Circa: Best Essay winner
Dr Roland Leikauf PHA NSW & ACT
Dr Roland Leikauf is the winner of the Best Essay for Circa issue 8. The judges said:
Dr Leikauf's "The impact of AI tools on the historical profession" addresses a topic that ranges across all four of these criteria. It frames the ubiquitous issue of artificial intelligence in a way that is accessible to, and meaningful for, historians. Dr Leikauf not only points out the challenges but also the potential of AI for the profession. The usefulness and timeliness of this article demonstrates advocacy for history and advancement of the profession within changing research and writing contexts. Fittingly, Dr Leikauf adopts an historical approach, giving us a sense of how this big challenge to the profession evolved. He then presents very important material for professional historians to consider about their practice and the legal and ethical concerns they are likely to face.
Dr Carolyn Rasmussen PHA Vic & Tas
The judges also highly commended Dr Carolyn Rasmussen's essay "The therapeutic function of the commissioned historian", as a thoughtful and beautifully written reflection on the practice of the commissioned historian and on the possible benefits to commissioning organisations of having their histories - institutional biographies - told.
Read Roland and Carolyn’s essays here: Circa #8