded that our international conference scheduled for this coming October must be postponed. Travel conditions and restrictions on gatherings are too uncertain to carry on planning as usual. We are hoping that our university funding, which was allocated for the 2020 conference, can be allocated for an equivalent event, to be held preferably one year later, on the weekend of October 9-10, 2021, and we shall let you know the status of this request as soon as possible. Meanwhile the announced theme will remain the same, and we will keep active the proposals we have already received, unless instructed otherwise.
We have moved from studying events of global historical importance to living through one that which will no doubt become the theme of much future research. Meanwhile, we send our fervent wishes that you remain healthy in this unsettling period.
Charles Maier
Sven Beckert
Zhu Ming