Can history professors "share authority" with people who... well, people who are not history professors?
It's a live question for Steven High. He's a Canada Research Chair in Public History (who knew?) at Concordia University in Montreal. Apparently "shared authority" has buzz in academic study of public history, but the consensus seems to be that there has been "enthusiasm but few concrete results."
Prof High wants to see what the possibilities are. He's organizing a conference about sharing authority in oral history, digital storytelling and collaboration in February 2008. Details from shigh@alcor.concordia.ca Concordia's Centre for Oral History, a sponsor, is on the web here.
