Who is a historian?

This is an individual who takes their time to study and write with regards to the past. Such an individual is perceived as an authority on the subject.  A historian has an interest in the continuous, methodical narrative, and study of events in the past with a relationship with humans.

What is the role of a historian?

Historians, especially on a professional level, will spend a good portion of their time trying to determine the relationship between the past and the present. This thinking is often supported by the notion that whatever happened in the past is likely to happen in the future. As such, the need to determine the past is alive within historians as the past can give answers to what is happening in the present. The historical perspectives of events such as the killing of 6 million Jews are critical in explaining why things are organized the way we see them today.

What is the difference between a professional and a lay historian?

It is common nature to explain historical events on the account of others who came before us. This is nothing more than being a “handyman” or a “Lay Historian”. A Lay Historian is just like an archive when considering his/her memory. Such an archive can be sifted for information that can be used in explaining the past. The posture assumed by the Lay Historian determines the divergent interpretations of the past. A Lay Historian will require to regularly update their knowledge about the past with new information that comes up. For instance, a Lay Historian following up the case of the war in Iraq was at one point required to update their knowledge when it became apparent that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Lewandowsky, Strtizke, Oberauer, and Morales (2005) is of the view that Lay Historians do not regularly update their knowledge. A Professional Historian has stark differences from a Lay Historian in that the latter is more preoccupied with the accuracy and truth of the case at hand. A Professional Historian will often prepare material for explaining some historical case to a specific audience. Such presentations might be in the form of a book, exhibition, display, online material, promotional material, oral material, or a report. A Professional Historian will provide sufficient advice on the appropriate form of presentation of historical information with regards to the budget and intended audience.

What is history?

History is simply the study of the past as described in written documents. Those events that occurred before the advent of written records are described as prehistory. History is a huge term that relates to events that occurred in the past in addition to the memory, discovery, collection, organization, and presentation, as well as, the interpretation of the information relating to such events. A scholar who is interested in history is a historian. History also refers to a discipline in academics that uses narratives to evaluate and analyze the series of events in the past. Furthermore, in history, the cause and effect are determined.

What kind of historian does the historian think they are? What is the focus of their work? What motivated them towards that specialization?

As a Historian/Professor at a women University – Catholic University, the university is dedicated to providing a superior education that is aimed at developing the leadership skills and the spirit of service. As such, Mount Saint Mary’s University has a Center for the Advancement of Women, which is a center for gender equity research, advocacy, and the development of leadership. The vision of the center is to actively find solutions to gender inequities. The center further works with different partners to do away with such inequities. The center produces research that is original in the pursuit of solutions leading to gender parity. The goal of the center is to flatten the obstacles that are faced by women in their realms of life be it at work, academics, and in the community. The center envisions a situation where there will be a positive difference in the lives of women and girls, both in California and in the nation.

In a historian’s work, is there reference or preference for any gender? Why?

I always support arguments that women’s history should perceive itself as a subset of gender history. I harbor positive feelings that this has actually come to pass, although it erupted untold uproar from many quarters then. People tend to preconceive wrong notions and conclusions when one says that they are pursuing gender history. Gender history does not necessarily imply women and men or the vice versa or all the different kinds of men or all the various kinds of women, but you can major within just that as you can within any other discipline. There should be no demarcations, so that if you are pursuing political history it may as well involve the inclusion of cultural history, may also involve language history. It should not be portioned.

Ways to stay current on the latest research and developments in their field.

The teaching profession has no end to knowledge acquisition. The profession involves a continuous update of the stock of knowledge, which nourishes the teachers’ understanding of the past and recent past historical events thereby, enabling them to access higher employment opportunities. Teachers that keep abreast with professional events and further amass relevant knowledge have a higher chance of moving up the ladder, be it moving from high-school teaching to Community College or Community College to a University. The Praxis II: Content Examination is another way of enhancing professional development as its content is updated after a short while such as every year. Professionals in history can always retake the examinations to rejuvenate their knowledge in the discipline. The state understands the need for teachers to remain relevant in their profession and, thus, provides workshops for professional development that are mandatory while others are voluntary. The consistent completion of the workshops and examinations polishes one’s skills and improves a teacher’s portfolio as he or she is viewed as dynamic. The teaching license expires after 3 to 5 years implying that educators need specific programs and more.

Where is the profession heading?

The history profession is built on a strong foundation of experts and demands professionalism in all its aspects. The range, quality, and mixture of arguments depict professionalism and competence in thoughts and ideologies. The process of discovery, self-reflexivity, and documentation is wowing and very impressive for the chronological understanding by future historians who build on the foundations laid. I am hesitant and nurse many doubts with history classes, which I suppose is where the danger lies.

I do not imply that lecturers or history teachers should study more history in order to propel the pace in university learning but my issue is with those that are not going to university to better history. The recruitment in universities is professional but we are missing in terms of students. Our campaign and championship should be to increase enrolments in history classes, as the subject per se is free from trouble. History is popular throughout the media and publications. People themselves are part of living history and makers of history as human beings means thinking long and being aware of the past.

Enumerate on professional issues and ethical obligations of historians?

Historians are humans, implying that they are susceptible to errors and can make mistakes. Nevertheless, some of the professional mistakes and errors are misleading and build bad history hence we need practices that safeguard against human error. Honesty and integrity should be the supporting pillars of all historian works. I thought I would presumptuously suggest a Code of Conduct for how historians should use evidence: The use of correct evidence in supporting historians’ interpretations leads to a better understanding and appreciation of their work. The willful presentation of evidence out of context when interpreting historical findings may render historians work as manipulative or vague. Historians should avoid citations of sources of evidence they feel skeptical about or unfamiliar with. Sources that are not credible or unsubstantiated, waste a reader’s time and may evoke wrong judgments. At least, they should flag up evidence that is drawn from such sources and not use it silently. Triangulate; search ardently for evidence that might undermine, as well as corroborate their hypothesis.

Avoid assumption creep: assumption creep allows assertions to move from ‘possibly’ to ‘probably’ to ‘definitely’ hence building on elaborate layers of interpretation founded on rocky foundations.

They should not rely on secondary assertions of other historians; instead, they should retrieve the original sources to guard the reputation of their work. Secondary assertions and conclusions may distort the original facts due to errors and biases common in human judgment. It is prudent to confront and interrogate the facts afresh while also doing the analysis again to eliminate any erroneous research methods from secondary assertions, which may be unsubstantiated. Credible citations allow the readers to trace page numbers, publication details and follow up with the findings for better understanding or for subsequent research work. The professional integrity as historians relies on the adherence to standards such as these.

Reflection

History as a discipline helps us to engage with our past reminisce and understand our present. Puzzling issues in the world can only be understood by focusing on the past and finding the relationship, as history repeats itself as everything that is happening has unfolded in the past. Accumulating and building on our knowledge in history makes us a fountain of knowledge, useful in our profession and students of history. It also enables teachers to sharpen their skills and convey relevant historical information precisely. History provides insights into our culture and other cultures hence leading to acceptance of identity and diversity. History allows us to appreciate evolution in our constitution and provides reasons as to why we need equality before the law for all citizens. Through history, we fathom the essence of human rights activism, civil rights, and the need for social welfare by reading history such as about the great depression. History provokes our ability to think by enabling us to contemplate on events that came before us.

Professionalism is a paramount aspect for all historians. A historian can be differentiated from laymen, paraprofessionals, quacks depending on how well they conduct, document, and conclude their research work. Evidence presentation is the key to professional work. Evidence eliminates biased, distorted, and erroneous conclusions. One of the ways historians can uphold their professionalism is by attending regular refresher courses from professional bodies, workshops, and seminars that build on ethical issues in their work. 

References

Evans, R. J. (2001). “The Two Faces of E.H. Carr”. History in Focus, Issue 2: What is History?. University of London. Retrieved 10 November 2008.

Lewandowsky, S., Stritzke, W. G. K., Oberauer, K., & Morales, M. (2005). Memory for fact, fiction, and misinformation: The Iraq War 2003. Psychological Science, 16, 190–195.

Munslow, Alun (2001). “What History Is”. History in Focus, Issue 2: What is History? University of London. Retrieved 10 November 2008.