Since 2020, AHA has hosted a regular series of online webinars to support the work of history department chairs. The webinars are small group discussions facilitated by experienced department chairs on topics related to the faculty-facing, student-facing, and administrative-facing work of chairs. Department chairs are encouraged to attend as many webinars as are of interest.

To register for an upcoming program, email ahaonline@historians.org. 

2022–23 Department Chairs Webinar Series

The seminars were organized by AHA staff in collaboration with Jennifer McNabb, department head and professor of history at the University of Northern Iowa.

The State of the Discipline: Challenges for Department Chairs
Friday, May 19, 2023, from 2–3:30 p.m. ET

Dealing with Difficult Faculty and Staff
Friday, March 24, 2023, from 2–3 p.m. ET
Carlos Blanton (Texas A&M Univ.), Elaine Carey (Oakland Univ.), Ravi Gupta (Utah State Univ.), and Jennifer McNabb (Univ. of Northern Iowa)

A healthy department culture enhances job satisfaction and the productivity of an academic unit, but difficult people can reduce morale and departmental effectiveness. The department bully, the faculty member who determinedly rejects one leg (or more) of the teaching-scholarship-service tripod, the inappropriate/insensitive communicator, and the faculty member who refuses any alteration of the status quo each pose a range of administrative challenges that chairs are charged to address and correct. This interactive discussion focuses on identifying strategies for addressing common barriers posed by difficult personnel to creating and maintaining a thriving, functional department culture.

Guidelines for Broadening the Definition of Scholarship
Friday, February 24, 2023, from 2–3 p.m. ET
James Grossman (American Historical Assoc.) and Rita Chin (Univ. of Michigan)

This webinar is an opportunity for chairs to discuss the new guidelines, which lay the foundation for a broad expansion of what constitutes historical scholarship and provide recommendations for evaluating diverse genres of historical scholarship in professional settings where historians work.

Recruitment Matters: From Prospects to Commits
Friday, October 28, 2022, from 2–3 p.m. ET
Ravi M. Gupta (Utah State Univ.), Jennifer McNabb (Univ. of Northern Iowa), and Lynn Mollenauer (Univ. of North Carolina. Wilmington)

Recruitment is an essential component of the department chair's responsibilities, and this interactive webinar will focus on successful strategies for selling History as an academic program to prospective first-time college students, transfer students, current students, and graduate students. Following a brief introduction by seminar leader Jennifer McNabb (Univ. of Northern Iowa), attendees will break into small discussion groups on the following topics: Recruiting Students Already on Campus; Recruiting Students Not Already on Campus (First-Years and Transfers); Recruiting Graduate Students.

2020 Department Chairs Webinar Series 

In 2020, the Teagle Foundation sponsored a series of online seminars to support history department chairs through the transitions and uncertainties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The seminars were organized by AHA staff in collaboration with Elizabeth Lehfeldt, dean of the Mandel Honors College and Mandel Professor in Humanities at Cleveland State University.

Making the Case for History: Curriculum, Enrollments, and Advocacy
December 10, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
David Messenger (Univ. of South Alabama)

Making the Case for History: Curriculum, Enrollments, and Advocacy 
November 17, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Randi Storch (SUNY Cortland)  

A Primer for New Chairs
October 15, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Drummond (Loyola Marymount Univ.)
Discussion topics include identifying the foremost concerns for new chairs; identifying key resources and allies at your institution; strategizing how to lead a department when everything is remote.

Advocating for History and the Humanities
September 8, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Tim Schmitz (Wofford College)
Discussion topics include advocating for history with upper administration against the backdrop of budget cuts; working with other allied departments to make the case for the humanities.

Supporting Graduate Students 
September 1, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Katrin Schultheiss (George Washington Univ.)
Discussion topics include how to support graduate student research and teaching during the pandemic; how to build community among graduate students; how PhD and MA programs might look during the pandemic.

How to be Human in a Crisis, or How to Support Faculty and Student Needs while Taking Care of Yourself
August 25, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Ann Waltner (Univ. of Minnesota)
Discussion topics include time management; setting expectations; juggling the demands of students, faculty, teaching, and research.

Supporting Faculty in the Transition to Online and Hybrid Teaching
August 20, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Laura McEnaney (Whittier College)
Discussion topics include the role of teaching evaluations and balancing the extra effort needed to work online and hybrid; safety in online discussions and work; zoom management; the impact of online teaching with student experience, especially for majors and gen ed populations; requirements for research in the major with library and archive access uncertain, etc.

Enrollments, Retention, and Curricular Design at Regional Public Universities
August 18, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Amy Froide (Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Discussion topics include how to build student interest in history; curricular opportunities (e.g. history of medicine); finding constructive ways to use online/virtual formats to build and maintain student communities.

Supporting Faculty in the Transition to Online and Hybrid Teaching
August 13, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Liz Lehfeldt (Cleveland State Univ.)
Discussion topics include the role of teaching evaluations and balancing the extra effort needed to work online and hybrid; safety in online discussions and work; zoom management; the impact of online teaching with student experience, especially for majors and gen ed populations; requirements for research in the major with library and archive access uncertain, etc.

Enrollments, Retention, and Curricular Design at Small Liberal Arts Colleges
August 11, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Darién J. Davis (Middlebury College)
Discussion topics include how to build student interest in history; curricular opportunities (e.g. history of medicine); finding constructive ways to use online/virtual formats to build and maintain student communities.

Supporting Faculty Research
August 4, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET
Paul Deslandes (Univ. of Vermont)
Discussion topics include helping to manage the research agendas of faculty during this crisis; helping faculty manage tenure and promotion processes and decisions during this crisis.

A Primer for New Chairs
July 30, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Drummond (Loyola Marymount Univ.)
Discussion topics include identifying the foremost concerns for new chairs; identifying key resources and allies at your institution; strategizing how to lead a department when everything is remote.

Enrollments, Retention, and Curricular Design at R1 Universities
July 21, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
James H. Sweet (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison)
Discussion topics include how to build student interest in history; curricular opportunities (e.g. history of medicine); finding constructive ways to use online/virtual formats to build and maintain student communities.

Supporting Faculty in the Transition to Online and Hybrid Teaching
July 14, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET & July 16, 2020, at 3 p.m. ET
Laura Westhoff (Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis)
Discussions topics include the role of teaching evaluations and balancing the extra effort needed to work online and hybrid; safety in online discussions and work; zoom management; the impact of online teaching with student experience, especially for majors and gen ed populations; requirements for research in the major with library and archive access uncertain, etc.