Northwest History

Thanks, Jen. It has been a long time coming, my st...

2012-05-24T09:08:22.608-07:00

Thanks, Jen. It has been a long time coming, my students have been working behind the scenes for over a year creating content for the app. Watch for a bunch of great, additional items to pop up in Spokane Historical in the next month.

This is great! As an EWU alum and a genealogist, I...

2012-05-23T08:43:34.832-07:00

This is great! As an EWU alum and a genealogist, I'm very excited to see you working on developing programs and technology like this. Fantastic!

Phree, thanks for your supportive comments and I h...

2012-05-16T11:17:29.255-07:00

Phree, thanks for your supportive comments and I hope you find or have found an acceptable Plan B! I am not sure I would blame the non-retiring boomers though. It is not their fault that they lost half their 401ks in 2008, or that when they do retire they are not replaced with tenure-track faculty but with a collection of adjuncts.

The problem is that America has retreated from its commitment to making a college education available to every person. Taxes are lower than they have been in 50 years, and there just is not enough money in state governments to keep their commitments. This was the case before the recession and will remain the case after.

Larry - I totally agree with this post and am in t...

2012-05-14T06:54:39.630-07:00

Larry - I totally agree with this post and am in the same situation with a PhD in philosophy. I would never advise an undergrad to attend graduate school for the humanities unless they were independently wealthy and did not need a job.

I too had a FT non-TT after completing my PhD in 2004. All of the FT TT jobs I have applied to have cancelled searches both before and and during the Great Recession. I worked in a miserable position at an unethical for-profit, EDMC, until I refused to capitulate to unethical policies designed to separate students from their money.

The delusional TTs who are critiquing your post do not live in our world and do not get it at all. There is no future for PhDs. We are being replaced by our own starving ranks. I blame the Baby Boomers who were more than willing to sell us out to hang onto their own TT jobs.

Amen Tom. I had exactly this conversation yesterda...

2012-05-10T21:47:37.236-07:00

Amen Tom. I had exactly this conversation yesterday with a colleague who said that the trouble with digital research is that you only find what you are looking for. I can't count how many times I have heard that sentiment--and it is so absolutely wrong.

I agree that there are very good reasons to contin...

2012-05-10T17:19:55.584-07:00

I agree that there are very good reasons to continue publishing a print journal, one of them being the kind of serendipitous discovery it affords. But I am always frustrated by the suggestion of some print advocates that serendipity is something that only happens in the table of contents of a print volume or in a library's stacks. Spend 90 minutes with Wikipedia and I'll show you serendipity. You'll be reading about King Argishi of Urartu before you know it.

Thank you John for the corrections--this is a comp...

2012-05-10T15:47:33.931-07:00

Thank you John for the corrections--this is a complicated story and I appreciate you setting me straight.

Jacobite--glad to hear it! I have an old post here somewhere about the future of H-Net. The network was vital to my early career, but has not evolved with the technology. Until now.

Sarah: Yes, a nice history journal is a good thing to hold. If we make it more popular, it could sell on newstands as well. Imagine the greater impact if you could pick up The Public Historian alongside the latest Harpers and National Geographic at the airport newsstand!

Thanks, Mary, I agree with much of what you say. ...

2012-05-10T14:06:44.508-07:00

Thanks, Mary, I agree with much of what you say.

Someone recently told me that what a board needs from its members is wealth, work, and wisdom--and that every board member needs to bring at least two of these things to the table.

It is such a simple, good idea. Nest up--professor...

2012-05-10T14:01:24.409-07:00

It is such a simple, good idea. Nest up--professors doing it for their courses!

Interesting--I can't think of other university...

2012-05-10T06:25:32.176-07:00

Interesting--I can't think of other university presses doing book trailers.

These thoughts are not going to be comforting. Th...

2012-05-08T09:49:24.537-07:00

These thoughts are not going to be comforting. The predicament of MAC is not unique, but the inevitable results of some intersecting forces that have been at work for some time.

1. The fat and happy assumption that cultural entities are irreproachable.
2. People on boards for such institution tend to be aware of the honor of the position but not in touch with the obligation to be active supervisors and managers. Those who choose board members tend to ignore qualifications except for income level.
3. A class of cruisers who get hired at exactly this sort of institution, plunder the resources one way or another, the most direct being simply removing valuable objects for their own ends.
4. The general public's lack of awareness of what such institutions are or could be, since they only go to them when their cousins come to visit and they need a destination.
5. A news blackout to protect the organization from losing donations. Also, persons being asked to leave may have a legal agreement that protects their ability to get the next job at a similar outfit.

The list of victim groups includes a museum not far from Spokane (some time ago when the curator sold the priceless baskets in order to buy paintings by a friend) and one IN Spokane on the Gonzaga campus, devised by Father Schoenburg and meant to be about Indians.

Prairie Mary
Mary Scriver
Valier, MT

I agree on the "must have a print copy."...

2012-05-07T05:37:42.983-07:00

I agree on the "must have a print copy." There is something about having it in your hands, and there is a serendipity about reading one article and then seeing what else is there by flipping the pages--I have found research topics just by sitting in front of a journal in the stacks and reading a copy from cover to cover.

H-Net is about to undergo a major upgrade that wil...

2012-05-04T18:13:19.897-07:00

H-Net is about to undergo a major upgrade that will allow attached blogging and support archives of material. Lists that are creative with this can do a lot with it. H-War is in the middle of discussions on how to balance scholarly with the enthusiasts.

Larry, thanks for the coverage and for the ideas a...

2012-05-04T14:01:13.349-07:00

Larry, thanks for the coverage and for the ideas about open access and new article formats for a public history journal. As I mentioned by email and which we agreed I should post here, there are a couple of corrections I need to offer: First, UCSB and NCPH did not come to a parting of the ways in Milwaukee. We agreed to stay together through at least December 2014, at which point we might part ways. During the next 2.5 years of this “interim agreement” we will be trying to resolve some of points on which we’ve disagreed. Second, UCSB is not the publisher of The Public Historian. UC Press is. Third, both sides absolutely agree that copyright, is shared by UCSB and NCPH. That’s stated clearly in our past and current contracts. Fourth, what's not clearly stated is who owns trademark,or the right to use the name “The Public Historian” going forward. According to our contract, UCSB and NCPH are “co-sponsors” of the journal, and that’s as close to specific language we have on the matter. We'll be discussing this in earnest over the next several months.

Awesome find. Thank you for posting it.

2012-05-03T02:40:35.387-07:00

Awesome find. Thank you for posting it.

John: Good tip, though unfortunately their back i...

2012-04-29T10:35:59.938-07:00

John: Good tip, though unfortunately their back issues are not online.

As far as format for a magazine style journal, I&#...

2012-04-26T10:13:58.881-07:00

As far as format for a magazine style journal, I'd suggest taking a look at NAI's Legacy magazine (http://www.interpnet.com/publications/legacy.shtml) whihc has robust, meaningful content that helps push the profession forward while still being readable and accessible to a chiefly public interpretive base.

Excellent post--thank you! I work on the open-acce...

2012-04-26T06:46:00.819-07:00

Excellent post--thank you! I work on the open-access Journal of Music History Pedagogy (http://www.ams-net.org/ojs/index.php/jmhp/). We use peer review, and are open to a wide variety of kinds of articles and research. While we're not quite magazine-like, we're not stuck in the most traditional mold of older print journals either. However, we are for a niche market, and I could well see a magazine-style approach working really well for getting public attention and interest. The Atlantic model you mention might be ideal.

Have a short summary of "what do you do?"...

2012-04-18T12:59:07.669-07:00

Have a short summary of "what do you do?" that is preferably memorable and funny and allows the other person to tag onto it. Practice this in advance.

If you are marginally extroverted, make a swing through the corners of rooms and talk to the people stuck there looking at their shoes. They're usually pretty interesting, and can be moved to go to lunch with a minimal push.

After the first conference, keep in touch with people--email and ask for copies of the paper, or if they want to be on a panel for another conference. Take business cards and write a note on the back about what you could do in the future. Look for opportunities like people who are or have grad students at an institution with resources you might want to use (I have paid beer money to have grad students go copy microfilm for me in lieu of a trip there myself).

Don't nametag sniff--we all end up places we never expected, and the people who refuse to talk outside their current league miss out on a lot.

So very true! Now, if we could get more people to ...

2012-04-18T12:58:01.595-07:00

So very true! Now, if we could get more people to read this and the other good conference advice out there....

Larry, I saw nothing about drinks, buying your fav...

2012-04-18T12:43:32.594-07:00

Larry, I saw nothing about drinks, buying your favorite scholar a drink or having a drink with your friends...what's up ;-)) Also I have to say that two grad students came up to me at the end of my presentation last week and they made my day with their "that was the best thing we saw all day" remark...sucking up makes us all feel better!

Your blog is full of rich history. I remember goin...

2012-03-22T08:36:49.454-07:00

Your blog is full of rich history. I remember going to Nat Park as a child, probably around 1954 - 1956, and riding the Carousel.

Thanks, Exlibriscat. Your comment inspired me to l...

2012-03-16T20:01:04.632-07:00

Thanks, Exlibriscat. Your comment inspired me to look up the Leug journal. It was translated and edited by Ceylon Kingston, a history professor at Eastern Washington University! Funny how the world revolves. I will look it up next week.

Some of my family traveled the Mullan road from Mi...

2012-03-16T10:33:02.506-07:00

Some of my family traveled the Mullan road from Minnesota to Walla Walla. They were part of the Davy Train described in Henry Lueg's journal. It's nice to see some interest devoted to the road.

Sounds like a great history project.

2012-03-12T17:41:37.922-07:00

Sounds like a great history project.