Working Historians

History Speaker Series with Matt Schandler and Generative Artificial Intelligence in the History Profession

At this event, Dr. Matt Schandler discusses the effects of artificial intelligence on the study, research, and writing of history. Topics of discussions include the origins of Generative AI; emerging historical applications beyond text, image, and video; working with bots; AI in academic settings; AI output as source material; academic integrity and AI use; best practices and dangerous practices; and future-proofing one's skillset.

Matt Schandler is a historian of technology, data scientist, and political scientist who studies the histories of domestic digital technologies, environmental technological systems. artificial intelligence, digital gaming, and information technologies. In addition to teaching the undergraduate capstone course at SNHU, he teaches courses on The History of Everything; Data Science for the Social Good; World History and Technology; and Technology, Society, and Public Policy at Chestnut Hill College.

History Speaker Series with Will McLean Greeley and the Birdman of the Senate

In this episode, Will McLean Greeley discusses his recent book, a Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate, a biography of politician George MacLean, a Gilded Age and Progressive Era reformer and conservationist whose best known accomplishment was the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Will Greeley holds degrees in political science and archive administration and worked in government and corporate market research before his recent retirement.

History Speaker Series with Dr. Jamie Goodall and Pirate Black Sam Bellamy

In this episode, Dr. Jamie Goodall discusses her new book, The Daring Exploits of Pirate Black Sam Bellamy: From Cape Cod to the Caribbean, which describes the political, cultural, legal, and economic relationships between pirates and the coast of colonial New England. Dr. Goodall teaches American history at Southern New Hampshire University and is a historian with the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C.

How Do I Write a History Research Paper?

In this final episode of our series on how historians research and write on historical topics, the panel tackles the writing process: How do you organize your thoughts and get past that dreaded blank page?

 

Speaker timeline:

00:54 - Matt Schandler 
06:36 - CB Repass
07:55 - Ryan Tripp
10:03 - Allison Millward
12:42 - Eric Greisinger
14:22 - Rob Denning
17:49 - Ryan Tripp
18:59 - CB Repass
20:14 - Matt Schandler
21:43 - Rob Denning

How Do I Develop a Historical Research Question?

In this second episode of our series on how historians research and write on historical topics, the panel tackles the importance and selection of a good research question, which will guide the historian throughout the research process. 

 

Speaker timeline:

01:00 - CB Repass
01:48 - Eric Greisinger
02:13 - CB Repass
02:28 - Matt Schandler
03:09 - Allison Millward
04:48 - Rob Denning
05:55 - CB Repass
06:15 - Ryan Tripp
06:51 - Rob Denning
08:14 - Matt Schandler
11:53 - CB Repass
12:00 - Rob Denning

Writing Historical Fiction: Paul Witcover - Author, Lincolnstein, and Associate Dean of MFA in Creative Writing, SNHU

In this episode, Jimmy and Rob talk to Paul Witcover, Associate Dean for the online Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at Southern New Hampshire University, about his recent novel, Lincolnstein, and the skills and responsibilities required of authors writing historical fiction. 

 

Recommendations:

Paul Witcover, Lincolnstein (PS Publishing, 2021) - recommended by Rob

Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998) - recommended by Paul Witcover

Meet Me in the Bathroom, Will Lovelance, Dylan Southern, and Andrew Cross, dirs., (2022) - recommended by Jimmy

The Civil War, Ken Burns, dir. (1990) - recommended by Rob

Writing Local History: Joe Flickinger - High School Teacher and Local Historian

Joe Flickinger teaches high school history outside Cincinnati, Ohio, and is the Vice President of the Green Township Historical Association. In this episode, Rob, Jimmy, and Joe discuss how to research and write local history, with examples from Joe’s writings on the Bridgetown Cemetery, suburbanization in Colerain Township, and the bicentennial of Green Township.

 

Recommendations:

Joe Flickinger, A History of Bridgetown Cemetery: Quietly Serving Cincinnati’s Western Hills for over 50 Years (Berwyn Heights, MD: Heritage Books, 2021) - recommended by Rob

Alexis Coe, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington (New York: Penguin Random House, 2020) - recommended by Joe Flickinger

Rachel Wolgemuth, Cemetery Tours and Programming: A Guide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) - recommended by Joe Flickinger

Gideon Defoe, An Atlas of Extinct Countries: The Remarkable (and Occasionally Ridiculous) Stories of 48 Nations that Fell Off the Map (New York: Europa Editions, 2021) - recommended by Rob

All the Streets are Silent: The Convergence of Hip-Hop and Skateboarding, 1987-1997, Jeremy Elkins, dir. (2021) - recommended by Jimmy

Journalism Careers for Historians: Larry Tye - Author and Director, Health Coverage Fellowship

Larry Tye is a journalist and the Director of Health Coverage Fellowship, which helps print, radio, TV, and online journalists and editors better cover health care issues. He also recently published Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Joe McCarthy. In this episode, we discuss the book, Larry’s background, and his perspective on the state of journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Links:

Larry Tye, Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Joe McCarthy (Houghton Mifflin, 2020)

Health Coverage Fellowship

Publishing Careers for Historians: Marc Reyes and William Black - Editors, Contingent Magazine

Marc Reyes and Bill Black are editors of Contingent Magazine, a non-profit online publication dedicated to the radical idea that historians deserve to be paid for their work. In this episode we discuss their academic and professional backgrounds and also talk about the magazine itself, which invites pitches from all historians that may not fit with more traditional academic history publications.

This episode’s recommendations:

You’re Wrong About… podcast

Kings, Kitchens, and their Stories

John O’Malley, Urethane Revolution: The Birth of Skate, San Diego 1975 (The History Press, 2019)

Karin Wulf, “What Naomi Wolf and Cokie Roberts Teach Us About the Need for Historians,” Washington Post, June 11, 2019