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.
2011 Annual Meeting Survey Results
Shortly after the 125th Annual Meeting in January of this year, staff at the AHA conducted a survey of meeting registrants as well as of AHA members who had not attended the meeting, to get a better sense of their thoughts about the annual convention.
A Diverse Meeting Experience
The responses from the 930 respondents who did attend the meeting demonstrate some of the wide variations in the types of attendees at the meeting: While one in six of the respondents did not attend any AHA sessions, half of the attendees reported attending one of the sessions sponsored by one of our affiliates. Those two categories are not mutually exclusive, given the large number of AHA sessions that are co-sponsored by the affiliates, but it does reveal a high level of awareness of the affiliate presence in our meeting.
The responses also demonstrate how a diverse array of activities at the annual meeting adds up to the totality of any one member’s experience of the conference. With the exception of the tours (which have very limited registration) at least one out of ten respondents participated in more than one of the other services and activities at the meeting. Not surprisingly, perhaps, job candidates were the least likely to indicate that they participated in other activities at the annual meeting. Almost a quarter (23 percent) of the job candidates said they had not attended or participated in a session, while only 13 percent of the respondents said they had not attended a session.
Read the rest of this article on the AHA blog to learn more about the survey respondents’ thoughts on the film festival, the various sessions (including the poster session), and the Job Center, and discover some reasons for the nonattendance of some members.
National Assessment of Educational Progress: U.S. History Exam
The Department of Education released the latest history results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and the results make for rather grim reading. Lee White, Executive Director of the National Coalition for History, reported in a recent post that The Nation’s Report Card: U.S. History 2010 shows little improvement in K-12 U.S. History proficiency since 1994.
In a subsequent interview with the Huffington Post, AHA Director Jim Grossman expressed concern about the results, observing that, "I'd like to see the full Congress take the test...history education is a much larger issue in relation to civic culture." Lee White added his regrets, noting that, “They've narrowed the curriculum to teach to the test. History has been deemphasized.”
How would you organize a high school U.S. history survey course?
At a recent roundtable discussion organized by the National History Center and National History Education Clearinghouse, six panelists were asked: “How would you organize a high school U.S. history survey course?” Read their responses online.
Upcoming Lectures from the National History Center & Kluge Center
The National History Center and The John W. Kluge Center sponsor the following free public lectures at the Library of Congress, in conjunction with the NHC’s Sixth International Seminar on Decolonization.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
John Darwin (Nuffield College, University of Oxford)
“Decolonization – a History of Failure?”
Library of Congress (Jefferson Room LJ-119, Jefferson Building)
Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
Eric Van Young (University of California, San Diego)
“‘In Mexico There Are No Mexicans’: Decolonization and Modernization, 1750-1850”
Library of Congress (Jefferson Room LJ-119, Jefferson Building)
Updated: Historians among 2011 ACLS Fellows and Grant Winners
Last week we listed historians among the 2011 ACLS fellows and grant winners, but regrettably left out a number of distinguished scholars, and AHA members, who should have been named. We apologize for this oversight, list them below, and offer congratulations on their achievement.
Gillian Frank / ACLS New Faculty Fellows Program
New Faculty Fellow, History, State University of New York, Stony Brook
Save Our Children: The Sexual Politics of Child Protection in the United States, 1965-1990Robert Goree / ACLS New Faculty Fellows Program
New Faculty Fellow, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University
Fantasies of the Real: Illustrated Gazetteers in Early Modern JapanGregory S. Jackson / Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship
Associate Professor, English, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
The Reader’s Progress: Narrating the Lives of the Faithful in America, 1800-1945Sandra R. Joshel, ACLS Collaborative Research Fellowship
Professor, History, University of Washington
The Material Life of Roman SlavesRachel M. Lindsey / ECF Dissertation Completion Fellowship
Doctoral Candidate, Religion, Princeton University
Vernacular Photography and the Visual Archives of Nineteenth-Century American ReligionMicol Seigel / ACLS Fellowship
Assistant Professor, African American and African Diaspora Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington
The Global Precinct: U.S. Policing after World War IIDan Shao / American Research in the Humanities in China
Assistant Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Chinese by Definition: Bloodline, Nationality Law, and State Succession (1909-1997)Alan Verskin / ACLS New Faculty Fellows Program
New Faculty Fellow, Middle East, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University
Early Islamic Legal Responses to Living under Christian Rule: Reconquista-era Development and 19th-Century Impact in the Maghrib
The original post has now been updated to include these individuals.
Equity Awards
In 1996, the American Historical Association adopted a statement on equity that acknowledges its commitment “to diversity in the historical profession” and called on “institutions to recruit aggressively and hire members from groups that have been historically discriminated against.”
To further this goal, the AHA has established two Equity Awards to be given annually: one for individuals and another for academic units.
The award can be conferred for new initiatives or for sustained efforts. These equity awards are meant to recognize and publicize individuals and institutions that have achieved excellence in recruiting and retaining underrepresented racial and ethnic groups into the historical profession. While the awards are honorary and have no monetary component, winners will receive a certificate of recognition that specially honors their efforts to secure and sustain diversity in the profession.
Individuals or institutions can nominate themselves or be nominated. Please submit nominations by August 1, 2011. For instructions on how to apply, and more information about these awards, see the Equity Awards page on the AHA’s web site.
Update Your Directory Entry
Departments and Organizations
Time's running out to ensure your place in the 2011-12 Directory! Don't miss your chance to be part of the most comprehensive directory of the history profession.
Please log in and review your Directory listing by June 30, 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.
AHA Today
Keep up with the latest information on history and the profession on the AHA’s blog, AHA Today. Recent posts include:
Crowdsourcing the Civil War
Have a little time to spare? Consider helping transcribe 3,011 pages of Civil War letters and diaries placed online by the libraries of the University of Iowa.National History Day 2011 Winners
Every year National History Day engages and inspires thousands of students in the work of history through papers, websites, documentaries, exhibits, and performances. This year’s competition culminated this week in national-level competitions at the University of Maryland at College Park.Historians in the News: “Gay Girl in Damascus”
AHA Executive Jim Grossman explains how Tom MacMaster's portrayal of himself as a “Gay Girl in Damascus” brings up ethical issues addressed in the AHA's Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct.Items Approved at June 2011 Meeting of the AHA Council
The AHA Council met June 4 and 5, 2011, and made the following decisions: 2013 annual meeting theme, new affiliates, appointments, and more.Also, see the most recent What We’re Reading (June 9 and June 16) and Grant of the Week (Open Society Fellowship and Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges Program) 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
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President Obama Appoints New Members to NEH Council Five individuals will serve six-year terms
Petition to Restore Funding to American Overseas Research Centers CAORC launches effort to save cancelled program
Consortium of Social Science Associations
June 13, 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: Kelly Elmore, Noralee Frankel, Elisabeth Grant, James Grossman, Vernon Horn, Pillarisetti Sudhir, Liz Townsend, and Robert B. Townsend
Last Updated: June 17, 2011
