Here is David Blight, Beth English, and Jim Grossman at The New Republic: Under the grossly misleading title “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” the White House last week issued an executive order that would undermine the integrity of writing […]
American Historical Association
American Historical Association Council vetoes a resolution condemning Gaza scholasticide
We covered this resolution on January 8 and January 9 (Pamela Paul op-ed). Here is the original resolution: Whereas the US government has underwritten the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign in Gaza with over $12.5 billion in military aid between […]
Jim Grossman reflects on his leadership of the American Historical Association
After fifteen years at the helm of the most important historical association in the world, Jim Grossman is stepping aside. Here is Ryan Quinn at Inside Higher Ed: A chapter of history is closing: Jim Grossman is retiring after 15 […]
Pamela Paul: “it would be better if the A.H.A. as an institution never weighed in on political conflicts”
Yesterday we called your attention to the American Historical Association’s resolution on “scholasticide” in Gaza. Get up to speed here. Today, New York Times columnist Pamela Paul, who attended the AHA business meeting where the resolution was approved, weighs in. […]
The American Historical Association votes to condemn “scholasticide” in Gaza
From the AHA website: Whereas the US government has underwritten the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign in Gaza with over $12.5 billion in military aid between October 2023 and June 2024; Whereas that campaign, beyond causing massive death and injury […]
Video: “The Role of the Bible in the Founding of the United States and Religious Mandates in Public Schools”
Here is the video of the AHA “History Behind the Headlines” series. Glad to join Jim Grossman, Jon Butler, Holly Brewer, and Heath Carter for this discussion:
“The Role of the Bible in the Founding of the United States and Religious Mandates in Public Schools”
Last month I participated in an American Historical Association “History Behind the Headlines” webinar on recent attempts in Louisiana and Oklahoma to bring the Bible into public schools. I have not seen a video of the event yet, but over […]
AHA’s History Behind the Headlines: “The Role of the Bible in the Founding of the United States and Religious Mandates in Public Schools”
I am looking forward to this event tomorrow at noon. It is hosted by the American Historical Association and is free and open to the public. Check it out. Join us on Friday, July 26, at 12 p.m. ET, for an […]
Based on this interview, Peter Brown would probably have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting elected president of the American Historical Association today.
Here is The New York Review of Books interview with scholar Peter Brown: Nawal Arjini:Â What are some of the difficulties and pleasures in researching the less documented aspects of the everyday people of the past? Peter Brown:Â I am fascinated by […]
American Historical Association: “Media accounts of a politically charged war for the soul of social studies are overblown”
I missed this piece when it was first published in Time back in March. It is written by Jim Grossman of the American Historical Association and three AHA researchers. A taste: For the past half-decade, amid overheated rhetoric contesting the […]
The American Historical Association responds to the Florida African American history standards
Here is AHA Executive Director Jim Grossman: The Florida Board of Education approved new standards of instruction in African American history on July 19, 2023. A firestorm of protest erupted immediately from a range of public figures (including the vice president of […]
AHA president James Sweet: “The apology I issued” was not a “retraction.” Activists historians are starting a fight they will not win.
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 […]
The American Historical Association announces 2022 prize winners
Read the full list here. Here are a few that caught my eye: The Albert J. Beveridge Award in the history of the United States, Latin America, or Canada, from 1492 to the present: Roberto Saba (Wesleyan Univ.) for American Mirror: The United […]
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 […]
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 […]
Joan Scott and David Bell debate history, presentism and power
In the wake of AHA president’s James Sweet’s “controversial” column in Historical Perspectives, David Bell of Princeton and Joan Scott of the Institute of Advanced Study have responded at The Chronicle of Higher Education. (See our coverage here and here […]
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 […]
The president of the American Historical Association on presentism
James H. Sweet is correct. Historians these days seem more interested in interpreting the past through the lens of the present. Here is a taste of his piece at Perspectives: Twenty years ago, in these pages, Lynn Hunt argued “against […]