History 2008-2009

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Introduction


 * If you are applying for academic jobs in history during the 2008-2009 school year, this wiki is for you. Since history departments do not always do a good job of notifying applicants about the status of their search, this wiki allows job applicants to share their updates with each other.  Through this collaborative effort, job searchers can provide the latest news on the dates and status of phone interviews, conference interviews, campus visits, job offers, and acceptance of job offers.  As we work together, we can help keep search committees more honest.  If you are unsure whether a search committee has acted inappropriately, review the AHA guidelines and standards that are linked below.
 * Our goal is to list below all known open searches, by regional and topical specialization. Please check the below job listing web sites frequently and add new searches as they appear on the Internet.  Try to match, as closely as possible, each job with one or more of the below categories.  In some instances, an open search may need to be listed in more than spot below.  Consider adding a link to the job announcement so that other users can find the job description quickly.  Please start each new sub-entry with a "star."  When adding news about a search, finish your note with the date in parentheses. This keeps entries easy to read and makes development over time more clear. Thanks!
 * Salary data is taken from the AAUP Faculty Salary Survey. Calculations for history are based on the fact that, in 2007-2008, the average assistant professor of history at a private institution earned 90.7 percent of what the average assistant professor at the same institution earned.  Similarly, the average assistant professor of history at a public institution earned 84.1 percent of what the average assistant professor at the same institution earned.  See "Barely Keeping Up?" by Robert B. Townsend for more details.
 * For some idea of the teaching load at these institutions, the student/faculty ratio from the Petersons.com web site is included.
 * As a measurement of student quality, median SAT scores are included. These were calculated from data available at the CollegeBoard.com web site.  The writing portion of the SAT score was excluded from this calculation and converted ACT scores were included.

Job Listings

 * AHA web site (must be AHA member)
 * H-Net
 * Chronicle of Higher Education
 * OAH
 * HigherEdJobs.com
 * InsideHigherEd.com
 * Higher-Ed.org
 * jobs.ac.uk (Major site for British jobs)

AHA Guidelines for Job Market

 * Click here for guidelines and standards on hiring, interviews, job offers, etc.

Status of Job Searches

 * I don't mean to be a pain, but do we really want a few thousand jobs on this one page? (As it is, the page is 38KB long, which is already longer than suggested.) Breaking it down in the AHA categories would make sense, though I have no idea how to do it.


 * I agree, and I think others do, too. Are we really locked into this page?  Someone already started a wiki for North American fields, using the old format.  Can't the North American folks just stick with that?  Anyone with me? Here's the link:


 * WHAT IS GOING ON? -WHICH SITE OF THE (NOW THREE) SITES ARE WE USING FOR U.S.&N.AM.JOBS?
 * what is the third site after this one and the old wiki?


 * Three sites, different content:
 * 1-Seems most up to date thus far/best?
 * 2-This one-see below
 * 3-Old version of this one?
 * Can we find consensus and select just one?


 * I think most people seem to agree that the original one is the best and most user-friendly, and most of the chatter seems to be settling in on that one. Also, one poster on that site pointed out that it's easier to figure out the IP addresses of posters on this site and thus harder to protect one's privacy.  That's a big vote for the original site.  Anyone want to make an executive decision?


 * I agree as well - thanks for providing the link.


 * Thanks! That one is much better.


 * The problem (last year) with the old wiki page was that it was much harder to restore once the deleting began. I've started a sub-page for all Americanist-oriented jobs.  Please move anything I missed (I'm getting bored doing this...)

COMPLAINTS/VENTING

 * With canceled searches and rush visits to campus, it seems to be about time to start up the complaints/venting/and other comments on the history job market . . . shall we?
 * Sure, I'm ready to vent--I'm starting to feel desperate


 * Anyone else annoyed that the AHAs are in Manhattan just after New Years? I just got an interview and the hotels are booked
 * NYC is actually quite convenient for many of us in the Northeast; however, since I don't have any interviews scheduled yet, it doesn't really matter.
 * Well it may be conveniently located for some (next year's meetings are in San Diego), but January 1? There could not be a worse time to try to get to NYC.
 * I'm glad it's convenient for some, but those who aren't from the Northeast are facing $400/night hotel rooms if they didn't get some of the last available AHA rooms, and some of us are also facing $20+/hour childcare costs (with a four-hour minimum). I for one would have been happier if this conference weren't in one of the most expensive cities in the nation.
 * Wow, $400 is very expensive for a hotel. Shop around first -- a quick perusal of Travelocity found hotel rooms as cheap as $74/night in Manhattan for the period in question.  Many hotels in Brooklyn and Queens are less than $100/night.  Good luck!  New York is a safe city with lots to do and great public transportation.  It doesn't have to be expensive either; there are many fantastic inexpensive restaurants.
 * Note also that Manhattan has a very high hotel room tax that is not included in the quoted price
 * Yes, yes, we all know that New York is just swell, but I agree that having the conference in the most expensive city in the US at the most expensive time of year is pretty crappy. And let's be frank about it, those of us on the market are the only ones who are really paying our own way.  Most others can just bill it to their departments.
 * Why in the hell does the AHA have to pick the most expensive cities in the U.S. for its conferences when half of its attendees are probably graduate students and poorly paid adjuncts or VAPs who are there to interview for a jobs?? Can't they find other convention cities less expensive yet still convinient to large numbers of people? And how does San Diego count as convinient to anyone except residents of LA and SD? Why not Sacramento? I think there should be a movement to make the AHA less onerous to people who do not have financial backing to attend the conference. Even many of those who do may overrun their department's ability to fully fund their travel and lodging.
 * Well, I guess I'm the only person pleased with the location. Good luck to you all!
 * You do not have to pay that much for a hotel. I know it takes more time than we already have, but look for rooms/sublets on Craigslist and post to university list-serves. So many Columbia, CUNY, and NYU students are out of town then that you should be able to find lodging for the entire time for less than $400 -- yes, it's a little more of a commute too, but the conference is on lots of train lines.
 * 4 of the 15 searches I applied for have been canceled. Why me?!?!
 * You are not alone. I got a call saying that I was a finalist in the morning and that the search was canceled in the afternoon.

Atlantic History

 * Boston College
 * more materials requested, 11/19


 * Dalhousie University
 * short list decided. At least one candidate has on-campus scheduled. (11/12)
 * Anyone know more about this?


 * East Carolina University


 * Emporia State University- Emporia, KS
 * application deadline is 1 Nov 2008
 * field has been narrowed down to top 10, who will be contacted this week to answer interview questions via email


 * State University of New York - Buffalo
 * application deadline is 15 Nov 2008

Diplomatic/International History

 * Naval War College
 * application deadline is 1 Oct 2008
 * - application confirmation received [early Oct]


 * Ohio University
 * application deadline is 15 Nov 2008
 * this one has an inside candidate on a one-year VAP
 * email ack 11/14
 * Really, an inside candidate? Oh well.


 * Stanford - International History
 * application deadline is 15 Oct 2008
 * has anyone heard anything? (11/11)
 * seriously, nothing?? that online app thing was weird too (11/25) X 2


 * University of British Columbia
 * application deadline is 1 Oct 2008
 * - application confirmation received [early Oct]
 * - Campus Interviews [late Nov]
 * - How many candidates are being interviewed? When are they happening?


 * University of Texas at Austin
 * History of Empire, open rank
 * application deadline is 17 November 2008
 * received email ack. 11/18


 * Wake Forest University
 * Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
 * application deadline is 1 Nov 2008
 * average salary for assistant professors in 2007-2008 was $57,900
 * assistant professor of history should earn at least $52,522 annually
 * student/faculty ratio - 10:1
 * median SAT score: 1295 to 1325
 * [letter ack rcvd 11/22]