This week, I’ve asked students in my digital history course to read and write a response to Dan Cohen’s article, “Professors Start Your Blogs.” Regular readers of this blog know that I’ve been invited to be part of a panel on women historians who blog for the “Little Berks” in October. My co-panelists are Clio Bluestocking and Tenured Radical. So, I figure this is a good time to reflect on how this blog got started and why I continue to blog.

I first started this blog after attending a workshop at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. I must confess that I was somewhat skeptical about starting a blog — I shared many of the misgivings expressed in Cohen’s article.  I also weighed the pros and cons of showing my identity on the blog. Finally, I decided that the advantages of using the blog to publicize my work outweighed the dangers of going public.  Also, I share Tenured Radical’s opinion that being up front about one’s identity keeps one honest.  Also, I think it’s better to reveal yourself than to be “outed” by others. Nevertheless, I respect the reasons why Clio Bluestocking and other untenured faculty and graduate students choose to keep their identities hidden.

Since I’m relatively new to blogging, I’m still trying to find a blogging style and focus.  My posts are not as long or as thoughtful as Tenured Radical, but then again, I have a heavier teaching load than she does.  I also tend not to post anything unless I have something I think others would like to read.  For that reason, I tend to avoid whining about my personal life or writing about trivial matters such as what I had for breakfast (yogurt with granola if you’re interested).  The periodic posts on my book club selections are mainly for the benefit of my mother-in-law, who likes to know what I’m reading.

I also am still trying to find my niche among the various history blogs.  The blogroll at History News Network lists me under “academic lives” — I suppose this will do for now since I write about a range of topics. I tend to follow Cohen’s suggestion that the academic blog be used for “notes from the field” — which is why there are so many posts on conferences and workshops I’ve attended (and soon I’ll have a post on the one I just attended — but not until I finish getting caught up on the work that’s accumulated during my absence!)

Finally, I aim to make this blog a platform for activism on issues that matter to me — such as women’s health, gender equity, and disability rights.  So far, I’m not sure if I’ve had much of an impact — the largest number of hits came on the day I posted about Britney Spears, Owen Wilson, and mental illness, and that was only about 150! Nevertheless, I persist.