Monday, December 8, 2008
Come to a Conversation about the History Job Market
The papers for the precirculated sessions at the 2009 AHA convention are now available online. You will find my paper listed under Session 133. Although I was supposed to provide critiques of the AHA, I decided to make these more implicit in my paper. I have a challenge for regular readers of my blog and of Robert Townsend's articles. I will provide a free meal at the conference to whoever comes up with the best list of the differences and debates between the three papers in my session. This online discussion can get us ready for all of the talking you and others will do during my session. Don't forget that almost all of the two hours in my session will be devoted to audience participation since the papers are being precirculated. I look forward to what you have to say.
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6 comments:
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Kate
http://educationonline-101.com
I'm anxious to read your paper later on today and was glad to see that the AHA was offering such a session. However, I've slotted my time to read your paper with what would ordinarily coincide with post-5:00-ish cocktail hour, so I can mull these thoughts with a good strong hot toddy in hand. However, since I am currently pregnant, this is not possible (imbibing, that is).... . . which brings on its own set of questions. . . . .
Thanks for getting out there and presenting "the other side" of the grad school equation.
I read your paper, and the other papers from your session. I find your perspective the most honest, and your statistics -- on the number of incomplete Ph.D.s, historians in other lines of work, and those working in the academy without a chance of tenure.
I find your list of potential jobs for history majors persuasive, but I have a question about your recommendations for the AHA: why encourage a numerical approach?
I think having an AHA clearinghouse for c.v.s, teaching statements, syllabi and especially transcripts could save applicants a lot of time and money.
But can you elaborate what makes you think that more standardized tests could aid in the selection of professors? (For one source of doubts, see the recent Malcolm Gladwell article in The New Yorker on "quarterback problems," as drawn from his new book Outliers.) As Gladwell intimates, there are scientific ways to tell who will succeed, but it's a matter of graded videotaped presentations more than written aptitude tests...
I look forward to your reply.
Good for students! Thanks for your help..
god blog
cool very informative blog
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