The Norwegian School of Sports Science (Norges Idrettshøyskole - NIH) has announced a PhD-scholarship in The History of Sports with regards to sorts and foreign aid or sports and media (full description in Norwegian). The candidate is required to have a masters degree in Sports Science. Applicants with other backgrounds will not be taken into consideration.
I find it annoying that a position in Sports Science is advertised as a position in The History of Sports when they do not want a historian. (For all I know they might already have a specific person in mind). Even though I do not know of historians in Norway working within the history of sports, I know that at the school of social science at the University of Strathclyde/University of Glasgow there are research done connected to the history of sports. Some of the theses written there would, as I see it, be within what the NIH advertisement ask for. The must be historians in Norway who could have written a good thesis along the lines wanted. The University of Oslo have supervised theses in the history of foreign aid and I suppose some of those candidates would be able to write on the history of sports and foreign aid.
Even though I am very interested in the theoretical aspects of history, I try to respect other historians that are not too theoretical minded. Although they might lack the theoretical interest, they still have the necessary skill to write academic historiography. Most history department force aspiring historians to do skills and methodology courses. And through lectures and discussions one get the feeling of historical source criticism, hermeneutics and historical understanding.
However, I am not so sure about sports scientists, local patriots, mathematicians and economists who write historiography. The in depth knowledge of a discipline does not necessarily qualify for academic historical writing. I am, therefore, a bit reluctant to call all these histories History. However, I am now approaching the subject of History/Historiography's identity and I do not want to go down that path (today).
As an undergraduate in history - before I was taken by historiography and historical theory - I wanted to work within the history of science/the history of mathematics as a historian. Looking back it might have been better to have followed that path tho show how historians can write the history of mathematics. As a theorist you will not necessarily be heard.
Norwegian School of Sports Science seems to have another type of sport organizing methods, more effective and more easy to implement, for a real final success.
Posted by: Rca Ieftin | Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 14:07