Historical Triage Workshop

Session Submission Type: Alternative Session

Abstract

Historians today grapple with speaking to public audiences. The Historical Triage Workshop offers a way for academics to practice expeditious research on a topic outside their expertise, as well as forging and executing a plan to provide the public with a succinct and trustworthy historical perspective on that topic.

Academic training encourages a very reasonable suspicion of snap judgements and quick research, but the broader world moves at a faster clip. Journalists and policymakers move quickly to address current issues. Historians would benefit from cultivating the ability to do something similar. With the brisk pacing of the news cycle, public attention often departs before historical perspective can come into play.

This exercise will involve splitting workshop participants into groups of 2-3 people. Each group will receive a topic related to environmental issues in the news at the time of the conference and spend 30 minutes researching it. Then each group will briefly present their findings to the larger workshop in 2-4 minutes. The conveners of this workshop (Danielle Duffy, Austin Schoenkopf, Chloe Thompson, and Jae Tyler-Wolf) will explain the exercise and participate in the research and presentations with the attendees. After each group presents, the workshop attendees will discuss the exercise for 30 minutes. Patricia Nelson Limerick will offer closing remarks at the end of the session, during the last 15 minutes of the panel.

The term “triage” captures an important nuance. We must make strategic choices on when to take action and when to say, “Not this time.” But historians can use our training, along with our understanding of the limits of quick research, to offer analysis of current events firmly grounded in the past. We can only speak to broader audiences and deepen their understanding if we are willing to try.

Sub Unit

• ASEH Annual Conference

Participants

• Danielle Duffy, Western Carolina University

• Chloe Thompson, Carnegie Mellon University

• Austin Schoenkopf, Montana State University

• Jae Tyler-Wolfe, Kent State University

Moderator

• Patty Limerick, University of Colorado - Boulder