草莓社区

Why an online presence? 

What does this mean?

• Take control over your online footprint in a way that furthers your professional goals. This includes content you make on your own or other platforms.

Why bother?

• Provides avenues for sharing your scholarship and ideas
• Helps to expand your professional network
• Helps you manage what other people learn about you
• Others—potential employers, colleagues, strangers– *will* search for you

BUT!

• Don’t do every single thing—do what works for YOUR goals. This will look very different for each person and it will change over time.

Establishing your online presence

How to do this?

• Get a sense of what’s already out there. Google yourself.
• Think about your current professional and educational goals – where can you establish an online presence in a way that helps you achieve these?
  • For example, if your current goals include getting a job, setting up a LinkedIn could be helpful. As could engaging with other professionals in your field on Twitter, establishing a personal website, and having a profile on the history department website.
• How should you present yourself on your own platforms? Again, think of your goals. Where do you want to be? How do you identify professionally? You want to share relevant information, not every single thing you’ve ever done. Kind of like a resume (vs. a CV)– resumes are more tailored for the audience(s) you want to reach.
• Also, consider content others make about you— this happens one of two ways: because you reached out to them directly with something to share and/or they wrote or talked about you because they saw something you did/wrote/said (some good, some less helpful).

Where could this information go?

• Your institution and/or school:
  • Employers will sometimes post bio pages for employees
  • Loyola History Department website– Taskstream. Be sure to set up your Taskstream profile! This is where all the Loyola history graduate student bios on this page come from. HGSA can provide more detail about how to do this.
  • Tell the history department media assistants (these are always history graduate students) what you’re up to so your work—as a student and then an alumnus– makes it into department news stories and the department’s social media feed.
• Your professional field:
  • comments and discussions.
  • Publish material on relevant blogs and websites, like those .
  • Podcasting—pitching yourself as a possible guest and/or building your own ()
  • Conferences – share what you’re presenting at a conference online and on Twitter. Share your Twitter handle with conference organizers, if they ask for it when you register.
  • CV and/or resume—put it on your website, if you have one

• Your social media channels:
  • Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, ??
  • Website
  • Share original content on your own blog or podcast
  • Put a gateway to your online presence on your business cards

Managing your online presence

Congrats—you’ve built a presence online this work. Now what? 

• Update your material regularly
• What are you working on? Talk about it in relevant online spaces. Share with others. Build a dialogue online.
• Follow people whose work interests you—engage with their posts on social media channels you frequent.
• Follow and participate in online conversations in your field
  • For example: Twitter hashtags #twitterstorians #publichistory #phdchat
  • Online conference presentations – BeyondProf, AASLH, NCPH examples

Compiled by Hope Shannon, March 2019. 
Parts of this are adapted from “Managing Your Online Professional profile” by Prof. Kyle Roberts, March 2017.

Loyola faculty work with graduate students as academic advisers, career advisers, and teaching mentors, and they play an essential role in the professional mentoring and coaching of graduate students. The following resources may help graduate students begin conversations with potential mentors.

• How to seek coaching as a graduate student: “The Benefits of Coaching Conversations” by Deborah S. Willis. .
• “Great Mentoring in Graduate School: A Quick Start Guide for Proteges,” by Laura Gail Lunsford, PhD & Vicki L. Baker, PhD: .

Graduate students also support one another. The Loyola History Graduate Student Association began a peer mentoring program, pairing new students with more advanced students, in fall 2019. For more information about this effort, contact Shannon Honl, LUC History PhD student.

Academic Podcast Roundup from H-Net: .

“Getting Started with LinkedIn” from Beyond the Professoriate: .

Humanities for All, 1,500+ “examples of publicly engaged humanities work at colleges and universities across the U.S.”: .

Humanities Indicators, featuring the latest humanities data from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences: . And the related Data Forum, .

The Inclusive Historian’s Handbook: .

“This dynamic reference source supports inclusive and equity-focused historical work in public settings by sharing a knowledge base that invites more people to engage in history projects. This handbook provides concrete examples of how to make history work more relevant. It centers on equity, inclusivity, diversity, and public service while offering accessible windows into the many ways public historians work.”

National Inventory of Humanities Organizations: .

Twitter Chats related to history, public history, museums, and careers: .

Twitter list with readings related to “Women and the Archives”: .

American Association for State and Local History and National Council on Public History Report on Data Analysis of the Survey on Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment in the Public History Field, published April 2022: .

If you have questions about these requirements or any of the resources listed here, contact Prof. Pat Mooney-Melvin, history graduate program director.

Pedagogy Requirements for funded PhD Students

History Dept.’s Professional Lives of Historians Course:

The pro-seminar course is required for all incoming history PhD students beginning fall 2019 and later. It can be taken as an elective by all other history graduate students. Students in this course will learn about the many career pathways open to historians with graduate degrees and begin to prepare for careers after graduation. Funded PhD students who started before fall 2019 are required to attend 8 pedagogy seminars by the time they begin teaching their own courses in year 4.

History Dept. Teaching Mentors:

Each PhD student teaching on their own as an instructor/teacher of record is required to select a teaching mentor from among the history faculty and check-in with the mentor throughout the semester. Email Dr. Mooney-Melvin with questions about this requirement.

Teaching Statements:

Each PhD student must draft a teaching statement by their second year. Writing a teaching statement provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their experiences as discussion section leaders and teachers of record, as well as to identify their own unique pedagogical values. Writing a teaching statement early in the program and updating it each year provides a way for each student to measure growth and change as an instructor. In addition, teaching statements are must-haves for anyone interested in teaching after graduation. Similarly, most pre- and post-doctoral teaching fellowship applications require teaching statements. For more on how to write a teaching statement, .

The Graduate School’s Teaching Effectiveness Seminar (TES): Click here.

TES is required for Loyola graduate students preparing to teach on their own as teachers of record. History PhD students usually take TES in the fourth year. Loyola’s Graduate School organizes this year-long seminar series. 

Understanding FERPA: .

All history graduate students with must understand and abide by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). 

History Department Pedagogy 草莓社区

Assignments shared by history faculty:  for access to assignments shared by Loyola history faculty. Feel free to modify for use in your own courses. Be sure to thank and credit the source.

Sitting in on faculty undergraduate courses: History graduate students are welcome to visit undergraduate courses taught by history faculty to observe faculty teaching styles and experience an array of undergraduate course content. Permission is required. Email Dr. Mooney-Melvin to set up a visit.

Other Loyola 草莓社区

In alphabetical order. These programs and resources are available to all history graduate students. Loyola graduate students interested in teaching after graduation are encouraged to take advantage of these learning opportunities.

Academic Integrity at Loyola: Click here.

Course Design and Facilitation: Click here.

Copyright and Fair Use in the classroom: Click here and here.

Ignatian Pedagogy resources, seminars, and workshops at Loyola: Click here.

Library services for faculty and instructors: .

Online Teaching Course at Loyola: Click here.

Rubric Creation and Sharing: Click here.

Social Justice Pedagogy Reading Group at Loyola: .

Student Accessibility Center at Loyola: .

Students in need or crisis: Click here and here for information from Loyola’s Office of the Dean of Students.

Syllabus help: for Loyola’s syllabus checklist and for Loyola’s syllabus template.

Teaching and Learning Workshops at Loyola: Click here.

Teaching with technology resources at Loyola: Click here.

In alphabetical order. These are intended to supplement information learned through the pedagogy courses, workshops, and resources offered by the Loyola History Department and 草莓社区, listed .

Pedagogy Links

“24 Tips for Teaching Writing” .

“Building a Better Discussion” by James M. Lang: .

“Course Design and Development Ideas That Work” .

Creating Inclusive College Classrooms: .

“Creating the Space for Engaged Discussions” by Kevin Gannon: .

Cult of Pedagogy: .

“Effective Strategies for Improving College Teaching and Learning” .

Essay-writing basics: .

FERPA: .

“Flipping the Classroom,” a guide: .

“Fostering Open Communication in a Culturally Diverse Classroom” by Elizabeth Hayes Alvarez: .

“Getting Started with Rubrics” from UCBerkeley

“Having Students Teach” by Prof. Catherine Denial: 

“How Improv Can Improve Your Teaching” by Jen Olenizcak: .

“How to Create a Syllabus” advice guide by Kevin Gannon: .

“Improv Helps Ph.D.’s Explain Their Work — and Loosen Up” by Viral Patel: .

“Inclusion By Design: Survey Your Syllabus and Course Design”

“Maximizing Your Mid-Semester Evaluations” by Anne Guarnera: .

“Mid-term Teaching Evaluations” by Billie Hara: .

First Day of Class

“How to Teach a Good First Day of Class” by Prof. James Lang: .
“Making the First Day Matter” by Prof. Catherine Denial: .

Online Teaching

“8 Lessons Learned from Teaching Online” video: .
“Best Practice Guide for Online Discussions” by Rhonda D. Blackburn, Ph.D.: .
“Best Practices for Communicating with Students in Online Classes” by Kristina Wilson: .
“Best Practices for Synchronous Sessions” by Kristina Wilson: .
“Designing Effective Team Projects in Online Courses” by Stephanie Smith Budhai, PhD: .
“Encouraging Student Engagement During Synchronous Meetings: Preventing Midterm Drop-Off” .
“Feedback Strategies for Online Courses” by Rob Kelly: .
“Improving Student Engagement in Online Courses” via Harmonize: .
Netiquette– “Fostering Open Minds Online” by Abby Ferber: .
Online Learning Insights website: .
“Organizing Content Overview: Chunking Content” video: .
“Preparing Students for Online or Blended Classes” by Loyola’s Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy: Click here.
“Student Engagement Strategies for the Online Learning Environment” by Paula Bigatel, PhD: .
“The Do’s and Don’ts of Online Learning” by Judy Donovan: .

Sources

On using primary sources in the classroom from Prof. Catherine Denial:  and .
Academic Podcast Roundup from H-Net: .
Crash Course history videos on YouTube: .
DOCSTeach from the National Archives: .
Experiencing History: Holocaust Sources in Context from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: .
Explore Common Sense: The Digital British Edition: .
Smithsonian For Educators: .

Open Access Textbooks:
Building the American Republic, Vol. 1, by Harry Watson: .
Building the American Republic, Vol. 2, by Jane Dailey: .
The American Yawp: .

Pedagogy Playground: .

“Small Changes in Teaching: The Last 5 Minutes of Class” by James M. Lang: .

Syllabus packet from The Chronicle of Higher Education: .

“Teaching News Literacy in Politically-Polarizing Times” by Andrea Baer and Jean Cook: .

Teaching with Podcasts: .

“Teaching: Students’ Ideas on Overcoming Disengagement” by Beth McMurtrie: .

“The Big List of Classroom Discussion Strategies” by Jennifer Gonzales: .

“Tips for Encouraging Student Participation in Course Discussions” .

“Whose Classroom Is It, Anyway?: Improvisation as a Teaching Tool” by Ronald A. Berk and Rosalind H. Trieber: .

Students are encouraged to explore professional organizations related to their career interests and, if relevant, present their work at conferences and annual meetings.

Organizations that may be of interest
This is not an exhaustive list. Many hold annual conference meetings. 

(for links to individual state museum associations in the U.S.)

Other conferences and meetings
In addition to the meetings hosted by the organizations listed above, the following conferences and seminar meetings may be of interest to history graduate students:

Conference funding

Between travel, lodging, registration costs, and food, attending conferences can be prohibitively expensive. The following resources can help offset some of these costs.

Some professional organizations offer awards and grants to help with the cost of conference travel or attendance for students, new professionals, and others. For example, NCPH offers a select number of student travel awards every year. Check individual professional organizations for information about travel grants and awards.

Loyola’s History Graduate Student Association offers travel grants for students attending professional conferences. Contact the HGSA treasurer for more information.

Loyola’s Graduate School offers travel grants for students who are attending a professional conference to present original work. Visit the Graduate School website for more information.

Conference planning as professional development

Planning a conference offers myriad professional development opportunities. Interested students are encouraged to join the History Graduate Student Association’s conference planning committee. HGSA will announce when volunteers are needed.

草莓社区

“A Beginner’s Guide to Live-Tweeting Academic Conferences,” by Andrea Eidinger and Krista McKracken: .

“The Psychology of Networking” by Joseph Barber: .

“Conferencing While Introverted” by Hannah Hethmon: .

Op-Eds

“How and Why I Write Op-Eds” by Jonathan Zimmerman: .

The Op-Ed Project’s tips and tricks for writing an op-ed: .

The Op-Ed Project’s list of outlets that publish op-eds: .

Publications

Historians write for all sorts of publications, including those listed below.

The Lakefront Historian: .
(everything after the LH is listed in alphabetical order)

AASLH’s blog: .

Atlas Obscura: .

History at Work from NCPH: .

History News from AASLH: .

History News Network: .

Medium: .

The Museum Scholar: .

Perspectives on History from the American Historical Association: .

Process History from the Organization of American Historians: .

Salon: .

Slate: .

The Point: .

Lists

History journals: .