An Initial Attempt to Define the Academic Blog

Efforts to define the blog as a genre have focused on the medium’s formal structures. Dated entries, arranged in reverse chronological order, have often been cited as a definitive feature, as have external links. Though useful in defining the blog at a macro-level, these criteria prove less effective when applied to the blog's many subgenres. Despite sharing the same technological format, the latter vary considerably, both in terms of the content they address, and the functions they serve.

Because blogs are currently categorized according to subject matter, it is not uncommon to encounter such headings as “humor blogs,” “sports blogs,” and “music blogs.” To what extent are these labels useful? I would suggest that defining subgenres in such a manner is problematic, as doing so assumes that content is capable of providing definitive frameworks into which some blogs fall, but from which others are excluded. To an extent this has been true of the “academic blogs” I have followed. The authors of “Mode for Caleb,” "Jenny D.,” and “Coffee Grounds,” all of whom are graduate students pursuing Ph.D.s, have typically used their blogs to address issues related to their respective fields of study. At the same time, however, they have occasionally addressed more personal subject matter, a fact that would seem to suggest that content, though useful as a preliminary tool for locating academic blogs, is not sufficient in itself.

As noted above, the blogs I have followed have been maintained by graduate students pursuing their Ph.D.s. “Mode for Caleb “and” Coffee Grounds” are hosted by students studying history, and “Jenny D.” by a student in a college of education. These writers have used their blogs to address a range of issues, many of which have reflected their respective fields of study. The author of “Mode for Caleb,” for example, posted an entry in which he critiqued an argument published by a scholar who suggested that Abraham Lincoln suffered from clinical depression. Another, "Is This Progress? Part II," compared the media’s racist depiction of African-Americans following both Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic in 1793, and the decimation of New Orleans by a hurricane in 2005. “Jenny D.” has consistently used her blog to address issues related to teaching and learning, and to raise questions regarding the state of education offered in America’s schools. In "Conference Papers," the author of “Coffee Grounds” addressed a recent proposal to eliminate the formal session from the American Historical Association’s conference, and, in "Articles From My Past," he explored the challenges graduate students face in their efforts to have their work published in academic journals. In highlighting these posts, I hope to illustrate the extent to which these academic blogs are characterized by similarities in content. At the same time, however, they have been marked by difference as well.

On occasion the blogs I have followed have addressed personal, rather than academic, content. In doing so, they have resembled journal blogs. Of the three, this has most often been the case with "Coffee Grounds." Its author has posted entries that have addressed his passion for running (“Random Things I Have Learned”), presented his thoughts on political matters, (“Ineffective Opposition” and “Still Not Quite There”), and shared images he found humorous (“New Job for Michael Brown” and “Swinging On the Front Range”). Though decidedly less personal, “Mode for Caleb” has occasionally strayed from its treatment of academic matters as well. “The Friday Shuffle,” for example, has presented readers with arrangements of songs that were reflective of the writer’s musical tastes, and of his mood at various points in time. In doing so, these posts reveal a facet of the writer's identity that might not otherwise be seen.

Of the three blogs, only “Jenny D.” has served exclusively academic ends. At the same time, however, its author has occasionally adopted a less formal tone, a fact evident when, in a recent post entitled "A Self-Indulgent Interlude," she identified a series of individuals she had met while attending a conference. She wrote:

So Jay Rosen turns out to be one of my favorite people, not surprisingly. He’s wonderfully smart and thoughtful, and funny. We had a great conversation over wine, and meeting him in person was one of the high points of the event.

Though far from personal, this entry did attest to a departure from the blog's customary function, namely the advancement of the author's thoughts regarding scholarly matters.

Two of the three blogs I have followed, "Mode for Caleb" and "Jenny D.," have served primarily academic ends. Only the third, "Coffee Grounds," has consistently embraced a wider range of subject matter. Though it does provide a starting point from which to begin to locate academic blogs, the application of content matter alone cannot be used to define the subgenre. Additional criteria are needed. By considering the rhetorical functions these blogs serve more closely, it may be possible to locate their antecedents in an earlier genre. This topic will be taken up in tomorrow's post.