What are your guilty pleasures?

[TheHessianHistorian]

As we pass the time until the last of our decisions are released and April 15th is upon us, I wonder if other historians have "guilty pleasure" research topics? What are some niche topics that you love to research, but are topics that (A) are too "out there" to build a career on in real academia, or (B) are too remote from your main specialization area to be anything other than a hobby interest?

My guilty pleasures would be:

• History of SETI/METI -- how people thought about, searched for, and tried to contact extraterrestrial intelligent life over the centuries
• History of names -- especially in Germany, where names were almost always inherited from baptism sponsors, it's really easy to go through baptism records of commoners and see the trail of how someone was named after someone before them, who was named after someone before them, etc. (the name trails usually lead back to nobility); also, tracing the evolution of surnames over the centuries is fascinating

Edited February 17, 2018 by TheHessianHistorian

[AnUglyBoringNerd]

To be honest, in comparison with my other career options (e.g. NGO, think tank, consulting firm, etc), I think committing to an academic career as a historian is already the biggest guilty pleasure of my life... I mean, think about the opportunity cost of doing a PhD in history~  

 

[allisonsie]

I'm an Americanist studying 19th to 20th-century sex and reproduction. But I have a soft spot for ancient Egyptian history, pharaohs and gods, and also for Early and High Middle Ages Europe. In theory, I could have specialized in one of these instead, but ancient Egypt would have pretty much necessitated a huge move to Egypt, and with all the unrest, it didn't feel like my best plan. Plus, my undergrad had absolutely nothing on African or Middle East history, so it would have been extremely difficult to get into a grad program. Early and High Middle Ages, I still really love, but the professor of these at my undergrad was horrible and I couldn't bring myself to work one-on-one with her for two years, so I fell into American history. I'm happy with my focus, but sometimes I still dream of moving to the UK and becoming a medievalist. Maybe in my retirement! 

[jocorac]

about two semesters ago, my European professor discussed blacks in European art, ranging from literature to artwork and dance. I was so drawn to it, even though European is my least favorite to study. one of my friends is doing her thesis on black bodies in dance throughout Europe and the US and the information she has gathered is really good stuff. Can't wait to read it. Something I planned to take on after my studies. 

[WhaleshipEssex]

Mine has always been poli sci approaches to far right extremist political organization. Something about competing theories around party systems and debates over old right/new right and fascism has always intrigued me. I first got interested a few years ago when I wrote a paper applying Katz & Mair's model of parties to the historical development of the FN in France and have been hooked on it ever since. I try to stay up to date on the major theoretical developments when I can.

[Banzailizard]

In terms of history?

1. Byzantine history. I cannot help but respect a state that survived the number of near collapses that they did yet still came back.  Plus they are something of an aberration in medieval Europe. The fact that they are geographically caught between traditional western and eastern Europe as well as between Europe and the Middle East is also rather interesting.  I have little interest though in expending the effort it would take trying learning medieval Greek.  Plus it's not really a hot topic right now, would be hard to find a job.

2. I have always had an interest in a public history topic of history in games. (Both video games and table top)  Games in historical settings are interesting because, unlike movies or books, the players interact with and to some extent "make" history.  Different players also have different tolerances or  interests in pursuing verisimilitude.  This can also cause inter-player conflict or condlict between players and developers who have different interpretations of historical events.

There is also the trade off between  strict historical accuracy and gameplay. Some games go a long way towards combining mechanics and history (for example Here I Stand ) others wear history like cheap costume (looking at you Battle Field 1). All make this sacrifice to some extent in the name of simplifying mechanics enough to be playable ( this is also why I never will get anyone to play Campaign for North Africa with me).

A well designed game can both be entertaining and warn against being overly deterministic.  It can teach that small changes can have large impacts over time by giving the player a choice then letting them see the consequences. Again this is public history on the level of entertainment, not a substitute for proper history.  However, because it may be some people's only exposure to history, it's still a worthwhile topic, just not one I think would fly in academia per say.

There is also a sub topic of this: fantasy world building. Usually this involves the telescoping of medieval and early modern worlds, with a sprinkling of general anachronism, some explained others not.  It's almost a less specific form of counterfactual history. The last one would have some merit in public history, this would get me laughed right out the door though.

Finally in terms of non history, a little of everything.  I am a bit of an intellectual flake. I get supper excited about a topic for a few weeks or a month, then drop it when I understand it just enough to not be useful to anyone, or when I find a new shiny thing.  One of the reasons I picked history as an undergrad was that it was broad enough to study "whatever."  Beyond developing an appreciation of history for it's own sake, I also applied for a PhD in history because it's one of the few topics I keep coming back to, and I have also been trying to work on my focus based on the historical topics I keep coming back to.

(Had to type this on a phone hopefully not too many typos)

Edited March 4, 2018 by Banzailizard

[TK2]

Urban planning in science fiction. Or science fiction in urban planning. And geography of romance novels (why the Greek Billionaires Virgin Kidnapped Bride? Why never French?) Stuff like that, some intersection of literature and geography. I do pretty pragmatic transport planning and development stuff, so learning the theory and methods from literature would just make this a huge and ridiculous digression that I would probably never be good at, but I think there's an interesting vein here. Basically, I want someone to write about why no French billionaires and how Star Trek left an imprint on our cities, but there doesn't seem to be much going on there from the geographer's side, so I'm left with that impulse to 'write what you want to read.'

[TheHessianHistorian]

7 hours ago, Banzailizard said:

2. I have always had an interest in a public history topic of history in games. (Both video games and table top)  Games in historical settings are interesting because, unlike movies or books, the players interact with and to some extent "make" history.  Different players also have different tolerances or  interests in pursuing verisimilitude.  This can also cause inter-player conflict or condlict between players and developers who have different interpretations of historical events.

One of my friends is Matthew Schandler, who is finishing up his PhD from Lehigh this year. He's also done some really interesting research on the history of video games, although his broader interests are more industry/technology related.

[HistoricScout]

Admittedly, my guilty pleasure for animal history IS my research focus so....

Other areas that I really enjoy, albeit not sure if you would call them guilty: 

1. I really love African history especially the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s history. 

2. The French Resistance has always been a favorite of mine, especially when focusing on young women and teenagers who joined the Resistance to dismantle traditional roles for young people and women in France. 

3. I really like sports history, especially Formula One history and football history. 

4. I’m really fascinated by the family life and divorces during wartime for some reason, mainly the divorces. It just fascinates me how women can divorce their husbands and only inform them by a simple letter while they’re on the front lines. 

[rising_star]

On 3/4/2018 at 11:08 AM, TK2 said:

Urban planning in science fiction. Or science fiction in urban planning.  ... how Star Trek left an imprint on our cities, but there doesn't seem to be much going on there from the geographer's side, so I'm left with that impulse to 'write what you want to read.'

If you ever want to collaborate on this for real, shoot me a PM. It's an area of interest to me too and one I haven't explored yet.

[astroid88]

I like Latin America in the colonial period. Comparing the different regional experiences is fun.

[KTJ]

Oh boy - I recently re-read my freshman year intro to history research proposal and was reminded that at one point I wanted to study the history of music. To be more specific - the history of the hardcore punk movement in D.C. I find the way music genres evolve and change overtime due to external influences (e.g. demography) to be very fascinating, and for a while I was convinced that I was going to be a punk historian. Beyond that I also have a soft spot for Tudor History and American Colonial History (particularly Roanoke).

(Also - this is my first post on here! Been lurking forever, so hello!)