https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1i5s2fu/office_hours_january_20_2025_questions_and/
created by AutoModerator on 20/01/2025 at 15:01 UTC
11 upvotes, 6 top-level comments (showing 6)
Hello everyone and welcome to the bi-weekly Office Hours thread.
Office Hours is a feature thread intended to focus on questions and discussion about the profession or the subreddit, from how to choose a degree program, to career prospects, methodology, and how to use this more subreddit effectively.
The rules are enforced here with a lighter touch to allow for more open discussion, but we ask that everyone please keep top-level questions or discussion prompts on topic, and everyone please observe the civility rules at all times.
While not an exhaustive list, questions appropriate for Office Hours include:
Also be sure to check out past iterations of the thread, as past discussions may prove to be useful for you as well[1]!
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/?f=flair_name%3A%22Office%20Hours%22
Comment by BoyZi124 at 21/01/2025 at 21:07 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hi, I have a question about the book list section on this subreddit. I’ve noticed that a few sections, like Japan’s Edo period and early Korea, are marked as [Work in Progress]. Since I’m relatively new here, I’m not sure how often the book list gets updated, or if it gets updated at all.
Comment by BathroomHonest9791 at 20/01/2025 at 18:36 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
To pursue a degree in a very specific niche straight from BA, or opt for a general history degree?
I’ll preface this question by saying that while all answers are appreciated I myself am from a post-Soviet country and plan to study in the EU, so any US-specific answer will not apply to my case. With that said, I started by searching up if anything similar was asked already, so maybe you can help someone in the future by answering here.
Right now I am torn between applying to either History or Egyptology bachelors program, with intent to continue on to postgraduate and maybe PhD level.
What are the chances of obtaining a PhD in either of these cases, is one more likely than the other? With which of these are you more likely to find work in your field of study? How are the degrees valued outside the historical field?
Comment by SirZero00 at 21/01/2025 at 10:34 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Hello. I'm a history enthusiast. I'm working on an illustrative book on the Italian Front (1915-1918). My goal is to sell the book for commercial gain. I do all the research and writing, use citations, and draw all the maps myself.
To increase credibility, I plan to use pictures taken during the Great War period. Because this will be my first published book, I want to do it by the book.
My questions for the historians are:
(1) How does copyright protection for WWI photos work?
(2) Can I crop sketches from Edwin Rommel's Infantry Attack (published in mid-1930s; Rommel died in 1944) and put them in my book?
(3) There are two identical pictures taken by the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the internet. One has the British Imperial War Museum watermark, and one has none, who has the copyright ownership of that picture? Who should I ask for permission to use the image?
(4) If someone claims copyright on a WWI photo after my book is published, how do I know if their claim is valid? What should I do about it?
Comment by curiousspeck9926 at 23/01/2025 at 15:28 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Are online degrees worth it? And are there other options for someone who's working full time? I'm living in germany and studying a stem subject in uni here. I want to study history in uni (more specifically, egyptology or assyriology). Now, the problem is that I have certain constraints that don't allow for that. I've contemplated enrolling in bachelors again while working after I finish my stem bachelor, but I don't think that's feasible. If online degrees are worth it, which of them would you recommend? Thank you in advance
Comment by thequietbookworm at 20/01/2025 at 20:37 UTC
2 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Do you have any recommendations for academic articles and/or non-fiction history books (that would be available at your usual bookstore) about modern history, specifically cultural history, memory studies, public history, Eastern European history, or anything to do with identity/gender/migration/conflicts?
Bonus points if the paper/book you mention has somehow surprised you/made you look at a topic or history in a new way :)
Context: I will start a masters in modern history and am looking for good reading materials for the months I have to wait before starting uni again. Thanks in advance!
Comment by thecomicguybook at 23/01/2025 at 11:54 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
How did you narrow down your ideas for your master's thesis? Due to my winding road through academia I did my bachelor's in something entirely unrelated (and basically I didn't even chose it myself), so I am at a loss. I have one year to figure it out, and I have 3 ideas, currently doing early-modern history.
I am doing 2 master-apprenticeships, both of my supervisors said that there is definitely a thesis idea there:
One is on paintings of the European wars of Religion.
The other one is about a composite manuscript from the 16th century written by a humanist that contain's a saint's life that I am looking at right now.
The third idea I had is about pamphlets that have been collected together about the 80 year's war, which I can work out during my next course, and my lecturer said that she also sees a thesis in this.
I am not asking somebody to pick for me, but as you can see they are quite different but all related to the 16-17th century roughly. The first apprenticeship is more centered on war and memory, the second one is more about the long history of this saint, as well as the author and his sources (for a thesis this would be expanded to the whole manuscript, which has a lot of interesting texts and he writes in a very pleasant hand I have to say after taking paleography), and the third one is about literary culture and war from different perspectives. My interests do include book history, literature in general, the religious wars, people's experiences of living through them, global history, etc.
Anybody who has experiences in having many different possible ideas? How did you come to focus on the thing that you focused on?