And with much credit to the graphic design prowess of /u/Daeres!
###TL;DR at the Front
Over the next three months, we are doing a “History Upside Down” series of Floating Features that focus on giving a voice to the subalterns of history. Over a set of 15 features, we’ll put the spotlight on groups and peoples who are too often marginalized in the study of history, whether in the academy itself, or in the typical types of questions we see on the Subreddit. These are intended to be open-ended prompts for people to share stories from the past, even if they might not being seeing the question(s) that it answers. We hope to see you contribute!
On AskHistorians we receive over 100 questions in a given day, and every one of them reflects someone trying to better understand humanity’s collective past. But while we see incredible variety in what gets asked, as any regular knows, there are common trends, and some topics are far more well-tread than others. This is a sad situation on multiple fronts, as it cuts out so many fascinating aspects of history from the readership here, but also means a dearth of opportunities for potential contributors to the subreddit.
As such, we are excited to be kicking off our Spring 2020 Floating Feature Series and the sixth /r/AskHistorians "Flair Drive”: History Upside Down. Popular histories, and even works in the academy, can often give short shrift to minorities and marginalized groups. As such, over a series of fifteen installments, we hope to highlight some of these themes which may spur on fewer questions here, but are certainly no less fascinating than our more common inquiries. Likewise, we hope to offer contributors - and potential contributors - an opportunity to write about histories which they find too few opportunities to share.
Each prompt is intended to be as open-ended as can be, so what you share is up to you! Aside from the overarching topic of each one, it is all fair game. Happy stories, sad stories, ones that just really have stuck with you, or perhaps you simply feel like talking about your research, it is up to you.
###Schedule of Features
As we want to see as many people contributing as possible, we also are sharing the schedule of each Floating Feature now. There is nothing wrong with having something pre-written, and in any case, be sure to mark it on your calendar. All features are linked to Google Calendar events so you can create your own reminder, and you can also follow the Feature Collection if you use 'New' reddit:
Now to cover a few likely questions y'all still have:
###What are you going to be looking for in these posts when they are put into a Flair Application?
The core things that we look for is the ability to provide in-depth coverage of the topic you are choosing to write about; the ability to draw on good sources and utilize them well; and the ability to handle follow-up questions when they arise. Although Floating Features have looser rules enforcement so everyone can participate, if you are thinking about doing an App, be sure that your post shows off those elements! If you want a better sense of what we're looking for, check out the Flair Application thread for a longer discussion of what goes into an App, and take a peek at what applications get approved and what don't.
###Why should I want flair?
It allows you to join an amazing community of several hundred historians from around the world! And of course it looks fancy! But seriously, we have found that having flair in obscure topics can sometimes increase interest in that topic by others when they see it. I've seen several instances where a Flair posting on something else has sparked another user's interest in what that specialty is all about. Additionally, you do get a few neat perks, including access to the Flairs Only subreddit and its community of hundreds of fellow historians from around the world, one free shit-post per month, manual alerts by mods when an interesting question in your field pops up, and coolest of all maybe, advance notice of what is happening for April Fools.
###Where do I apply?
Don't apply here. Instead, post your application to THIS THREAD, which lays out the whole shebang!