By Chris Cassidy
SALEM — Hundreds of scholars, professors and schoolteachers from around the world will gather in Salem next summer for a four-day world history conference.
The World History Association has previously held its annual conferences in London, Korea, Morocco and San Diego and will hold its 2011 conference in Beijing.
Next summer, however, their members will be in Salem.
"This is one of the most exciting places on the face of the Earth," said the association's vice president, Alfred Andrea, a professor of medieval world history at the University of Vermont.
Much of the conference will be held on the Salem State College campus, but the association is also planning events at the Peabody Essex Museum, the Friendship and The House of the Seven Gables.
Some 400 members are expected to attend the conference, which runs from June 25 to 28, Andrea said. Most are expected to stay at the Hawthorne Hotel and the Peabody Marriott.
"We're advertising the conference as an opportunity to understand the way in which Essex County has played a global role since its inception," Andrea said.
"I think it's a fantastic opportunity," said Emily Murphy, a park ranger at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, who hopes to present a paper on the Derby family during the conference.
"Salem's an obvious place to do this," she said. "Our history is global. ... It's one of the few places where you can really walk around and see four centuries of architecture, influenced by our international connections."
The World History Association is based in Hawaii and has about 1,500 members. It's composed of university and college professors and schoolteachers.
"We act as the major organization for the promotion of superior teaching and scholarship in the field of world history," Andrea said. "We're particularly interested in such phenomena as the interchange of cultures and globalization of the world."
Last year's conference in London drew members from 26 countries, Andrea said.
