In many ways, being in academia is good preparation for parenthood. There are sleepless nights, running on coffee to get through the day, and a perpetual sense of anxiety that something could go wrong.
We know being a parent or caregiver is a lot of work; so is being a scholar. Many of us somehow do both. The magazine is now accepting pitches for a roundtable on what it means to be a parent/caregiver as a historian. How did the pandemic affect your parenting? What does your child think a historian does? Do you pay extra close attention to what your kids study in their history courses? Do you take them to a lot of history museums? Would you want them to major in history if they attend college? How does parenthood intersect with your other identities, including your identity as a historian?
We welcome pitches from anyone, but prioritize ones from people who have completed postgraduate work in history and are working outside the tenure-track professoriate. This would include non-tenure-track faculty, K-12 teachers, grad students, and public historians of all stripes. We are also looking for pitches from all types of parents and caregivers, whether your children are young, old, and everything in between. Each piece should be 400-500 words; compensation is $100.
To pitch, please use the form at the bottom of our Pitch Us page, selecting “Parenting” from the dropdown menu. Pitches are due by August 14; acceptances will be sent the following week. We aim for the roundtable to debut in September.