Sea History FOR KIDS
What Do You Want to Be
When You Grow Up? Careers in the Marine and Maritime Field
n historian is someone who studies events of the past, and a maritime historian focuses on the stories that deal with our relationship with oceans, rivers, and lakes. To do this, maritime historians read a lot of history books and do their own research in libraries and archives. They share what they've learned by creating museum exhibits, writing books, and teaching students. Jennifer Speelman is a maritime historian who teaches at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. Before being hired as a college professor, Jennifer had to earn a PhD in history. A PhD is an advanced college degree earned after graduating from a four-year college. In addition to taking more classes, PhD--or doctoralprograms require students to conduct original research and present those findings in a dissertation. Jennifer's
dissertation was about the history of the New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts state maritime academies, schools that train merchant marine officers. With her PhD completed, Jennifer, now Dr. Speelman, joined The Citadel 's history department as an assistant professor in 2002. She teaches a wide variety of classes, including World Civilization, Military History, and Maritime History. Teaching includes giving lectures, leading discussions, helping students with research projects, and grading tests and quizzes. She still reads lots of books about maritime history on her own time and has started working on a new research proj ect to write a history of the Charleston Naval Shipyard.
RIGHT: Maritime Historian, Jennifer Speelman, and her students tour Patriots Point in South Carolina . The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown can be seen in the background. Photo Courtesy Jennifer Speelman
BELOW: Or. Jennifer Speelman is a maritime history professor at The Citadel in South Carolina. Here, graduating seniors stand in formation as part of their commencement ceremony. Photo Courtesy Russell K. Pace{fhe Citadel
As part of her classes, Jennifer has taken her students to visit historic ships and seaports and on local fi eld trips around Charleston, which has a long and rich maritime history. During the summer when school is out, Jennifer attends conferences to meet with other maritime historians, learn about what topics they are researching, and tour historic sites around the country. Becoming a college professor might require more time in college than most careers, but Jennifer can't imagine doing anything else. "I love working with students and learning something new every day. I consider myself very lucky to play a part in preserving this country's maritime heritage for future generations."