Founded in 2016, the Peripheral Histories? blog and digital history project is a platform for spotlighting ongoing research on the history of regions and peoples of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, which have been perceived as geographically, politically, or culturally ‘peripheral’. We place a strong emphasis on publishing research by postgraduates (graduate-level students in the US system) and early career researchers, but also regularly feature content in other formats, such as author interviews, thematic clusters of posts and series curated by guest editors, and pieces focusing on conceptual and methodological questions. To date, the site has published over 100 posts by more than 90 unique authors from 22 countries.
We are currently in the process of reorganising and expanding the editorial collective and are seeking to fill the following positions:
Publications Manager
● Corresponding with authors about submissions
● Liaising with the editorial collective to solicit two reviewers
● Uploading and formatting posts for the website
● Publicising posts on our social media channels (currently, Facebook and Twitter)
● Attending monthly editorial meetings
Editor
● Soliciting posts from potential authors
● Providing constructive feedback on submissions and suggestions for improvement
● English-language copyediting and proofreading
● Guest editing series (optional)
● Attending monthly editorial meetings
International Advisory Board
● Advising on the direction of the whole project
● Reviewing posts where relevant to their expertise
● Attending biannual editorial meetings
We are an all-volunteer group, from our editorial team to our contributors, but we hope that the networking opportunities and insights into digital history publishing can still be valuable experiences. The commitment in time required by these roles will vary through the year, but should not exceed 4-5 hours per month.
The positions of publications manager and editor are open to anyone with a Master's degree or higher, while the international advisory board is open to those with a PhD. We are looking to strengthen our editorial expertise on Central Europe, Ukraine, and the Balkans and especially welcome applicants with expertise in these areas. We also strongly encourage applications from those based within any part of our region of interest.
If you are interested in being considered for any of the following positions, please send an email to peripheralhistories@gmail.com by 18th April 2024 with a short motivational statement (250 words) stating the position you are interested in and what you could bring to the role. We will inform you of the outcome of your application in early May.
Alun and Siobhán will also be available to chat to anyone interested in the project at the BASEES Conference in Cambridge, 5th-7th April 2024. They will both be at the PGR drinks reception, held at 18:15-19:15 on Friday 5th April in the CWB Plenary Room.
Best wishes,
Alun, Catherine, Hanna, Jo, Siobhán, and Susan