In this edition of “What We’re Reading,” we start off a look at two reports: the 2006 Survey of Earned Doctorates, and a study of social science PhDs five years later. You’ll also find an article on a recent copyright symposium, a legal fight over a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and a new blogger joining the Brainstorm.

• Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities – Summary Report 2006 (PDF)
  This new Survey of Earned Doctorates shows a 5.3 percent increase in the number of new history PhDs. This report will be the subject of a more detailed analysis—and comparison to the latest job figures—in the January 2008 Perspectives.
• Social Science PhDs – Five+ Years Out
  A new study of social science PhDs 5-10 years after they received the degree includes some interesting information about history PhDs. AHA staff assisted in the preparation of the survey instrument, and the reports findings echo many of the concerns expressed in our Committee on Graduate Education report about the frequent disconnect between the training history PhDs receive and their future careers.
• Searching for Common Ground on Copyrights
  This past Monday, George Washington University hosted “Copyright and the University: An Academic Symposium”. Read Inside Higher Ed’s take on the event, and hear how the speakers at the talk agreed on one thing: “the level of uncertainty bred by the current legal status quo.”
• Tug of War Over a Declaration of Independence
  Who owns this piece of history? The state of Maine is trying to reclaim a rare copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence that a collector in Virginia paid $475,000 to purchase from an estate sale.
• Brainstorm: Lives of the Mind
  Stan Katz—a recipient of the Troyer Steele Anderson Prize for his many years of service to the AHA—has joined the blogging community Brainstorm: Lives of the Mind through the Chronicle of Higher Education’s online Chronicle Review, and has already contributed a number of posts.

Contributors: Elisabeth Grant, Vernon Horn, and Robert Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.