Hello Historians!
I'm still in college and fretting about whether or not to add a history major. I've always wanted to write a book on how money and banking systems have evolved into their current forms. I'd like to analyze the role that the monetary system has played in the formation and nature of power structures, and how money's role itself in this process has evolved.
I'm hoping for some advice from some historians on just how necessary a history degree would be for such a goal.
I studied history for 2 years at two German universities, specifically financial history, medieval history and some Roman antiquity. I received excellent feedback from my professors on the work I submitted. It was normal for me to sit and write a lengthy paper for 3 days straight, be exhausted, but feel fulfilled.
At some point, I got this fear into my head that I'd end up poor if I pursued history, that I wouldn't find appropriate work and be a failure to my family. I ended up transferring to a US university for family-related reasons and switched to physics which I've now studied for the past two years.
I've done really well in physics...but that alone isn't making me happy. My mind keeps wondering back to my original plan to write this big book, as touched upon above. I keep feeling like I might have made a terrible mistake to have left my original path.
To make it more difficult for me to decide, I have also taken a good number of political science courses and economics courses during my time here (the US university requires me to take courses from outside physics, too). Specifically, the poli sci courses have allowed me to write some papers on the history of the Bretton Woods system. So, it looks like a background in political science could also potentially contribute positively to my original goal.
I could add a poli sci major and be done with my degree faster than if I added a history major at this point. However, I'm concerned that research opportunities for my goal might be scarcer in poli sci than in history. I also worry people wouldn't take me seriously as the author of a book with so much money history, if I had more of a poli sci background than a history background.
How reasonable are these concerns? Am I overthinking this? Does one of these two degrees matter so much more than the other (specifically regarding my area of interest)?
Where would a political scientist possibly have to stop writing about such topics and the historian have to take over?
Thanks for any insights, opinions or suggestions you might have! Part of my problem is that I'm still rather blind to how the academic world works beyond a bachelor's degree. So, any relativizing from "the other side" is greatly appreciated. :)
I fear you are putting the cart before the horse. I’m not sure that your particular undergraduate degree is going to be the limiting factor in you getting this book written.
To illustrate, if you want to write this and actually get it published, you can go the academic route or the popular route.
If you want to be published by an academic press, you really need a post-grad degree. It’s helpful to have some sort of departmental affiliation. Furthermore, it would allow you the time and space to develop your ideas through term papers, conference presentations, and, eventually, a dissertation. It is customary to turn that dissertation into a book. Now, a dissertation needs to be something specific. In your case, a couple of hundred pages of original research about a specific aspect of monetary history. The type of book you’re proposing is the type of thing a scholar might right at the end or the height of their career. Take David Abulafia, for example. The man spent a career writing brilliant histories of the Mezzogiorno before finally tackling and all-encompassing history of the Mediterranean.
If you want to go the popular route, you will need to show a publisher that you have the expertise and skill to write engagingly about this topic. This means getting articles published in magazines etc to show you are a capable author. This route is certainly feasible; the world needs good financial writers. This would also give you time to research the topic you want to write. There’s a lot to read out there. An all-encompassing history of the banking system sounds like a multi volume work to me.
Another option is to just write. Create a blog, or a sub stack, or something like that and write short pieces about your passion. This will give you great practice, and you can fulfill some of our passions for this topic.