Professional Development

Please browse and utilize the resources below to help enhance your careers as professional scholars and teachers.

Organizations and Networking

The HGSO encourages graduate students to join organizations and networks to enhance their careers as professional scholars and teachers.

Organizations and Networking

We hope students at all levels will use these networks to contribute to the profession by presenting original research at conferences and ultimately publishing in their field:

  • Every graduate student should join the American Historical Association. The AHA is for all historians working in the U.S.; it publishes the American Historical Review (a quarterly scholarly journal featuring articles and reviews) and Perspectives on History (a monthly magazine focusing on pedagogy, research, and other topics of interest).
  • All students of United States History should join The Organization of American Historians. The OAH publishes the Journal of American History, a quarterly publication of scholarly articles and reviews. The OAH also publishes The OAH Magazine of History, each issue of which focuses on a different topic or theme in American history.
  • Phi Alpha Theta is a National History Honor Society. As a member you can access The Historian (a quarterly journal) and various funding and networking opportunities.

Membership in these major professional organizations is essential for any student's CV. Most organizations provide discounted rates for students.

  • A newer resource that graduate students may wish to use is Academia.edu. This social networking site allows you to share papers and follow the work of people in your field.


Discussion Forums

Many students also take advantage of H-Net, an online resource for scholars and historians which features diverse discussion forums, teaching resources, scholarly reviews, job guides, conference announcements, calls for papers, and information on funding and fellowship opportunities. Members can join discussion groups and receive email updates of discussion topics, recent publications, and research questions. H-Net discussion groups can enhance your research by facilitating discussion and dialogue with other scholars in your field. Major H-Net groups include:

Discussion Forums

Major H-Net groups include:

Other useful H-Net links:

  • H-Grad:Resources and discussion for graduate students.
  • H-Net Reviews: Humanities and social sciences scholarly reviews.
  • H-Teach: Forums and resources for college history teachers.
  • H-Survey: Forums and resources for history survey courses.


Blogs

As graduate students it is important to keep apprised of developments in the field overall, and in your own area of interest. There are many blogs (both formal and informal) that can provide an introduction to the larger discussion.


Preparing Future Faculty

The Preparing Future Faculty program is a series of workshops. These sessions assist students interested in academia with pedagogical development. Graduates of the PFF program receive a certificate of completion which can aid in your future job search.