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akathecentimetre · 5 years ago

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Hey there, so I really like history as a subject, and I'm pretty good at it. The thing is, I don't know what my career options would be if I studied it, or if I would be able to make money. My parents are heavily discouraging me from taking it as a major. As a 'historian' in training' what's your take? Thank you

Hi there! Sorry for the delay, ‘tis the hectic season…

Oh man, I have so many thoughts for you. Full disclosure: this is something I have worked on a LOT over the course of my graduate career both at my uni and on a national level; most of my advice, however, comes from a PhD candidate’s perspective and may not be directly helpful to an undergraduate, and I should also emphasize that everything I can say on this is very firmly based on the U.S. market only. That being said, a lot of what I can say can be universally applied, so here we go -

The number of history undergraduates in the U.S. has plummeted in the last decade or so, from it previously being one of the most popular majors. There are many interacting reasons for this: a changeover from older to younger, better-trained, energetic professors who draw in and retain students has been very slow to occur, partly because of a lack of a mandatory retirement age; the humanities have been systematically demonized and minimized in favor of the development of STEM subjects, to the occasional benefit of students of color and women but to the detriment of critical public discourse and historical perspective on current events; with many liberal arts colleges going under financially and the enormous expansion of academic bureaucracy everywhere, resources are definitely being diverted away from social and human studies towards fields which are perceived to pay better or perceived, as mentioned in the article above, as being more ‘practical.’ (We do need a ton more healthcare workers/specialists, but that’s a different conversation to have.) But now I feel like quoting a certain Jedi Master: everything your parents say is wrong. Let’s dive into why being a historian is a positive thing for you both as a person and as a professional -

You will be a good reader. As you learn to decipher documents and efficiently and thoroughly read secondary literature, you will develop a particular talent for understanding what is important about any piece of writing or evidence (and this can go for visual and aural evidence as well). This will serve you well in any position in which you are collecting/collating information and reporting to colleagues or superiors, and evaluating the worth of resources. Specific example - editorial staff at publishing houses either private or academic, magazines, etc.

You will be a good writer. This will get you a good job at tons of places; don’t underestimate it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been astonished (not in a punitive way, of course, but definitely with a sense of befuddlement) by how badly some of my Ivy-league students can write. Good writing is hard, good writing is rare, and good writing is a breath of fresh air to any employer who puts a high premium upon it in their staff. History in principle is the study of change; history in practice is presenting information in a logical, interesting, and persuasive manner. Any sort of institution which asks you to write reports, summaries, copy, etc. etc. will appreciate your skills.

You will be a good researcher. This sounds like a given, but it’s an underappreciated and vital skill. Historians work as consultants. Historians work in government - almost every department has an Office of the Historian - and in companies, writing company histories and maintaining institutional archives. A strong research profile will also serve you well if you want to go on to work in museum studies and in libraries public or private/academic. As a historian, you will know not just where to find information, but what questions you have to ask to get to the answer of how to tackle, deconstruct, and solve a problem. This is relevant to almost any career path.

You will provide perspective. Historians react to current events in newspapers and online - not just on politics, but culture as well (my favorite article of this week is about the historicity of The Aeronauts). Historians act as expert witnesses in court proceedings. Historians write books, good books, not just meant for academic audiences but for millions upon millions of readers who need thoughtful, intelligent respite from the present. Historians work for thinktanks, providing policy analysis and development (a colleague of mine is an expert on current events of war in Mali and works for multiple thinktanks and organizations because of it). Historians work for nonprofits or lobbying groups on issues of poverty, environmental safety, climate change, and minority and indigenous rights. In a world when Texas school textbooks push the states’ rights narrative, historians remind us that the Civil War was about slavery. Historians remind us that women and people of color have always existed. In this time and world where STEM subjects are (supposedly) flooding the job market, we need careful historical perspective more than ever. We need useful reactions to the 2016 election, to the immigration travesties on display at the southern border, to the strengthening of right-wing parties in Europe - and history classes, or thoughtfully historical classes on philosophy and political science, are one of the few places STEM and business students gain the basic ability to participate in those conversations. [One of my brightest and most wonderful students from last year, just to provide an anecdote, is an astrophysics major who complained to me in a friendly conversation this semester that she never got the chance to talk about ‘deep’ things anymore once she had passed through our uni’s centralized general curriculum, which has a heavy focus on humanities subjects.]

You will be an educator. Teaching is a profession which has myriad challenges in and of itself, but in my experience of working with educators there is a desperate need for secondary-school teachers in particular to have actual content training in history as opposed to simply being pushed into classrooms with degrees which focus only on pedagogical technique. If teaching is a vocation you are actually interested in, getting a history degree is not a bad place to start at all. And elementary/high schools aside, you will be teaching someone something in every interaction you have concerning your subject of choice. Social media is a really important venue now for historians to get their work out into the world and correct misconceptions in the public sphere, and is a place where you can hone a public and instructive voice. You could also be involved in educational policy, assessment/test development (my husband’s field, with a PhD in History from NYU), or educational activism.

If some of this sounds kind of woolly and abstract, that’s because it is. Putting yourself out there on the job market is literally a marketing game, and it can feel really silly to take your experience of 'Two years of being a Teaching Assistant for European History 1500-1750’ and mutate it to 'Facilitated group discussions, evaluated written work from students [clients], and ran content training sessions on complex subjects.’ But this sort of translation is just another skill - one that can be learned, improved, and manipulated to whatever situation you need it to fit.

Will you make money? That’s a question only you can answer, because only you know what you think is enough money. That being said, many of the types of careers I’ve mentioned already are not low-paying; in my experience expertise is, if you find the right workplace and the rewarding path, usually pretty well-remunerated.

Specific advice? Hone your craft. Curate an active public presence as a historian, an expert, a patient teacher, and as as person enthusiastic about your subject. Read everything and anything. Acknowledge and insist upon complexity, and celebrate it when you can.

And finally - will any of what I’ve said here make it easy? No, because no job search and no university experience is easy these days. It’s a crazy world and there are a lot of awful companies, bosses, and projects out there. But I do very firmly believe that you can find something, somewhere, that will suit your skills, and, hopefully, your passions too.

Resources for you: the American Historical Association has a breakdown of their skills-based approach to the job market, reports on the job market(s) for history PhDs collectively called ‘Where Historians Work,’ and a mentorship program, Career Contacts, which could connect you with professional historians in various workplaces. There is a very active community of historians on Twitter; search for #twitterstorians. For historians who identify as female, Women Also Know History is a newer site which collates #herstorian bios and publications to make it easier for journalists to contact them for expert opinions. ImaginePhD provides career development tools and exercises for graduate students, but could probably be applied to undergrads as well. The Gilder Lehrman Institute is one of the premier nonprofits which develops and promotes historical training for secondary school teachers and classroom resources (U.S. history only). Job listings are available via the AHA, the National Council on Public History, and the IHE, as well as the usual job sites. And there’s an awful lot more out there, of course - anyone who reads or reblogs this post is welcome to add field-specific or resource-specific info.

I hope this helps, Anon, or at least provides you with a way to argue in favor of it to your parents if it comes to that. Chin up!

#replies #anon #history #academia #education #career diversity #grad school #Caz rambles

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herstorycity · 5 years ago

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“Decolonization in Action Episode 1, Part 1: Decolonizing Berlin

Edna Bonhomme, Marianna Szczygielska, Kristyna Comer, Dept. III

Decolonization in Action is a new podcast that interrogates decolonization in the arts, sciences, and beyond.This podcast focuses on how decolonization is being put into action today. While calls for decolonizing science, education, and museums are becoming more prominent, knowledge practices of western academia and of present-day colonizing nation states remain largely unchanged. In conversation with historians, activists, artists, and curators, this podcast aims to unravel how decolonization is understood, and most importantly to give attention to how decolonization is being practiced today.

Episode 1, Part 1: Decolonizing Berlin

In part 1 of this inaugural episode, we invited Dr. Noa Ha and Prof. Dr. Tahani Nadim to discuss the relationship between German colonial history and Berlin—the metropole of that colonial past. We focus on Berlin’s street names and the Natural History Museum as spaces of remembrance and resistance. In this episode we ask ourselves, in what ways does colonialism continue to shape Berlin institutions and the city of Berlin itself?

Team

Edna Bonhomme is an anti-colonial activist, herstorian, writer, curator, and educator. Edna earned a PhD in history/history of science at Princeton University and her/their work interrogates disease, gender, surveillance, and embodiment. Her/their multimedia pieces have appeared in gallery spaces in Prague and Vienna. As a Black queer feminist and postcolonial subject, her/their activism and projects are guided by diasporic futurisms, herbal healing, and bionic beings.

Kristyna Comer studies art history and cultural studies at Humboldt University in Berlin where her research focuses on public museum collections in Berlin and past and current demands for restitution, reparations, and repatriation.

Marianna Szczygielska is a feminist researcher and activist. She earned a PhD in gender studies at Central European University in Budapest. Marianna brings queer and anti-colonial approaches into reflection on human-animal relations and environmental change.

Location

Berlin, Germany

#interview #Berlin #podcast #decolonization #decolonising

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astridexner · 4 years ago

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Nach der Show ist die Afterparty, und nach der Party wird abgerechnet

Gender Gap #16 – Wir schreiben das Jahr 2014 und mein Freund und ich haben gerade einen romantischen Abend am Popfest verbracht. Es ist eine Fernbeziehung, wir haben also einander viel und dem Geschehen auf der Seebühne eher wenig Beachtung geschenkt. Als wir bei Längenfeldgasse aus der U4 aussteigen, hängt am gegenüberliegenden Bahnsteig ein Plakat, das eine Ausstellung über Egon Schiele bewirbt. Das ist der Moment, an dem alles den Bach runter geht.

Sagt mein Freund: “Ugh, Egon Schiele, der war ja völlig unmöglich.” Das weckt mein Interesse als angehende Kunsthistorikerin und ich frage nach. Schiele habe Affären mit seinen minderjährigen Modellen gehabt und sei aus moralischen Gründen aus der Kunstwelt zu verbannen. Es würde den Rahmen dieser Kolumne sprengen, dieser Behauptung nachzugehen – das haben bereits andere gemacht, die zu differenzierten Ergebnissen gekommen sind. Damals war ich einfach nur irritiert von der Rechthaberei meines Begleiters und forderte die argumentative Trennung von Kunst und Künstler. “Du kannst nicht einfach die Werke einer Person aus dem Kanon werfen, nur weil sie sich nicht korrekt verhalten hat”, schleudere ich genauso rechthaberisch zurück und das mündet in einem ausgewachsenen Streit, der damit endet, dass mein sturer Freund auf der Couch übernachtet, seine Zahnbürste am nächsten Morgen in den Mist wirft, ohne Verabschiedung zum Flughafen fährt und fortan nicht mehr mein Freund ist.

Wir schreiben das Jahr 2019 und im Elektro Gönner legt zu fortgeschrittener Stunde jemand einen absoluten Banger auf. Das Problem: Es ist “Ignition” von R. Kelly, und mittlerweile ist #metoo passiert. Eine ganze Menge von Entwicklungen haben einen Bewusstseinswandel und einen neuen Zeitgeist herbeigeführt, der KünstlerInnen und Popstars ihr Fehlverhalten entlang schiefer Machtverhältnisse nicht mehr ganz so locker verzeiht. Es spielt also R. Kelly, ich hab ein Getränk in der Hand, das bei Gott nicht das erste an diesem Abend ist, und bin im Zwiespalt, denn es tanzt sich nicht mehr so ausgelassen dazu wie früher. Aber warum eigentlich? R. Kelly war schließlich schon seit spätestens 1994 sketchy. In diesem Jahr legte er der damals 15-jährigen Aaliyah “Age ain’t nothing but a number” in den Mund und heiratete die zwölf Jahre jüngere Sängerin dann ziemlich on brand in einer illegalen Zeremonie.

Nun starb Aaliyah viel zu früh und kann ihre Seite der Geschichte nicht mehr erzählen. Dieses Schicksal teilt sie mit Michael Jackson, nur dass jener auf der wrong side of history steht. So wie “Ignition” legt man “Thriller” als woker Party-DJ nicht mehr auf, denn den Schöpfern dieser Werke und ihren NachfahrInnen werden 2019 plötzlich keine Einnahmen aus AKM-Zahlungen und Spotify-Streams mehr gegönnt. Obwohl auch Jacksons Tendenzen zum Kindesmissbrauch schon in den 1990ern und 2000ern bekannt waren, hat erst die diesjährige Doku “Leaving Neverland” zu einer posthumen Verpöntheit des Künstlers geführt. Was war in der Zwischenzeit passiert? Ein Paradigmenwechsel in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung, der das Wegschauen und Ignorieren und ja, auch das Trennen zwischen Kunst und Künstler, nicht mehr so leicht möglich macht. Die Massenbewegung #metoo war nicht bloß Hashtag-Aktivismus, sondern veränderte die Welt tatsächlich, auch im sonst gerne unpolitischen Entertainment-Bereich.

Noch ein Beispiel? Wir schreiben das Jahr 2013 und Pharrell Williams verhilft dem One-Hit-Wonder Robin Thicke mit der von Marvin Gaye abgeschriebenen Nummer “Blurred Lines” zu 15 Millionen Singleverkäufen und einer weltweiten Diskussion um den fragwürdigen Text des Songs. Das strategisch ~kontroverse~ Musikvideo zeigt drei (nur mit Stringtangas bekleidete) Frauen, die um die (natürlich vollständig angezogenen) Interpreten herumturnen – ein abgehalftertes Hip-Hop-Klischee, das dennoch den gewünschten Werbeeffekt hat. Im Zusammenspiel mit den Lyrics rund um die Zeile “I know you want it” ergibt sich dadurch aber das unangenehm misogyne Bild der Verherrlichung von Rape Culture. Thicke und Williams sind sowas von überrascht und haben es gar nicht so gemeint. Sie verstehen den ganzen Aufruhr nicht. In Wirklichkeit sind doch sie die wahren Feministen! Sechs Jahre später gibt Pharrell dem Magazin GQ ein Interview und kommt darin doch noch zur Einsicht, dass er in einer chauvinistischen Gesellschaft lebt. Er schämt sich jetzt für seinen Blurred-Lines-Text und gibt zu Protokoll, dass die ganze Kontroverse seine Sicht auf die Welt verändert hat.

Einen derartigen Perspektivenwechsel wie Pharrell haben in den 2010er-Jahren viele vollzogen. Wir sind damit alle Teil eines revisionistischen Prozesses, der einen neuen Blick auf die Popmusik-Geschichtsschreibung wirft und dem Bild des Künstlergenies kritisch gegenüber steht. Das zeigt sich in plakativen Anekdoten genauso wie in aktuellen Analysen, die hoffentlich zu Standardwerken werden, wie dem Sachbuch “Good Booty” der NPR-Musikkritikerin Ann Powers aus dem Jahr 2017. Ihre Analyse der amerikanischen Musikgeschichte ist alles andere als die bisher übliche Verherrlichung eines Kanons voller weißer Männer, sondern beleuchtet jene marginalisierten Personengruppen, die die Entwicklung ganzer Genres vorantrieben, dann aber fleißig an den Rand der historischen Bühne gedrängt wurden: AfroamerikanerInnen, Frauen, Homosexuelle. Das ist in seiner unaufgeregt korrigierenden Art wahnsinnig befriedigend. Wenn die Herstorians der Populärkultur folgender Jahrzehnte auf die 2010er-Jahre zurückblicken, wird genau dieser Paradigmenwechsel in Erinnerung bleiben.

Zuerst erschienen in The Gap 178.

#gender gap #the gap #feminismus #kolumne #2019 #2010er jahre #cancel culture #metoo #egon schiele #r. kelly #michael jackson #kunst und künstler #robin thicke #blurred lines #musik #kunst #ann powers

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