October 3, 2011
AHA news and updates for the history profession.
- National History Center News
- AHA Today – Recent history news
- News from Washington– NCH, NHA, and COSSA
- Calendar
New Member Benefits: Choice Reviews Online and Directory Access
We are pleased to announce two new benefits for AHA members on the Association’s website: access to Choice Reviews Online, featuring book reviews in history and related fields, and to the AHA’s annual Directory of History Departments, Historical Organizations, and Historians.
Choice Reviews Online
As indicated in the September issue of Perspectives on History, AHA members will now have complimentary access to Choice Reviews Online. A publication of the Association of College & Research Libraries, Choice carries over 7,000 reviews of new scholarly books and electronic resources annually. Its online database holds reviews of over 160,000 titles extending back to September 1988. Choice aims to produce reviews that are “concise, authoritative, and timely.”
History is one of the most extensively reviewed areas in Choice (each year about 1,000 reviews are published in history, geography, and area studies). Access to the Choice history reviews will complement the American Historical Review’s coverage. The brief reviews in Choice will be invaluable tools for teaching and research by providing quick and helpful glimpses of current scholarship; they can also serve as useful lead-ins to the more elaborate discussions in the AHR.
In the future, Fortnightly News will feature selected Choice reviews, or “Choice Essentials.”
AHA members who log on to the members-only section of the AHA site will see a link that takes them directly to Choice Reviews Online. They will then have full access to the entire Choice website and will be able to take advantage of its full functionality. In addition, all AHA members who register with CRO will receive a monthly e-mail bulletin alerting them to new reviews in the subject areas of greatest interest to them.
This invaluable online resource is available for free only to members.
Directory
AHA Members can now access the online edition of the Directory of History Departments, Historical Organizations, and Historians. Simply login to the AHA website using your member ID, and you will see a link that gives you instant access to the online Directory. Search through information on 800 history departments and historical institutions, and nearly 20,000 historians and history specialists.
Perspectives on History — October 2011 Issue
AHA President Anthony T. Grafton and AHA Executive Director Jim Grossman offer a “modest proposal” in their article, “No More Plan B,” featured as the cover story of the issue: They urge history departments to encourage students to seriously consider careers outside of the academy, rather than suggesting that these jobs are second choice to a tenure-track position.
You’ll also find, in the October 2011 issue of Perspectives on History, recent news from the AHA, articles on Chicago and the 126th Meeting, updates from AHA affiliates, member news, thoughts on teaching history, and much more.
Two AHA Members Awarded MacArthur Fellowships
By Pillarisetti Sudhir
The AHA is delighted to report that Tiya Miles and Jacob Soll, two of the Association's members, are among the 22 people recognized with grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. These prestigious and munificent grants are awarded to recognize creative accomplishments in varied fields. The $500,000 grants can be used by the recipients in any way they wish, and are awarded as much for the record of accomplishment as for the promise of future contributions.
AHA Seeks an Associate Editor to Join the Publications Team
The Association is looking for a historian with some knowledge of digital technologies to join the publications team as Associate Editor of Perspectives on History, the AHA's monthly newsmagazine.
The position involves not only working with the editor to manage several of the writing, editorial, and administrative tasks involved in the production of the magazine, but also collaborating with other colleagues to help enhance the Association's rapidly growing presence in social media and the Web. See the job description for details and for application requirements.
More Jobs
To see more job ads, members and nonmembers alike can log onto the AHA website and search for available positions. More positions are added each Friday, so keep checking often.
Annual Meeting Program Online
The Annual Meeting Program is now online. Please note that this is a preliminary version and is subject to change. Browse by day, program, or special event to discover the wide variety of sessions and events included in the upcoming meeting. Search by keyword or participant name to find specific listings. Members can expect to receive their paper Program in the mail in November.
The Future is Here: Digital History at the 126th Annual Meeting
The 126th Annual Meeting will feature nearly two dozen sessions on digital history. This series, titled “The Future is Here,” includes presentations, discussions, and demonstrations of how digital methods might assist historical research and the humanities in general. Read the summaries of all these sessions online and Jacob Soll’s article in the October 2011 issue of Perspectives on History to learn more.
Discounted Teacher-Student Group Rates
To nurture interest in history among students and to encourage their mentors, the AHA is offering special discounted registration rates for high school, undergraduate, and graduate teachers who are AHA members and who are accompanied by small groups (up to 3) of their students at the AHA's 126th Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Rates
High school teachers can preregister themselves and up to 3 students for $69
Teachers of undergraduates can preregister themselves and up to 3 students for $197
Teachers of graduate students can preregister themselves and up to 3 pre-candidacy graduate students (in the early stages of their programs) for $197
National History Center News
Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs, and Hope M. Harrison, associate professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University, will address the Washington History Seminar in October. The seminar, a joint venture of the National History Center and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, meets on Monday afternoons during the academic year at the Wilson Center.
On October 3, Rose will elaborate on themes of his 2010 book, How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle. Titled “Why We Botch the Ends of Wars,” his talk will consider the failure to plan carefully for the aftermath of wars, which he argues makes the achievement of durable settlements dramatically harder.
Harrison, a Wilson Center Public Policy Fellow, will discuss the contested legacy of the Berlin Wall on October 17. She notes that recent years have seen important moves to preserve parts of the Wall and explain its history. It continues to expose fault lines in German society.
The Seminar will not meet on October 10 because of the federal Columbus Day holiday.
AHA Today
Keep up with the latest information on history and the profession on the AHA’s blog, AHA Today. Recent posts include:
Could History Become an “Information Risk”?
By Robert B. Townsend
A dark cloud lurks behind the silver lining of the recent federal proposal to overhaul rules covering institutional review boards (IRBs) and their oversight of research. While the proposal offers a tantalizing opportunity to free some history research from the ham-handed review of IRBs, it also raises a significant and substantial risk that large swaths of data could be closed to future historians under a new category of “information risk.” Read more.Happy 5th Birthday, AHA Today!
By Elisabeth Grant
Last Wednesday, September 28th, the AHA’s blog, AHA Today, celebrated its 5th year of existence. Read more.Child Care Grants for the 126th Annual Meeting
There’s still time to apply for child care grants for the annual meeting. Read more.The End of the Book as We Know It?
By Robert B. Townsend
What becomes of the book online, if it effectively becomes more like a journal—searchable and perhaps even purchasable at the chapter level? Read more.What We’re Reading
The September 29 edition of What We’re Reading includes articles on a moon rock in Clinton’s presidential papers, National Archives on iTunes U, a Ted Talk on Google Books and “Culturomics,” and more. For the September 22 edition, we linked information on the National Book Festival, Jack Rakove’s answer to why he became a historian, actor Richard Dreyfuss on the Constitution, and more.Grant of the Week
Our most recent Grant of the Week posts include Research Fellowships from the William L. Clements Library and the Visiting Scholars Program from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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
In recent news, the National Archives is reappraising U.S. District Court records and the National Coalition for History has joined a number of other groups in urging the creation of a Federal Open Government Panel.
National Humanities Alliance
The National Humanities Alliance reports that the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Seeks Proposals for Residential Fellowships. The NHA also announced its Annual Meeting & Humanities Advocacy Day will take place March 19-20, 2012.
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Read COSSA's most recent Washington Update for news on spending bills, Senate hearings, education and more.
Calendar
The following items may be of interest to members. See the AHA Calendar for more upcoming meetings and seminars, research, awards and fellowships, internet resources, and upcoming exhibitions. Have a call for proposals, event, or award listing you’d like to submit? Simply send it in through our online form.
Lecture: The Annual Hewlett Lecture and Dinner
The Society for History in the Federal Government announces The Annual Hewlett Lecture and Dinner featuring Adam Goodheart, Author of 1861: The Civil War Awakening, at Clyde's of Gallery Place, October 26, 2011. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. Learn more.Symposia: Encuentros: Artistic Exchange between the U.S. and Latin America
This two-day (October 5-6, 2011) symposium at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., will examine artistic encounters between Latin America and the United States from the 19th century to the present. Talks will consider how artists and artworks have crossed the border separating the United States and Latin America, creating new artistic dialogues and influencing each other's work in meaningful ways. Learn more.Conference: Exploring Approaches to Cultures & Languages Across the Curriculum
The sixth annual conference on Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC), at the University Hotel Minneapolis (March 9-10, 2012), provides an opportunity for faculty, graduate instructors, and administrators to share expertise in building and managing post-secondary CLAC programs. The conference theme will address the practical issues related to developing successful pedagogical models for the CLAC classroom. Learn more.
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Last Updated: September 30, 2011
