What does a historian do?

What is a Historian?

A historian has the fascinating job of studying and interpreting the past. When people need detailed, nuanced information about the past, they call on historians to get the facts.

Historians write history books and articles about all kinds of topics, times, people, and places. From ancient history, to a specific decade, to even one specific historical event, historians will study and fact-find in order to share that information with the public.

What does a Historian do?

There are many different types of historians, each with a specialty or a specific area of study in which they are experts.

Specialties range from a specific time period, country, or region. For example, a historian could specialize in U.S. history with a particular mastery of 1960's pop culture. Another example of a specialization could be South African history with a concentration on apartheid. Historians may also specialize in history type, such as the history of women, or science. However, even though many historians specialize in one topic, it is expected that they have a general base of history knowledge.

Historians study written records of history; this is where they get the support and evidence to back up their interpretation of the event or time period in question. It is their job to pore over all of the written documents they can find, and then piece together all of the information they gather to form some kind of historical narrative. They are then able to answer the questions of what happened, who was involved, why, etc.

Over 70% of all historians work in colleges or universities, and much of what these historians do involves teaching courses or serving some role in a history department. The work of historians at colleges and universities also greatly involves conducting research and writing articles and/or books. When it comes to writing, if they are professors, they will most likely be expected to author a book(s) about their specialty.

Those historians who do not work in colleges or universities may work as archivists, helping collect and preserve important historical documents, or may work with government agencies and be involved in helping to preserve buildings. They may also be consultants for the media (TV, radio, film, etc.) with the task of making sure all aspects of the show or film in question are historically accurate.

What is the workplace of a Historian like?

The workplace of a historian is one of focus and quiet. Many historians spend most of their time in offices at colleges or universities, in libraries, or in classrooms.

They may do some travel to historical sites or archives for research purposes.