Timothy Brown, entering his fourth year as a PhD student in history, serves as a Graduate Assistant at the Humanities Institute, a Research Assistant for the Engaged, Public, Oral and Community Histories (EPOCH) Initiative, and the Social Media Coordinator at the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR).
“My idea has always been to remain flexible about what I can do as a historian” – Timothy Brown
Work at the Humanities Institute
At the Humanities Institute, Timothy’s responsibilities include providing technical support for events, managing social media, and coordinating fellowship advertisements. For fellows’ talk events, he teams up with co-workers to ensure a seamless hybrid set-up that supports both in-person and streaming formats. He also helps with technology checks and troubleshooting before and during the event, monitors the Q&A, and ensures that the experience is optimized for the audience and the presenter.
Apart from that, he helps put together the yearly budget for fellowship advertisements. Other projects he has been involved in include partnering with Greenhouse Studios on grant incubators.
Skills: Polished and Transferable
Timothy views his work in different roles, beyond and within his department, as an opportunity to gain diverse skills. While he arrived with teaching experience and skills developed from his masters’ program, his current GAship has allowed him to cultivate technology skills through his involvement in event set-up and logistics. Also, he has refined his teamwork skills through on-the-spot collaboration with colleagues.
As Timothy reflects, “It’s really helpful to think more broadly about how to be collaborative with other people, especially because, as historians, we often work in archives where we don’t talk to other people or are squirreled away writing.”
Another important but often overlooked skill he has enhanced is budgeting. This has included identifying channels for advertising fellowships and determining how much money to spend. His GAship has also pushed him out of his comfort zone, making him more open to tasks like advertising or cold emailing external organizations about fellowship opportunities.
Timothy values the transferability of skills he has gained. For example, in his first year as GA, he helped manage the Humanities Institute’s social media platforms. The skills he has developed have proven essential in his role as a Social Media Coordinator for SHEAR.
For anyone looking to build or refine skills, he suggests “thinking through how your skills can apply in different forms, in different jobs and different positions.”
Advice for Other Graduate Students
For those pursuing a GAship beyond their academic department, Timothy suggests reviewing a department’s website and speaking with the directors or supervisors to learn about what responsibilities the department offers in the GAship.
Timothy encourages students to proactively reach out to faculty, especially those with similar interests. He recalled how he landed on his 10-hour research assistantship before starting at UConn. Through discussing his interests with several faculty members, he was suggested to connect with a faculty member whose newly funded project may align with his interest. This outreach eventually led to his current RAship.
He emphasizes the importance of being proactive and reaching out, regardless of one’s comfort level with socializing. “I may not be a social butterfly, but I can put on my social butterfly wings and do my best to be open to conversations with people that I don’t know, even though I’m someone who could spend all day at home reading a book,” he says.
Timothy also recognizes the challenges in balancing multiple roles as a doctoral student. “Put your student role first as you are here to get your degree and be open about your workload with your GA supervisor,” he suggests.
To envision his future career, he shares his insights about being flexible and open. “My idea has always been to remain flexible about what I can do as a historian, finding roles that align with my passions – writing, researching, teaching, and discussing history.”
————————–
Visit this webpage from the Graduate School and stay tuned with openings of GAships beyond academic departments.
