Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Blog of the Week, Vol. 1, No. 14


Across the Bloody Chasm – Now Available!!!     This week we look at the blog feature of Keith Harris History. Oddly enough, this blog is operated by Keith Harris (I know, big surprise right?). Keith has a busy history site where he also operates his web publication The Americanist Independent. Keith is also the author of Across the Bloody Chasm: The Culture of Commemoration Among Civil War Veterans. Obviously Keith stays pretty busy with three things taking place on his blog, but that's not all (The Price is Right flashback)! He also stays busy with an active Twitter feed making Keith one of the few historians I've met who is very social media oriented.

     Keith earned a BA in History at the University of California (Los Angeles) and his Ph.D at the University of Virginia specializing in Nineteenth century American history with a special emphasis on the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the era of Reconciliation. He used to be the host of Cosmic America, a now defunct blog that you can still access at Cosmic America

Screen Shot 2015-07-22 at 3.22.24 PM     Keith tends to focus a bit on social history as well, but remains interested in the Civil War era as well. He began his blog on Keith Harris History on May 30, 2013. Between these two blogs, Keith has a five year plus history of blogging actively. There are commenters that play an active roll on his blog which makes it an interactive blog. His Twitter feed runs on the left sidebar and is interesting in its own right. You can also access the Americanist Independent via the upper toolbar. Those interested in submitting work for publication in the quarterly journal may also do so through the toolbar in the Call for Papers tab. 

     Keith is a consistent poster. Usually there is at least one to two posts a week along with comments from the participants. Keith also has a YouTube channel which you can access via the website or  here: Keith Harris YouTube

      I think Keith has a pretty good product here. He is not a student nor an instructor which sets him apart from most of the bloggers I have covered so far. His interest in history is obvious and I like how he uses technology to disseminate information. He is reaching for a public audience versus an academic one and I think that is one of the best things about the Internet. We historians have a way to transfer information between ourselves as well as to the public without the academic institution being in the middle of the transfer. 

     There is a great deal to be said for this. The question so far is can this be done in such a way as to financially sustain the historian? There are several people actively working on this right now and I'd say Keith is one of them. If you want to visit Keith Harris History, you can do so at Keith Harris History

Keith Harris History

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