Contribution short abstract:

In my presentation I want to explore the possibilities and probabilities of upending traditional history training at the graduate school level to produce stories and histories that live out in the world, beyond the academic context and their impact on the roles and functions of historians.

Contribution long abstract:

So much of academic research and work can be isolating. Thanks to the work of platforms like Environmental History Now, there is now a critical mass of historians reflecting on and sharing their public-facing work. In my presentation, I will talk about how being a part of Environmental History Now, Network in Canadian History and Environment, H-Net, and #FlipTheList have been transformative for me as a historian, scholar, and citizen both in reflecting on my role in the world as well as fulfilling those duties. I will play special attention to how attentive these platforms have made me to my interventions and how to make them. Most of all, these associations have affirmed the centrality of relationships and camaraderie to any intellectual exercise. In being able to create and nestle in a community, I have come to refine my scholarship and intentionality and will share the same, as I continue on my academic path. In so doing, some questions I will be specifically addressing are: Can we offer methodological interventions, especially co-creating stories? What new skills do historians need to cultivate to write in a more publicly accessible manner? How can and should doctoral training differ to cultivate and nurture these skillsets? What does a doctoral program train us to do well?