{"655954":{"#nid":"655954","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Alumni Spotlight: Jonah Bea-Taylor, Historian at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EName:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EJonah Bea-Taylor\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGraduation year:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E2018\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDegree(s):\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EPh.D in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/graduate\/phd-program\u0022\u003EHistory and Sociology of technology and Science (HSTS)\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECompany and location: \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Headquarters, Office of History, Alexandria, VA.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003E1. What do you do?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u0026rsquo;m a historian for the federal government, and my job involves collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The Corps of Engineers was part of the Continental Army at its founding in 1775, and they have been instrumental in exploring and building the nation ever since.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EToday the USACE office of history collects personal papers from retired civilian and military personnel, conducts oral history interviews, produces books on aspects of the Corps\u0026rsquo; history, and prepares displays of artifacts from our historical collections.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003E2. What\u0026rsquo;s the coolest part of your job?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0026rsquo;s exciting to get access to documents that the public may not see for decades. My hope is that my work as a government historian preserving these materials will in some way contribute to broader histories undertaken in an independent, academic setting.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003E3. Why are you passionate about this work?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe more time I\u0026rsquo;ve spent with the Corps of Engineers, the more impressed I am with the willingness of its civilian employees to volunteer to respond to all kinds of disasters, even when conditions are really challenging.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u0026rsquo;ve felt a connection to those who volunteer through conducting oral history interviews. The interviewees\u0026rsquo; passion for helping fellow citizens at their moment of greatest need spills over into my own work as a historian.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003E4. How did you find your job\/what\u0026rsquo;s the best resource for jobs or networking you\u0026rsquo;ve found?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI was lucky enough to get a Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF). You are eligible for a PMF within one year of getting an advanced degree, so you can apply the year before you graduate or the year after.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0026rsquo;s a backdoor into public service for the federal government, and I would strongly encourage history and sociology students to apply. The next application will open in Fall 2022 \u0026mdash; please see \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pmf.gov\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.pmf.gov\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003E5. What\u0026rsquo;s the most surprising detour you\u0026rsquo;ve taken from your career path? What did you learn from it?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI actually felt like the PMF was the detour I took from looking for a postdoc or other teaching position.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt first, I really missed teaching, and I wished that I could do research more independently, but there are a lot of benefits to working as a government historian. I learned valuable public history skills, such as oral history, archival management, curatorial skills, and even contract management, that I don\u0026rsquo;t think I would have developed in academia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003E6. What\u0026rsquo;s the greatest challenge you\u0026rsquo;ve faced since graduating, and how did you overcome it?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EProbably the most frustrating aspect of working within a large bureaucracy is the general caution around publication or public speaking. Very few government historians have a chance to research, write, and publish independently.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGenerally speaking, I am not in charge of the fate of my own work; it has to be reviewed extensively, and some of it may never be published. In many ways this is the opposite of academia, where one\u0026rsquo;s contribution is all about peer reviewed publication.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u0026rsquo;ve learned to accept that I am someone who can contribute to the work of future historians by preserving the data for their research, even if I am not able to publish as much as I wanted to during my own career.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003E7. What\u0026rsquo;s your #1 tip for students and alumni interested in your field?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUSAJobs is almost never a good way to get a job in the federal government. It\u0026rsquo;s the front door, and it\u0026rsquo;s very hard to get through it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELook for backdoor programs such as the PMF, traineeships, and other programs for recent graduates. Every agency participates in them differently, but a temporary position can more easily become permanent through these programs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch2\u003E8. Can HSOC students and alum contact you if they\u0026rsquo;re interested in following in your footsteps?\u0026nbsp;What are some things you can speak to and the best way for them to contact you?\u003C\/h2\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYes.\u0026nbsp;I am happy to talk about the PMF program and the things I like most and least about being a historian in the federal government. My personal email is the best way to contact me: jbeatay@yahoo.com\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThank you for sharing your experience, Jonah!\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECheck out more alumni spotlights with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/news\/item\/654019\/alumni-spotlight-marcela-moreno-transit-technologist\u0022\u003EMarcela Moreno\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/news\/item\/652564\/meet-hsoc-alum-epidemiologist-danielle-sharpe\u0022\u003EDanielle Sharpe\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hsoc.gatech.edu\/news\/item\/651594\/alumni-spotlight-emily-gibson-blevins-science-policy-analyst\u0022\u003EEmily Gibson Blevins\u003C\/a\u003E, and stay tuned on\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/History-and-Sociology-at-Georgia-Tech-271067704485\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 tabindex=\u0022-1\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EFacebook\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/hsoc-gatech\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 tabindex=\u0022-1\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ELinkedIn\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/techhsoc\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 tabindex=\u0022-1\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInstagram\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/techhsoc\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 tabindex=\u0022-1\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ETwitter\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;for new ones every month!\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022My hope is that my work as a government historian preserving these materials will in some way contribute to broader histories undertaken in an independent, academic setting,\u0022 says Bea-Taylor."}],"uid":"35766","created_gmt":"2022-03-02 17:55:55","changed_gmt":"2022-03-03 16:21:33","author":"dminardi3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-03-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-03-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"655957":{"id":"655957","type":"image","title":"Jonah Bea-Taylor","body":null,"created":"1646245629","gmt_created":"2022-03-02 18:27:09","changed":"1646246093","gmt_changed":"2022-03-02 18:34:53","alt":"Jonah\u0027s headshot on navy blue background with text reading \u0022Alumni Spotlight: Jonah Bea-Taylor\u0022","file":{"fid":"248677","name":"16 x 9 Aspect Ratio (3200 x 1800 px) (19).png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/16%20x%209%20Aspect%20Ratio%20%283200%20x%201800%20px%29%20%2819%29.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/16%20x%209%20Aspect%20Ratio%20%283200%20x%201800%20px%29%20%2819%29.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1991799,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/16%20x%209%20Aspect%20Ratio%20%283200%20x%201800%20px%29%20%2819%29.png?itok=1Q-tB0GB"}}},"media_ids":["655957"],"groups":[{"id":"1288","name":"School of History and Sociology"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDi Minardi\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Edi.minardi@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["dminardi3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}