Things I wish I had known (or I was glad I knew) my first year in grad school

All across America, it's back to school time. For most students and families, it's a time to buy new backpacks, pencils, and crayons. If you're in a college town (like I am), every time you go to Walmart or Target you see eighteen year-old kids with their parents buying dry erase boards, plastic storage bins, and dorm room refrigerators. And then, there are first year grad students. Many of you, perhaps those who come to a Ph. D. program with an MA in hand (as I did), are generally well-prepared for the workload. Others are blissfully naive about the changes that are about to happen in their lives. Classes start at most universities in the next week or so; if it's your first year of grad school and you don't feel like Billy Madison waiting for the bus yet, then you will before August is over. Indeed, your first few months as a grad student will likely be one of the most stressful times in your entire life and I think most first-year students could benefit from the collective wisdom of their colleagues. With that that in mind, I solicited suggestions on Twitter and while I was disappointed that I didn't get more responses, I have plenty of tips to offer those of you starting this odyssey in the next few weeks.  So here are my tips for a first grad students in history (along with the ones I received from Twitter).

Embargo or EmbargNO?

Yesterday, the AHA caused quite an uproar with a press release regarding the embargoing of completed history PhD dissertations. You can read the whole statement here, but I would like to highlight a number of key quotes: 

Although there is so close a relationship between the dissertation and the book that presses often consider them competitors, the book is the measure of scholarly competence used by tenure committees...History has been and remains a book-based discipline, and the requirement that dissertations be published online poses a tangible threat to the interests and careers of junior scholars in particular.  Many universities award tenure only to those junior faculty who have published a monograph within six years of receiving the PhD.  With the online publication of dissertations, historians will find it increasingly difficult to persuade publishers to make the considerable capital investments necessary to the production of scholarly monographs...

Reactions on Twitter varied (and somehow, Jon Butler made an appearance):