Skip to Main Content

Historians

Work Environment

Historians who are employed in educational settings enjoy clean, well-lighted, and pleasant work settings. College and university professors may have their own offices, or they may have to share an office with one or more colleagues. College professors enjoy a flexible schedule that allows them to arrange their work days around class hours, academic meetings, and the established office hours when they meet with students. Although history professors may teach only two or three classes a semester, they spend a considerable amount of time preparing for lectures, examining student work, and conducting research.

Historians who teach at the middle- or high-school level will have more traditional hours. They may also be required to teach other types of classes and supervise extracurricular activities as part of their duties.

Historians who are employed in noneducational organizations usually work in professional office settings. They may have to spend long hours in library stacks or searching digital databases for the tiniest piece of information. Historians may be required to travel to conduct interviews or gather information at archives, museums, or other locations.