Comments on: Am I a proper historian now?

By: Investigations of a Dog » Independence

Investigations of a Dog » Independence — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:51:06 +0000

[...] starting to think that calling a post “Am I a proper historian now?” might have been a bad idea. It really wasn’t meant to be as self-pitying as it might [...]

By: Gavin Robinson

Gavin Robinson — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:09:55 +0000

Thanks Ortho. You’re right, it was meant to be funny. And there’s no need to call me “Sir” no matter how much of a proper historian I become. :)

By: Ortho

Ortho — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:06:22 +0000

Dear Sir,

Congratulations on your publication.

The post’s tongue-in-cheek title made me chuckle. Here, in the United States, academic snobs do not consider “independent researchers” to be “proper historians.” I hope the attitude is different in your next of the woods.

That said, your research — judging from the article abstract — is positioned at a unique nexus between animal, military, and political history. I am certain that your academic career shall be bright.

Sincerely,
Ortho

By: Ross Mahoney

Ross Mahoney — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:07:12 +0000

Flying horses…Now that would be interesting;)

By: Gavin Robinson

Gavin Robinson — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:34:09 +0000

Next time I’ll try to write something about flying horses. ;)

By: Brett

Brett — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:12:04 +0000

My eye skipped over it on the first pass — no aeroplanes, hmmph — but caught on your name on the second. Congrats!

By: Gary Smailes

Gary Smailes — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:52:06 +0000

A proper historian indeed!

By: Gavin Robinson

Gavin Robinson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:07:17 +0000

Thanks. I’ve got online access through the IHR, so I’m just waiting for Sage to send me the link to the page where I can order offprints.

I think everyone has a different idea of what makes a historian. At least my CV now looks better than it did before, so it might be easier for me to get a job or research grant in future. There are certainly plenty of bloggers without PhDs who are writing really good stuff.

By: Ross Mahoney

Ross Mahoney — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:20:00 +0000

Gavin

Yes I noticed that this morning. Congrats. It nice to get stuff published. I must try and finsih one of the pieces I am working on. If you need a copy I will donwload one for you.

As to being a real historian well that is a moot point. Unless you directly make the bulk of your earning from history are you a historian? Technically college and university lecturers are lecturers first and historians second. The bulk of my earning, in actual fact all of it, comes from teaching. That is my profession. I just happen to be a lecturer of History. However, I do consider myself a historian and I am sure most other lecturer would feel the same. I think it is a case of semantics really. Also another question that comes from this is what qualification do you need to be a historian? Do you need to be qualified to PhD level? I think we could go on about this quite along so I will stop.

Congrats. I will read it even thoug it is not my period. I have read about it being written so it is now interesting to read the actual piece.

Ross