Creating a Space for Lay Practitioners

AskHistorians is an outlet though which non-professional and amateur historians can share their knowledge and love of the subject with those who are equally interested. While our audiance is neormous, only 12% of our experts actually work in history or a related field. Fully 35% of our certified experts are self-taught, non-professionals or amateurs - this represents a significant portion of our knowledge base.

For these expert users, AskHistorians validates their years of self-study by not only allowing them to teach others, but also to meet professionals in their field and discuss issues with them one-on-one. It is an opportunity to expand their knowledge, obtain new source material, and test hypotheses in a safe environment. This kind of interaction can inspire non-professional and amateur historians to engage with history at a deeper level than ever before, and make history more a part of their life; specific activities seen so far include returning to school for a degree or by changing their career to be more in line with their interests.

In this talk, I will be looking at the different ways in which AskHistorians creates a space—which is otherwise lacking—for lay practitioners of history to express and develop their interest. I will also look at two case-studies in which interacting with the forum eventually led lay experts to make history more a part of their lives, in the one by returning to school for a degree, and in the second through the recognition that history was indeed a subject they loved.