Professional Life
The AHA offers resources and guidance to all historians, in all fields of work and at all stages of their careers.
Virtual Seminars for Department Chairs
In 2020, the AHA hosted a series of virtual seminars designed to support department chairs through the transitions and uncertainties brought about from COVID-19. Webinars were small group discussions (capped at 10 participants) and facilitated by an experienced department chair.
Virtual Career Development
The AHA announces a series of professional development webinars and workshops emphasizing career exploration and skill development for graduate students and early-career historians.
Department Chairs' Workshop
From July 19-20, 2021, the AHA will offer our third annual Chairs' Workshop in Chicago. Experienced chairs will lead sessions and host collaborative breakout conversations addressing a wide range of issues specific to chairing in our discipline and across a variety of institutional contexts. We will discuss broad leadership issues; strategies for balancing workloads in teaching, research, and administration; and take up issues of curricular innovation, enrollment, and assessment. New in 2021: the AHA will offer a breakout session devoted to issues for new department chairs at the third annual Department Chairs' Workshop.
Professional Resources
Resources for History Departments
Resources for Graduate Students
Resources for Minority Historians
Resources for Contingent Faculty
Resources for Early Career Professionals
Resources for the Historical Profession
Resources for Historical Researchers
Resources for Public Historians
Resources for Two-Year Faculty
Resources for Women Historians
Guide for Dealing with Online Harassment
FAQs: Professional Issues
Q: Does the AHA have an official position on plagiarism and professional conduct?
A: The Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct outlines the shared values of the profession.
Q: Does the AHA have guidelines on the hiring process, tenure, and promotion?
A: In addition to the general guidelines in the Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct, the Association periodically issues best practices, reports, and guidelines on hiring, tenure, and promotion that are collected on our Ethics & Standards page.
Q: What resources does the AHA have to help with a departmental review?
A: The AHA offers this article, “How to Organize an Outside Review,” to help with a departmental review.
Reports of Committees and Divisions
The AHA leadership—its Council, divisions, and committees—regularly address issues of concern to the discipline. Research and reports conducted by AHA leadership can be found in this section.
Digital Primary Sources
The Digital Primary Sources, currently being compiled by the American Historical Review, will serve as a preliminary guide to freely accessible online collections of primary sources. Help us out by submitting your own favorite primary-source archival collections.
Final Report on Extending the Reach of Scholarly Society Work to HBCU Faculty
The AHA and the American Philosophical Association (APA) have released the final report on a project exploring how philosophy and history faculty members at historically black colleges and universities can contribute to and improve the work of scholarly societies, and have been working to improve access to the resources and networks the societies provide.