The journey from professionalization to specialization

  To some degree, Townsend's book changed my understanding of the historical profession,  detailing how the professional divisions that exist today were built up over many years in the discipline of history.  Of course I was previously aware of the different spheres of historical activity, but the book made me more acutely aware of the changes in the organization of historical studies which shape the aspects of today's landscape in terms of historical discourse, interpretation, scholarship, and teaching.  The journey the book makes from professionalization to specialization and further to fragmentation is significant to me as it establishes a timeline, or chronology of development, which I was not necessarily aware of before, at least in the way the changes were connected to watershed events, like World War I.  I was, for instance, surprised to learn that dissertations in the field were at one time essays, perhaps not much longer or detailed than articles, and that over time grew to book length studies.  No doubt the introduction of the scientific method of research had a significant impact on the length of doctoral dissertations, but I was equally intrigued by the scholarly specialization that emerged as a result, and which led to the continued expansion of the historical enterprise.  Indeed, the expansion was so intensive that it led to the fragmentation of the enterprise as archivist, teachers, and research scholars (to name a few) were "scattered into separate professional spheres." (p.8)  I am left wondering, however, if professionalization was a net positive or negative?  Perhaps both, but one can see that professionalization has led to significant improvements, for instance, in the way history is taught and how records are maintained and made available to the public.  Of course, when it comes to employment, history PhDs should surely think beyond the realms of academic employment. 

  All in all, I like the book.  (I especially like the title.)  It was well written and well documented, and was equally informative and stimulating.  I really like the way Townsend uses data to present his case.  The research is impressive, and the records from the AHA (and other sources) are used masterfully, taking the reader on the journey from professionalization to the current state of micro-professionalization present in the field of history today.