Over at The Atlantic, David Frum revisits James Sweet’s column at the Perspectives on History. I covered this controversy about history and presentism in a way that was favorable to Sweet’s position. See these posts: The James Sweet/AHA blowup What […]
Search Results for: James Sweet
Bill Maher defends AHA president James Sweet and it is hilarious
“Being woke is like a magic moral time machine where you judge everybody against what you would have done in 1066 and you always win.”–Bill Maher Yes, of course the past informs the present. But that is only part of […]
George Will responds to the James Sweet controversy on presentism
Not familiar with this controversy? Get up to speed here. Here is a taste of Will’s Washington Post column: “In the sandbox also known as academic, it’s the golden age of the grovel“: Today, many academic historians, writing history “that […]
World Socialist Web Site on the James Sweet “presentism” controversy
Historian Thomas Mackaman, writing at the publication of the world Trotskyist movement, has some pointed words for the American Historical Association president James Sweet and his critics. Get up to speed on the controversy here and here. Here is a […]
What I love about James Sweet’s piece on presentism
I wanted to get these tweets on record here at the blog. Also, some readers of the blog are not Twitter. I’m not going to go into background, but I encourage you to get up to speed here. Again, I […]
The James Sweet/AHA blowup
I commented on Sweet’s piece here and here (including a long comment below the post). I thought it was well-done and a necessary reminder that the American Historical Association is made up of many historians, including those who are not […]
Is left-wing illiberalism dead?
After living through the Dan Feller-SHEAR controversy and the James Sweet-AHA affair, the latter of which had a lot to do with my resignation as president of the Conference on Faith and History, I hope the illiberal fever that spread […]
Commonplace Book #276
All the pathologies of the woke turn–or rather the anti-scholarly turn–in the humanities were on display in l’affaire James Sweet. To recap: in August 2022, Sweet, the president of the AHA and a historian of slavery, used his monthly column […]
Kid Gloves
If the 1619 Project is bad history why won’t more historians say so?
Are historians attacking the right without asking about the left?
Johann Neem, professor of history at Western Washington University and the editor of the Journal of the Early Republic, thinks so. And he is absolutely right Here is a taste of his review of Kevin Kruse’s and Julian Zelizer’s edited […]
What is an intellectual? Some thoughts on Ibram X. Kendi’s piece in The Atlantic
In his recent piece at The Atlantic, Ibram X. Kendi describes how he has “struggled over what it means to be an intellectual.” Kendi is a National Book Award winner and a leading proponent of anti-racism from his perch aa […]
Steven Mintz: “I find it stunning that the World Socialist Web Site remains the place to turn if one truly wants to understand…the controversies surrounding ‘The 1619 Project.'”
At his blog at Insider Higher Ed, University of Texas American historian Steven Mintz offers a brief review of both the AP African American Studies course and the American Historical Review‘s forum on the 1619 Project. His take on AP […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: How to save the Rose Bowl The Brazilian footballer SĂłcrates Labor historians support railway workers World Socialist Web Site reviews the new 1776 musical Nell Irving Painter on what American […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: Three cheers for university presses A former Bob Jones University student in the wake of the attempted fundamentalist coup Chestnuts roasting on an open fire Former Christian Right leader Rob […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog:
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Marvin Olasky, “LONG FORM: A Wrinkle in Journalism History“ John Fea, “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?“ Nadya Williams, “‘Joshua Was Here’“ John Fea, “Seeing New Things, Asking New […]
Larry Schweikart: activist historian
Back in 2002 I met Larry Schweikart. He was a professor of history at the University of Dayton. I was interviewing for a job in the history department at the University of Dayton. He may have even been on the […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Marvin Olasky, “LONG FORM: A Wrinkle in Journalism History“ Timothy Larsen, “Prayers Answered: God Saved the Queen“ Michael Feldberg, “The Traitors We Honor in Arlington“ Edward Song, “Conservatism 2.0: National […]
How to Be an Activist Historian
Putting the “history” back into “activist history”
Academic historians debate the legacy of David McCullough
Before the whole James Sweet presentism thing went down, American historians were on Twitter arguing about David McCullouugh. Over at History News Network, Rebecca Brenner Graham calls our attention to the debate that took place in the immediate wake of […]