Kathleen Thompson, PhD Student, West Virginia University
Proposal Type: Unsure
Abstract: Blogs are rapidly becoming popular ways to communicate history to the broader public, used by institutions and National Parks (for example) to interact with more people. On the flip side, blogging is open to anyone who has access to the internet and can create an account on a blogging site, allowing those without training and background in history to present themselves as historians/public historians. As more and more people turn to the internet for their historical knowledge, these blogs may influence the general public in their awareness of history. This proposed panel (or other type of presentation) would present and discuss the pros and cons of blogging as a digital history/public history/history tool.
Seeking: This is just an idea at the moment; I wrote for a collaborative history blog for over two years and saw many challenges and problems as well as promising elements. I am looking for feedback to mold this into a coherent proposal and collaborators who would be willing to present or participate. I could see this as a traditional panel if there were other participants with blog experience or as a roundtable, structured conversation, or other presentation type to open discussion with the audience. I would like to know the NCPH community’s thoughts on the topic as well, to see if this is a relevant addition to the conference.
Related Topics: Digital, Civic Engagement
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to share contact information for other people the proposer should reach out to, please get in contact directly: Kathleen Thompson, klogothe[at]mix.wvu.edu
If you have general ideas or feedback to share please feel free to use the comments feature below.
It seems to me that Jason Steinhauer’s idea about History Communicator and your idea about blogging might fit together in some way. I think you should connect.
There was a session on this at the OAH in Atlanta in April 2014; there is video archived here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2kfm7eOdaw , and there was a good bit of Twitter chatter about it, too. That might provide some insights into (a) how to shape the panel, and (b) some panelists. I think we’re ready to get beyond some of the promise-vs-peril conversation and maybe talk about something like “the many types of historical blogs” and/or “how to do them effectively, and for what purposes.” I say this because I think it might be more productive at this meeting, and with the NCPH crowd, to turn this into a “lessons learned and how to do it better” discussion than something that is trapped in a “should I do it or not because it might be dangerous” conversation. Also, it might well be interesting to consider inviting/including someone with an effective history blog who isn’t perhaps a “trained historian” to talk about how the blogging platform allows/facilitates/encourages a kind of dialogue across professional boundaries that public history wants to foster. Here’s a starting list of history blogs I found in a quick Google search that have won awards–there might be some good folks within this orbit to contact. http://hnn.us/blog/20359
Very good article