How Julia Skinner Does History
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I want to help people see themselves as a bridge between the past and the future.
How I Do History
How Christine Sloan Stoddard Does History
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In one way or another, storytelling has been at the crux of what I’ve done all my life.
How I Do History
How Kate Carpenter Does History
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“I was amazed to find that the book I wanted to read didn’t exist yet.”
Contingent Book & Article Lists
2023 Literary Studies Book and Journal Article List
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A companion list for lit studies scholars.
How I Do History
How Lauren Lassabe Shepherd Does History
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For the next eight months, I’ll be an independent scholar with a side hustle as a fitness instructor.
Contingent Book & Article Lists
2023 Contingent Book List
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When you’re shopping for books this season, consider a contingent scholar.
Field Trip
How Mary Klann Does History
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Last year was the first academic year I only taught at one institution.
How I Do History
How Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell Does History
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“I didn’t know my quirky obsession could be a job in its own right.”
How I Do History
How Jay Ridler Does History
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“I have to remind myself – I am the only one who cares if I get paid.”
How I Do History
How Sara Georgini Does History
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I learned that I like to edit in the mornings, when I’m a little less caffeinated and a lot more ruthless with the text.
How I Do History
How Canden S. Arciniega Does History
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“Why do the best ideas come while I’m driving?”
Contingent Book & Article Lists
2022 Literary Studies Book and Journal Article List
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A companion list for lit studies scholars.
Contingent Book & Article Lists
2022 Contingent Journal Article List
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A companion to our 2022 book list.
Contingent Book & Article Lists
2022 Contingent Book List
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When you’re shopping for books this season, consider a contingent scholar.
How I Do History
How Nishant Batsha Does History
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In those fleeting moments where I’m able to sit down at my desk in silence for five minutes or for two hours, I’d like to think that I’m a writer.
How I Do History
How Yael Schacher Does History
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“There aren’t many history PhDs in the policy and advocacy spaces I now circulate in, but there should be more.”
How I Do History
How Shin Yu Pai Does History
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The most rewarding part of the experience is receiving the story.
How I Do History
How Allison Horrocks Does History
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“. . . if a wide brimmed Stetson gets us going, I’m content to start there.”
How I Do History
How Steven D. Booth Does History
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“Archival work involves building relationships.”
Contingent Book & Article Lists
2021 Literary Studies Book and Journal Article List
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A companion list for lit studies scholars.
How I Do History
How Hope Williard Does History
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It was surprising how much librarianship is about people, not books.
Contingent Book & Article Lists
2021 Contingent Journal Article List
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A companion to our 2021 book list.
Contingent Book & Article Lists
2021 Contingent Book List
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When you’re shopping for books this season, consider a contingent scholar.
How I Do History
How Karma Palzom-Pasha Does History
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This scholar’s upbringing in a Tibetan refugee camp shaped her interest in history.
How I Do History
How Hayley Noble Does History
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Working at the Old Idaho Penitentiary, you do a little of everything.
How I Do History
How Aimee Loiselle Does History
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An unexpected job opportunity launched seven years of adjunct teaching and rekindled Aimee Loiselle’s interest in scholarly history.
How I Do History
How Spencer McBride Does History
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“To see scholars use the papers in their own research to produce groundbreaking history is something we celebrate.”
Shorts
2020 Contingent Book List
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When you’re shopping for books this season, consider a contingent scholar.
How I Do History
How Naomi Rendina Does History
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“I wrote my entire dissertation between the hours of 10 PM and 3 AM.”
Featured in Category
History of The Present/Contemporary History Resources
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A history of the present is by its nature a speculative exercise.
Podcast
Contingent Podcast #1: A Usable History of Reconstruction
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The greatest strength of the new PBS documentary is its desire to inform contemporary debates. But this may also be one of its weaknesses.
How I Do History
How Chris Deutsch Does History
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“No one listens unless we tell a good story, so we try to tell good stories.”
Bonus
Teaching In The Age Of COVID Part IV
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“I think that one misconception about teaching is that love for your subject is enough. You have to have love for your students.”
Features
Teaching In The Age Of COVID Part III
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“I always felt like I’d find answers in the past. I don’t really find any answers.”
Features
Teaching In The Age Of COVID Part II
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“This experience was so ridiculously traumatic for everyone—and it’s not over yet, either.”
Features
Teaching In The Age Of COVID Part I
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“We’re trying to help our students navigate this while also trying to navigate the situation ourselves.”
Field Trip
How Camille Bethune-Brown Does History
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A chance internship helped Camille Bethune-Brown find her career.
Field Trip
2020 Student Digital History Roundup
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Despite challenging circumstances, students and teachers produced compelling digital history.
How I Do History
How Kate Shuster Does History
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Through her work at SPLC, Kate Shuster helps educators teach hard histories.
Features
History Now
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How is the pandemic shaping the work of history and the lives of those who do that work?
Bonus
Contingent Podcast #5: All The Presidents’ Librarians
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Michael Koncewicz compares Watergate to Russia/Ukraine-gate, pushes back on Richard Nixon revisionism, explains the difference between an archivist and a curator, and recalls his first dance with a girl.
Archives & Museums
How Jennifer Garcon Does History
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“There’s so much experimentation and innovation happening in libraries” and Jennifer Garcon is right in the thick of it.
Bonus
Contingent Podcast #4: In Memoriam: Panbabylonianism
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Can a classicist study Akkadian? Was the Fertile Crescent part of Western civilization? Why is the history of science nearly a field unto itself?
Field Trip
How Anny Gaul Does History
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“What does a postdoc do?” That’s something Anny Gaul has been figuring out all year.
Bonus
Moong Dal Bhajias from Meher’s Mum
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Meher Mirza’s piece on the Time & Talents cookbook was one of our first pieces here at Contingent. As a special treat for our members, she’s given us this memory of a special dish along with the recipe itself, complete with her mother’s annotations.
Field Trip
How Priya Chhaya Does History
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Even after 13 years working at the National Trust for Historical Preservation, “there isn’t really a typical day of work for me.”
Bonus
Contingent Podcast #3: Hunting Dinosaurs in Central Africa
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Before ancient aliens—before Lizard People—there was the search for living dinosaurs. Eddie Guimont, author of “Hunting Dinosaurs in Central Africa,” tells us more.
Field Trip
How Nick Hurley Does History
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The second in a series on how historians—especially contingent historians and those employed outside of tenure-track academia—do the work of history.
Bonus
Contingent Podcast #2: What Happened to My People
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The second half of PBS’s Reconstruction documentary begins where the traditional narrative ends.
Shorts
2019 Contingent Book List
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When you’re shopping for books this season, consider a contingent scholar.
Field Trip
How Kelsey Utne Does History
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This is the first in a new series on how historians—especially contingent historians and those employed outside of tenure-track academia—do the work of history.
Features
Arming the Past: An Interview with Michael Bellesiles
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He wrote one of the most contentious works of history from the last century. And he sat down with Daniel Gullotta for his first public discussion of the controversy in nearly a decade.
Contingent Podcast #4: E.L. Meszaros
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Did Western civilization begin in the Fertile Crescent? What’s it like being a modern circus performer?
Field Trip
2019 Student Digital History Roundup
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What does doing history look like? Let today’s history students and teachers show you.
Updates
Emily’s Contingent Story
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We wanted a site that actively considered the people who would use it.