Dear AHA Member,
AHA news and updates for the history profession.
In this issue:
- AHA Today – Recent history news
- News from Washington – Updates from NCH, NHA, and COSSA
Please feel free to forward this e-mail to your friends and colleagues.
William Cronon E-mails
The American Historical Association released a statement on March 27, 2011 “deploring recent efforts by the deputy executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party to intimidate William Cronon” by issuing an Open Records Law request for his University of Wisconsin-Madison emails following a post on his Scholar as Citizen blog.
Since then the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced they would release William Cronon's e-mails but withhold those said to be private. The university reviewed Cronon's records for any legal or policy violations, including improper uses of state or university resources for partisan political activity, and concluded that “his conduct, as evidenced in the e-mails, beyond reproach in every respect.”
For more information on this situation, see the AHA statement, additional context on the events, and roundups of coverage in the March 31st and April 7th editions of “What We’re Reading.”
Perspectives on History - April 2011
The online version of the April 2011 issue of Perspectives on History is now available to AHA members (sign in to member services to gain full access).
From the President & Executive Director
AHA President Anthony Grafton offers a peek into classes at Rutgers-Camden and how the history department there “exemplifies some of the core strengths of our discipline.” Then, Jim Grossman, the AHA’s executive director, considers how the digital environment affects teaching history to undergraduates.
Technology
Continuing on the digital theme, three historians (Krista Sigler, Michael Creswell, and Jonathan Rees) demonstrate that new technology is good for more than just entertainment, and explain how to teach with Twitter, Skype, and YouTube.
The Art of…
Jane Caplan gives advice on choosing a dissertation topic in our continuing “Art of History” series, while four articles delve into “The Art of the Article.” Aaron Marrs introduces the panel, Peter Coclanis takes on publishing in journals while Catherine E. Kelly looks at the alternative of publishing online, and Elizabeth Tandy Shermer presents the benefits of collaborating on publications.
News
Co-editors Konstantine Dierks and Sarah Knott detail what’s in the latest issue of the American Historical Review: a forum on “The Senses in History” and an article on narcotics trafficking and territoriality in the interwar Middle East. Debbie Ann Doyle reports back from the Humanities and Museums Advocacy Days, in which hundreds of supporters lobbied for funding. Also read about the National Personnel Records Center moving and read the AHA Nominating Committee report. Lee White, of the National Coalition for History, discusses President Obama’s ideas for reforming No Child Left Behind and what that would mean for Teaching American History grants. He also presents his regular roundup of news briefs from Washington, this installment includes a new head of the Wilson Center and a list of the 2010 National Humanities Medals winners.
More
Continuing the Masters at the Movies series, Joyce Appleby takes a look at Oliver Stone’s Wall Street movies. Robert B. Townsend sits down virtually with Zachary Schrag to discuss Ethical Imperialsim. We then take a look back with two articles: the first on an account of one student’s experience taking his qualifying exam in 1952 and the second on the story of David Maydole Matteson (1871–1949) who gave generously to the AHA at the end of his career. Finally, read about the lives of Lancelot L. Farrar Jr., Lawrence E. Gelfand, Robert Griffith, Peter Andrew Kraemer, and Otis A. Pease in our “In Memoriam” column.
Upcoming Events
The following items may be of interest to members. See the AHA Calendar for more upcoming events. And submit your own announcements through our online form.
Institute for Constitutional History Seminars
The New-York Historical Society’s Institute for Constitutional History (our partner on the New Essays in Constitutional History series) is offering the following events this summer and fall.
Summer Research Seminar at Stanford Law School
This workshop will address the foundations of academic freedom within and beyond the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The seminar will meet at Stanford Law School, from June 26-July 2, 2011. The Institute for Constitutional History will reimburse participants for their travel expenses (up to $350), provide accommodation at the Munger Graduate Residence on the Stanford campus, and offer a modest stipend to cover food and additional expenses. Seminar enrollment is limited to fifteen participants. Apply by April 15, 2011. More information (PDF).The Constitution: A Cosmopolitan Examination
This seminar will examine the ways in which the Constitution and constitutional law have drawn upon international ideas, incorporated international law into our domestic legal order, and responded to international legal/political issues. Thursday afternoons, 3:00–5:00 p.m., October 6, 13, and 27 and November 3, 10, and 17. The seminar will meet at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York City. Apply by April 30, 2011. More information (PDF).
ACLS Public Fellows
ACLS invites applications for the inaugural competition of its Public Fellows program. The program will place eight recent PhDs in staff positions at partnering agencies in government and the non-profit sector for two years, beginning in some cases as early as September 2011. Fellows will participate in the substantive work of these agencies and receive professional mentoring. Compensation will be commensurate with experience and at the same level as new professional employees of the hosting agency (ranging from $50,000 to $78,000) and will include health insurance. The application deadline is May 16, 2011, 3pm (EDT).
National Archives Research Fellowship
The National Archives is accepting proposals from PhD candidates for a research fellowship beginning in July 2011. Research proposals will be considered on any topic that uses the historical records of Congress housed in the National Archives’ Center for Legislative Archives (for example: immigration policy, committee histories, environmental policy, and Congressional investigations). The total stipend for the fellowship is $10,000 and the minimum tenure in residency at the National Archives is one month. Submit applications by the midnight EDT May 31, 2011 deadline. For more information and instructions on how to apply, see the fellowship announcement (PDF).
Prizes from the American Historical Association
The AHA invites submissions for its 2011 awards and prizes, including twenty book prizes, the Herbert Feis Award for distinguished contributions to public history, the Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Innovation in Digital History, the Raymond J. Cunningham Prize for the best article by an undergraduate, and the John E. O'Connor Award for outstanding interpretations of history though the medium of film or video. The submission deadline is May 16, 2011. There are no application forms. Entrants must submit one copy of their work to each committee member (or, in the case of the Rosenzweig Prize, by submitting their application to rosenzweigprize@historians.org). Further information and submission guidelines are available online.
Summer Reception for Visiting Researchers
The AHA invites historians doing research in D.C. this summer to a reception at AHA headquarters (400 A St. SE) on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. This gathering is an opportunity to mingle with colleagues who are doing research through local institutions and facilities in the Washington, D.C. area.
Listing in the Directory
Members
The American Historical Association is preparing to publish the annual membership directory as part of the Directory of History Departments, Historical Organizations, and Historians. We are asking every member to review their current information for their annual listing, as well as their preferences about whether they want their name to appear in the annual membership directory. You may login anytime to Member Services to make changes.
Departments and Organizations
Institutions that have previously listed in the Directory can make changes to their entry online. Your institution’s login information has been sent by e-mail to department contacts. If your department or organization did not receive a message from us, please write to Liz Townsend
for assistance. To add your department or organization to the Directory, you can find details here.
Please log in and review your Directory listing by April 15, 2011, and let us know if your institution will or will not be listing this year. Updates to Directory entries before August 1, 2011, will be included in the print edition, and changes made throughout the year will appear immediately in the AHA Directory Online.
Free Access to the Directory in April 2011
As a reminder: during the month of April we are offering free, unrestricted access to the online version of the Directory of History Departments, Organizations, and Historians.
Access
To try the online Directory, you will just need to log in here as a Guest at (user: Guest, password: April2011). At the end of April, only members and institutions who have subscribed to the Directory (through the Member or Departmental Services Programs) or purchased access through the AHAs Publication Sales Shop will have full access. A limited version of the Directory, allowing lookup of basic contact information for listing institutions, will remain available.
Check your Info
Log on and see how your information is listed at your department, or compare history programs, or find a long-lost colleague. The online version of the Directory is intended to make it more useful for historians, administrators, and anyone interested in the history profession. Like the annual print version, the online Directory has information on over 800 history departments and historical institutions, and nearly 20,000 historians and history specialists. But with the online version you will also be able to identify specialists in particular subjects and from particular schools; develop benchmark groups of departments with similar degrees, tuition levels, and numbers of students and faculty; and you can also look up the holdings and programs of more than 100 historical organizations. Also, institutions are now updating their listings for the 2011–12 print Directory, so the online version should have the most up-to-date information.
Feedback
Please give the online Directory a trial run and e-mail us at feedback@historians.org to let us know what you think about it. Any suggestion you may have for its future development is appreciated. We look forward to hearing from you.
AHA Today
Keep up with the latest information on history and the profession on the AHA’s blog, AHA Today. Recent posts include:
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What We’re Reading: March 31 (Ken Burns and the Vietnam War, declassification ideas, William Cronon updates, Google Books Settlement, and more) and April 7 (Government shutdown, Wikipedia survey, Civil War remembrances, and continuing William Cronon coverage).
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Grant of the Week: National Archives Research Fellowship and ACLS Public Fellows posts.
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 Coalition for History
National Humanities Alliance
Consortium of Social Science Associations
- April 4, 2011 Washington Update
Please feel free to forward this email on to a colleague or friend.
Contributions to this issue of Fortnightly News came from: Julia Brookins, David Darlington, Kelly Elmore, Noralee Frankel, Elisabeth Grant, James Grossman, Vernon Horn, and Robert B. Townsend
Last Updated: April 11, 2011
