NOTCHES: (re)marks on the history of sexuality
June, 2015 · By Justin Bengry
NOTCHES is an international, collaborative public history blog that I co-founded in order to get people inside and outside the academy thinking about sex and sexualities in the past and in the present.
The NOTCHES blog is accessible, inclusive, relevant, entertaining and intellectually engaged. Our international team of bloggers considers the history of sex and sexuality in its broadest sense: the way it is connected to the history of gender, society, politics, economies, and cultures, and the way it informs current issues. NOTCHES posts have been republished at the Huffington Post, Slate, The Boston Globe, and translated for publication around the world. NOTCHES’ more than 300 posts have been over a million times. To read more and to follow NOTCHES, visit us at NotchesBlog.com
If you are interested in contributing to NOTCHES, please email us at NotchesBlog@gmail.com
Blogging and Social Media
July, 2014 · By Justin Bengry
I am active on social media and digital platforms blogging on the themes of higher education, history and sexuality.
I have written guest blogs for organisations including the School of Advanced Study, University of London; the Bishopsgate Institute, London; the History News Network at George Mason University and others. My own research blogs have been republished at the Huffington Post, The Politics and Policy Blog at the London School of Economics, and Slate. I have also been featured at the BBC Radio 4’s You’re Dead to Me and interviewed about my work in for Podcast Episode 49 at ActiveHistory.ca, an initiative that connects the work of historians with the wider public and the importance of the past to current events.
Blogging:
Launched in January 2014, NOTCHES: (re)marks on the history of sexuality soon became a leading global voice in the history of sexuality on both sides of the Atlantic. An international, collaborative, open-access blog, NOTCHES’ more than 300 posts have been achieved over a million views. NOTCHES is at the centre of international conversations about the history of sexuality in the academy and beyond.
Having been an Editorial Fellow, I am now on the Advisory Board of History Workshop Online (HWO), the online magazine for History Workshop Journal, which seeks to continue the spirit of the History Workshop movement. As Editorial Fellow I was responsible for commissioning and editing content, social media and promotion, and contributing to planning and strategy for HWO. This has included overhauling the online presence of of one of the most important historical movements of the twentieth century.
In 2009 I was invited to participate in the Blackwell-Wiley sponsored ‘History Compass Exchanges’ blog. Contributions ran the gamut from interviews with scholars and questions of method and practice for professional historians to personal anecdotes and updates as I navigated my way through postdoctoral life. With a large and active readership, the History Compass site offered an opportunity to engage with academics and an engaged public on questions of teaching methods, writing strategies and professional development. History Compass no longer exists, but I have archived my past blogs on this site.
I was an early contributor to the Canadian youth and careers website TalentEgg as a writer throughout 2010 for their Career Incubator series. I wrote about young professionals and higher education, but most of my blogs comprised advice to students on transitioning into and thriving at graduate school.
Twitter:
In addition to my own personal @JustinBengry twitter profile, which has over 10,000 followers, I manage and contribute to the @NotchesBlog account, which supports the activities of NOTCHES: (re)marks on the history of sexuality. I am also the Social Media Coordinator for the History of Sexuality Seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, and operate its @IHR_Sexuality twitter account and Facebook presence, which together promote activities of the seminar and act as a notice board for activities and events in the field. I have also managed social media for several historical projects including the AHRC-funded project Queer Beyond London tweeting from @QueerBeyondLDN and also Historic England’s initiative Pride of Place: England’s LGBTQ Heritage from @LGBTQPlaces and our own hashtag #PrideofPlace.
Other Social Media:
My full academic profile can be viewed at Academia.edu.
I have compiled my online writings into a blog archive.