The 2025 Mount Vernon Symposium will highlight methods of stewarding, sustaining, and designing gardens and landscapes in the face of environmental challenges, in the past and present day. We welcome proposals on a range of topics, especially environmental science and environmental history, horticulture and agriculture, design and management, conservation and sustainability.
George Washington, other early landholders, landscape designers, botanists, and free and enslaved gardeners and farmers experimented, innovated, and revolutionized methods of caring for their gardens, fields, and land. Often, they did so in the face of dramatic climate shifts, exhausted soil, and dwindling natural resources.
The Emerging Scholars’ Panel will join leading historians, horticulturists, and landscape designers as they explore these histories and share behind-the-scenes insights into how they’re carrying Washington’s message forward, working creatively to design, manage, and protect green spaces for future generations.
For our Emerging Scholars’ Panel, the Washington Library invites graduate students and professionals active in their fields for no more than five years to propose short presentations that speak to this year’s theme.
Email symposiumcfp@mountvernon.org to submit a 250-word abstract and a 2-page CV by January 31, 2025. Chosen speakers will be offered full symposium participation, travel, and lodging.
Contact Email symposiumcfp@mountvernon.org
