Fortnightly News
 

Dear AHA Member,

Fortnightly News is the AHA's e-mail newsletter, sent out around the first and fifteenth of every month to keep members up to date with the AHA and the history profession.

In this issue:

  1. February Perspectives on History – Now Online
  2. March Perspectives on History – Delay
  3. Jameson and NASA Fellowships – March Deadlines
  4. Name that Decade – Vote for your Favorite
  5. AHA Today – Recent history news
  6. News from Washington – Updates from NHA and COSSA

 

Please feel free to forward this e-mail to your friends and colleagues.

 

 

February Perspectives on History

AHA President Barbara D. Metcalf begins the February 2010 issue of Perspectives on History with a story about a recent exchange she had on Indian history with an engineer, in “Historians and Chemical Engineers.” In this piece she notes that, “History may in some ways be primarily the purview of professionals, but it is also an intimate part of personal identity and a critical element in social belonging.”

Looking Back
In her article “Bookends,” Executive Director Arnita Jones takes a look back at 33 years and wonders “Has the profession done nothing, learned nothing in more than three decades?” when it comes to informing historians of jobs outside academe. Speaking of looking back, Carl Mirra offers “Forty Years On: Looking Back at the 1969 Annual Meeting.”

The Art of History
In "How Writing Leads to Thinking" the latest article in the popular series, Lynn Hunt, a former president of the AHA, a preeminent historian of modern France, and a lucidly illuminating writer herself, argues that contrary to conventional wisdom, writing is an essential prelude to thinking, because "you can only really figure out what you think if you first put it on paper . . . ." Although she does, in the spirit of the series, offer much useful practical advice to aspiring scholars, Hunt stresses that it is the act of writing that is important, and declares: "Even if there is no one way to do it well and no recipes to  follow, we all might benefit from more attention to writing. I know I always can."

News
In the news this month, a new miniconference on “Religion, Peace, and Violence” is planned for the 2011 Annual Meeting, Wm. Roger Louis is appointed to the Kluge Center’s Chair for Countries and Cultures of the North, the February 2010 AHR is now available, and the NHA is inviting participants to this year’s National Humanities Advocacy Day.

For all of this, plus news from Washington and our affiliates, advice on getting a position at a small college, letters to the editor, and an article from our “In Memoriam” column see the recent blog post on AHA Today or visit the February 2010 issue of Perspectives on History online.

 

March Perspectives on History

As regular readers of our blog might know, the AHA's work in Washington, D.C. was seriously disrupted by the snowstorm that hit the region recently. Among other things, the production of the March 2010 issue Perspectives on History was hampered, and although the issue went to press just a couple of days behind schedule, members may get their mailed copies later than usual. To minimize the effects of this delay, the online version of the issue will be published earlier than usual.

 

 

Jameson and NASA Fellowships – March Deadlines

Just a reminder of two fellowship deadlines this month. Send in applications for the J. Franklin Jameson Fellowship in American History by March 15, 2010 and the Fellowship in Aerospace History by March 5, 2010.

The J. Franklin Jameson Fellowship in American History is sponsored jointly by the AHA and the Library of Congress. It is awarded annually to support significant scholarly research in the collections of the Library of Congress by scholars at an early stage in their careers in history. PhD degree or equivalent required.

The Fellowship in Aerospace History, supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), annually funds one or more research projects for six months to one year. Proposals of advanced research in history related to all aspects of aerospace, from the earliest human interest in flight to the present, are eligible, including cultural and intellectual history, economic history, history of law and public policy, and history of science, engineering, and management.

 

 

 

Name that Decade – Voting

Late last year we asked AHA members and the public to name the decade, “offer[ing] their suggestions…for a catchy phrase that can wittily sum up the decade.” Ideas were submitted through the comment section on the blog. Vote now for your favorite (in order of submission). 

  • The OMG! Ohs
  • The Decade of Drift
  • Decade of Audacity
  • The Double Naughts
  • Bush Decade
  • 20 O’s
  • Welcome to the Naughties
  • The Digital Era
  • Decade of Terrorism
  • The Lost Decade
  • The Tookies
  • Decade of Smoke
  • The Fearful Decade
  • The Terrible Decade
  • The Bubble & Burst Decade
  • The Decade of Collapse
  • Decade of the InFEARmation Highway
  • The “NOW” Decade
  • The Unies
  • The Two-Aughts
  • TwentiOs
  • The Aughtities

Vote now!

 

 

AHA Today

Keep up with the latest information on history and the profession on the AHA’s blog, AHA Today. Recent posts include:

 

 

News from Washington

In addition to AHA Today, the Association also draws on the efforts of a number of coalitions that support the Association's agenda to keep track of issues in the nation’s capital that will be of concern to historians. Here are news updates from some of them.

National Humanities Alliance

 

Consortium of Social Science Associations

 

Please feel free to forward this email on to a colleague or friend.

Contributions to this issue of Fortnightly News came from: David Darlington, Elisabeth Grant, Vernon Horn, and Robert B. Townsend.

 

 

 

Last Updated: March 1, 2010