This time last year, we editors were nervously putting the finishing touches on our design for JHIBlog, and writing posts so that there would be something on the website. We launched on January 1, 2015: what a year it’s been! Since then, we’ve published 153 posts by 43 contributors, who hail from a wide range of institutions in North America and Europe. Their subjects have ranged from the early middle ages to very recent controversies, with much in between. We’ve developed a practice of reporting on many conferences and other events, connecting scholars across the vast distances of the republic of letters, and have recorded every week what we are reading from around the internet. We also make a point of featuring posts by contributors to our parent journal, who have used the blog to present the research they’ve published in JHI to a wider audience.
Perhaps the most exciting development of the year is that in November we introduced our contributing editors. Brooke, Carolyn, Daniel, Erin, and Jake have brought new depth to our editorial staff, and have already begun to enrich the blog with their own writing and that of new guest contributors.
None of this would be possible without you, our readers. JHIBlog received 64,000 pageviews in 2015, coming from 156 countries. We’ve eagerly digested all your comments on the blog, on Twitter, and in our inbox, and rejoice when a post gets picked up by Reddit or Hacker News—or, better still, when a reader gets in touch to pitch a post of her own. If there’s something you’d like to see on JHIBlog—a topic you’d like to see addressed, an event you’d like to see covered—get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
Many thanks for all the support that has made 2015 such a success. Here’s to 2016 and beyond!
Maddy, John, and Emily