Researchers are invited to submit paper proposals for the Second International Egodocument Network Conference, “Egodocument Research in the 21st Century – Opportunities and Challenges”, taking place at Sorbonne University in Paris on 7–9 April 2027. Professor Arvydas Pacevičius of Vilnius University’s Faculty of Communication is a member of the conference organising committee. The submission deadline is 15 October 2026.
Egodocuments, including diaries, letters, memoirs and other sources that reveal personal experiences, offer insights into individual lives and their historical, social and cultural contexts. Blogs and social media posts expand this field, while contemporary technologies create new opportunities for research.
The conference will explore emerging forms of egodocuments and the technological tools available to study them. It will also address access to personal archives in social sciences and humanities research in an era dominated by major technology companies, or Big Tech.
Interdisciplinary contributions are welcome, particularly, but not exclusively, those addressing religion, privacy, media history and book history. The call is open to all researchers interested in egodocuments as research sources, cultural artefacts or a literary genre. Membership of the International Egodocument Network is not required.
The keynote speakers will be Professor James Daybell (University of Plymouth), Professor Paweł Rodak (University of Warsaw) and Dr Leonieke Vermeer (University of Groningen).
Submission and participation details
- Submit a paper proposal and a short CV to by 15 October 2026.
- Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 1 December 2026.
- The standard conference fee is €150, with a reduced fee of €65 for doctoral candidates and students.
- The call for papers in English and information on organisational matters are available at https://ien.umk.pl.
The first International Egodocument Network (IEN) conference, held at Vilnius University in 2025 (https://www.egodocuments.kf.vu.lt/), focused on the evolution of egodocuments from medieval codices to contemporary media. Articles based on the conference presentations have already been published in Volume 86 of Knygotyra: https://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/knygotyra/lt/issue/view/3027.
Following the Paris conference, publications are planned in Brill’s Egodocuments and History series and in Rocznik Egodokumentalny. Journal of Egodocuments and Self-Narratives. Acceptance of articles will be subject to peer review.