Judging History Day: Making history fun and relevant!

, , , , , , ,

What do exhibits about Marie Antoinette’s fashion and Ayatollah Khomeini’s political action, and websites about the invention of the toilet and the dissemination of the Pentagon Papers have in common?  They are all student entries in the National History Day competition that I’ve had the opportunity to review as a judge over the past seven years. Read More

Consulting Alliances Working Group advances case for collaboration

, , , ,

The Consulting Alliances Working Group formed last fall to explore collaboration as a means by which independent consulting historians might do work that otherwise would not be available to them. After writing, posting (on this blog), and commenting on individual case statements, the group gathered in March in Monterey, California, at the annual meeting of the National Council on Public History (NCPH) to continue their consideration of the extent to which consulting historians may be missing opportunities to join colleagues in competing for projects that are likely beyond their reach as individuals. Read More

The Master's Tools, 2.0

, ,

In her thought-provoking post from November 2012, Mary Rizzo opened up a conversation about the relationship between the rapidly growing field of digital humanities and public history. Reflecting on a recent THATcamp meeting, Rizzo concluded that existing divisions between the producers and the critical thinkers of digital humanities projects had the potential to re-inscribe gender and racial hierarchies. Read More