The Ordeal: Evaluation and the Production of Historians
It is a competitive world out there, perhaps now more than ever. An ongoing “Ordeal” can be a strength, creating researchers and teachers who are leaders continually striving to learn and improve. But if it is unproductive, excessive or abusive, then it loses its value and, worse, we lose or discourage good people. Even a few such cases are too many. In this blog, I hope to inspire reflection and discussion. Are our methods of producing and evaluating historians the best possible? Are they being applied appropriately all of the time? If not, what can we do about it?