Bret Devereaux

Thinking about blogging topics after the Victoria II series is done. Want to gauge interest in some 'life in academia' topics, particularly: 1) What is grad school like in the academic humanities? 2) What is the job market like (beyond just 'bad')? 3) What is adjunct-life like?

What decisions can a student generally interested in history make, at various times (e.g. high school, college sophomore, college senior) in order to maximize the likelihood of success in a historical field?

So I won't lie - because academic fields are so competitive, there is a degree to which by the time you want to be a historian some paths are already very narrow, particularly in the upper reaches of the profession.

The long version can wait for the post, but the short version: 1) start learning the languages you will need in undergrad or high school if possible. 2) the high GPA in high school -> elite, selective college -> elite selective grad school trajectory makes things easier.

3) iron law of academic hiring is that almost no one works at a program more prestigious than where they got their PhD, consider that when selecting PhD programs.

And then 4) the job market is so terrible you can do everything right and still not get a job even with a good academic pedigree, a solid program and good publications. So possibly you spent a decade or more becoming the perfect scholar and still lose.