The annual meeting provides many opportunities to diversify your skill set, learn about the careers available to historians, and get to know people from a variety of professions. Whether you are interested in jobs within or beyond the academy (or both), AHA19 has workshops, sessions, and networking events that will broaden your professional horizons.  

Meet People and Build Your Network 

There are many ways to meet new people or catch up with acquaintances at the annual meeting. Newcomers might attend Getting the Most Out of the Annual Meeting, an orientation for first-time participants. A variety of specialized receptions including ones for undergraduates, graduate students, two-year faculty, K-12 teachers, bloggers and twitterstorians, and public historians provide opportunities to make new connections. Finally, stop by the sixth annual Career Fair on Saturday afternoon, hosted by the AHA’s Career Diversity for Historians initiative, and speak with dozens of historians working in government, education, business, and non-profit organizations. 

Explore Professional Pathways 

Historians practice their craft and use their skills in a wide variety of professional settings. The annual meeting offers many opportunities to learn about the career paths open to historians as educators, administrators, and advocates. Diving into the Data and Charting Public History Careers both explore national statistics about historical employment. Thinking about public history? Explore how museum educators work on the Front Lines of History. The Many Careers in K-12 and Careers in Community Colleges sessions bring together historians to discuss the rewards and challenges of classroom instruction. Want to know what being a professor looks like from the inside? Check out Ask an Assistant Professor, part of the sixth annual Career Fair, our showcase event offering the chance to speak with dozens of historians working in non-profits, business, higher ed administration, and more. Finally, learn to imagine a career through the lens of your training as a historian in Mindsets over Skill Sets: Applying Humanities Theories and Methods to the Problems of Career Management. 

Diversify Your Skills 

The AHA’s work on Career Diversity has identified five key skills, none of which are usually emphasized in doctoral programs, that help historians succeed in careers inside and beyond the academy. The annual meeting provides chances to build many of them. For example, you can work on your digital chops at the sixth annual Getting Started in Digital History Workshop, From PDF to CSV, or DH in 3D. Interested in communicating in a variety of formats? Stretch your communication skills at the Dissertation Lightning Round or “Five Slides in Five Minutes,” or explore Academic Blogging and Podcasting.  

Teaching is another core historical skill, and the annual meeting is overflowing with workshops and panels exploring teaching and learning in K-12 and collegiate environments. Current and future faculty will benefit from panels on important topics in higher education, including Accreditation, Student Learning, and Outcomes Assessment, online teaching, dual enrollment, experiential learning, and pedagogical best practices. Check out our guide to Teaching and Learning for full details.  

Rethink Graduate Education 

Interested in what graduate programs can do to better prepare their students for a variety of career outcomes? Learn about how programs are Preparing Students for the Professorate, including efforts to reimagine graduate advising, create graduate internships programs, and facilitate digital dissertations. Listen to reports from departments working to bring Career Diversity to Doctoral Education and creating innovative partnerships with university leadership. 

Session Roundup 

AHA19 is full of sessions exploring career paths from a wide variety of perspectives. Whether you are pursuing a degree in history, currently seeking employment, or are a faculty member interested in how you can better prepare your students for their careers, you’ll find panels and workshops that provide insight and inspiration. 

Thursday: 

Getting Started in Digital History Workshop  
9:00 AM-1:00 PM, Wabash Room (Palmer House Hilton, Third Floor) 

What Are We Learning? Innovative Assessments and Student Learning in College-Level History Classes 
1:30 PM-3:00 PM, Continental B (Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level) 

Perspectives on Internships for History PhDs 
1:30 PM-3:00 PM, Waldorf Room (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

The Many Careers in K-12: What Working in K-12 Education Really Looks Like 
1:30 PM-3:00 PM, Boulevard A (Hilton Chicago, Second Floor) 

Roundtable: History Podcasting as Graduate Students 
1:30 PM-3:00 PM, Williford B (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

Breaking Loyalties? Tensions between the Graduate Experience and Career Diversity 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Buckingham Room (Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level) 

The Future Is Now: Lessons Learned from Three Digital Dissertations in History 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Salon 10 (Palmer House Hilton, Third Floor) 

On the Front Lines of History: Educators at History Museums, Archives, and Historic Sites 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Stevens C-5 (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level) 

Friday:  

How Do We Fix the Advising Model for Humanities PhD Students? 
8:30 AM-10:00 AM Waldorf Room (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor)   

Charting Public History Careers: Findings from "Career Paths in Public History: A Report" 
8:30 AM-10:00 AM, Stevens C-4 (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level) 

Historians and the Public Sphere in Turbulent Political Times 
8:30 AM-10:00 AM, Continental C (Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level) 

Humanities without Walls: An Experiment in Career Diversity Training 
10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Chicago Room (Palmer House Hilton, Fifth Floor) 

Dissertation Lightning Round 
10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Buckingham Room (Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level) 

Bridging the Gap: Best Pedagogical Practices for Promoting Historical Thinking Skills in AP Courses and College Introductory Courses 
10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Continental B (Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level) 

From PDF to CSV: Translating the INEGI Historical Statistics into a Usable and Shareable Archive, with Maps 
10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Grant Park Parlor (Palmer House Hilton, Sixth Floor) 

Digital Drop-In 
1:30 PM-3:00 PM, Marquette Room (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

The Making of the Graduate Working Class: Perspectives on University Activism and Responsibility 
1:30 PM-3:00 PM, Williford A (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

Sustaining Scholarship: A Roundtable on Research Life Outside the Academy 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Williford C (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

Careers in Community Colleges: A Roundtable Discussion 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Continental B (Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level) 

Saturday: 

Tuning at Ten: Lessons We've Learned in the AHA 
8:30 AM-10:00 AM, Stevens C-4 (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level) 

Preparing for the Professoriate: A Conversation on How to Realign Graduate Education with Careers in the Professoriate 
8:30 AM-10:00 AM, Williford C (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

DH in 3D: Multidimensional Research and Education in the Digital Humanities 
8:30 AM-10:00 AM, Stevens C-5 (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level) 

Accreditation, Student Learning, and Outcomes Assessment: What Does It Mean for Faculty? 
8:30 AM-10:00 AM, Williford B (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

"Five Slides in Five Minutes" Session for Early Career Scholars 
10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Williford B (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

Innovations in Doctoral Education: Building Strong Partnerships between Programs and University Leadership 
10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Stevens C-4 (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level) 

Career Fair 
1:00 PM-4:00 PM, Stevens D (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level) 

Collaboration and Doctoral Training: Professionalization, Career Diversity, and Public Engagement 
1:30 PM-3:00 PM, Stevens C-1 (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level) 

Creating Careers for Woman: Beyond the Professoriate 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Continental A (Hilton Chicago, Lobby Level) 

Diving into the Data: What the Numbers Say about the Careers of Humanities PhDs 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Stevens C-4 (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level) 

Academic Blogging Roundtable: Networks, Perspectives, and Trajectories 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Wabash Room (Palmer House Hilton, Third Floor) 

Fostering Leadership in the Humanities 
3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Spire Parlor (Palmer House Hilton, Sixth Floor) 

Sunday: 

Mindsets over Skill Sets: Applying Humanities Theories and Methods to the Problems of Career Management 
9:00 AM-10:30 AM, Monroe Room (Palmer House Hilton, Sixth Floor) 

Across the K-16 Continuum: Collaborative Conversations and Possibilities for History Education 
11:00 AM-12:30 PM, Williford A (Hilton Chicago, Third Floor) 

Telling Big Stories in History Museums: Exhibitions, Narrative, and Synthesis 
11:00 AM-12:30 PM, Stevens C-4 (Hilton Chicago, Lower Level)