January 3, 2012
AHA news and updates for the history profession.
- AHA Today – Recent history news
- News from Washington–NCH, NHA, and COSSA
126th Annual Meeting in Chicago
The AHA's 126th annual meeting takes place in Chicago this Thursday, January 5 through Sunday, January 8, 2012. Whether you're at the meeting or following along from home, visit AHA Today online for daily reports on sessions and events.
Supplement to the 126th Annual Meeting
See what Chicago has to offer historians in the Supplement to the 126th Annual Meeting. Articles examine Chicago preservation, protest history, museums and attractions, and cultural history (Slavic Chicago and Latino Chicago).
You'll also find helpful information and advice, including the Top Ten Job Center Tips, corrections to the Program, and important annual meeting details and hours.
Finally, there's no excuse to be hungry at the meeting after you read the three restaurant articles in the Supplement, including an overview of restaurants, cheap eats near the hotels, and historians' favorite food spots.
Hotels
The AHA's housing service closed on December 22, but the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile is still accepting reservations at the AHA's meeting rates of $109 single, $129 double, $20 for each additional person.
The other meeting hotels, including the Sheraton, have sold out and the Westin stopped taking reservations on December 29.
After you have registered for the meeting, you will receive contact information and instructions as part of the online process and also in a preregistration e-mail confirmation.
Session Room Changes at the 126th Annual Meeting
Please note that the locations of a number of sessions at the 126th annual meeting have changed. Below, find the sessions affected and their new locations:
Getting the Most Out of the Annual Meeting — Sheraton, Mississippi Room (formerly Missouri Room)
Teaching Workshop — Sheraton, Michigan Room (formerly Chicago Ballroom X)
Jobs for Historians — Sheraton, Chicago Ballroom VI (formerly VII)
Turning Your Dissertation into a Book (Session 69) — Sheraton, Chicago Ballroom VII (formerly VI)
Disability, the Family, and the Domestic Sphere (Session 70) — Sheraton, Chicago Ballroom VI (formerly Sheraton Ballroom II)
Annual meeting of affiliated society representatives — Sheraton, Lincoln Boardroom (formerly Tennessee Room)
Ethnography, Ethnology, and Science, 1500-1800, Part 2: Traditions and Genres for Observation, Analysis, and Synthesis (Session 227) Mississippi Room (formerly Arkansas Room)
Madness and Community in the United States: Four Perspectives (Session 241) Mississippi Room (formerly Arkansas Room)
Reminders
Theodore Roosevelt-Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award
Please note that the presentation of the eighth Theodore Roosevelt-Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award to Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (accepted on her behalf by Judge Diane P. Wood) will take place at the General Meeting on Friday, January 6th, beginning at 8:30 p.m. in the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, Chicago Ballroom VI. The Roosevelt-Wilson award presentation was originally scheduled to be presented on Thursday before the Plenary Session. The Plenary will now take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 5.
Jobs for Historians — New Session
A new session, Jobs for Historians: Approaching the Crisis from the Demand Side, has been added to the annual meeting, to take place Friday, January 6 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Sheraton's Chicago Ballroom Ballroom VI (please note this is a room change).
Perspectives on History — January 2012
The January 2012 issue of Perspectives online is now available. Some articles are gated, but can be accessed by AHA members after logging in to AHA online services.
From the President & Executive Director
In his inaugural article as president of the AHA, William Cronon discusses the promises and challenges for history in the digital age. Then, AHA Executive Director Jim Grossman relates his experience of being an AHA member over the past 30 years and explains why it is important to be an AHA member.
The Art of Mentoring
Gain new perspectives on mentoring in a set of articles focused on the art of mentoring. Aeleah Soine provides an introduction and is followed by Nicole M. Phelps offering sound advice on being a thesis advisor, Ana Elizabeth Rosas using her experience as a Chicana historian to mentor expansively and inclusively, Will Benedicks reflecting on mentoring at open-door institutions, and Steven S. Volk explaining how to mentor while being mentored.
News
In recent news, the AHA has been awarded an NEH grant for a community-college project, Robert B. Townsend reports the job market is showing small signs of improvement, and Lee White looks into whether federal records may be at risk and offers an update on happenings for history in Washington.
Learn more about all these articles and others in this blog post, or go straight to the January 2012 issue of Perspectives on History online.
Choice Essentials
In tandem with the complimentary access AHA members now receive to Choice Reviews Online, we will be highlighting a few of these reviews here in Fortnightly News each month. Log in to member services and click the link for "Choice Reviews Online" to read the full versions of these reviews. If you've set up a profile on the Choice website, go to the "My Profile" section to access these reviews.
A Global History of History (Cambridge, 2011)
By Daniel Woolf
Balanced in both coverage and perspective, this encyclopedic treatise of the traditions of history writing around the world is a serious (and successful, in this reviewer's opinion) attempt to transcend Eurocentrism in the field of historiography … Thanks to Woolf and a few other like-minded scholars, the study of historiography has seen a fundamental change, and definitely for the better.
Right in Michigan's Grassroots: From the KKK to the Michigan Militia (Michigan, 2011)
By JoEllen McNergney Vinyard
Recently, historian Vinyard (Eastern Michigan Univ.) has turned her talents to examining grassroots extremists in Michigan. …Relying on her access to former members and primary sources, she has created the most significant regional study of extremist groups available.
Sarajevo, 1941-1945: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Hitler's Europe (Cornell, 2011)
By Emily Greble
The result of painstaking work in the archives of the former Yugoslavia, this study of Sarajevo under the Ustasha dictatorship is essential for scholars with an interest in Yugoslav history, WW II, fascism, ethnicity, and community studies. …Treating her subjects with great sensitivity and showing a keen eye for telling details, Greble compellingly demonstrates "the persistence of a civic community spirit" during these difficult years.
Members, Send Us Your News
AHA members are invited to submit news about themselves, including notices of recent hires, promotions, publications, fellowships or awards received, and other updates of a professional nature to Elisabeth Grant, web editor at the AHA.
We'd like to recognize and honor the accomplishments of AHA members, and feature them in the Members column of upcoming issues of Perspectives on History (as space permits).
Jobs — Most Recent
Here are just a few of the most recently posted Job Ads from the AHA's website. Sign in to the AHA web site to learn more about these positions as well as around 200 other posted jobs.
Lectureship in U.S. History — University College London
The Department of History at University College London invites applications for a permanent full-time lectureship in history of the United States, tenable from September 1, 2012.Postdoctoral Fellowship/19th-Century U.S. — Yale University
The Cassius Marcellus Clay Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of History at Yale University (affiliated with the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition) is offering a two-year position performing independent research in 19th-century U.S. history with a special interest in the age of slavery, emancipation, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Candidate will teach a course in the second year of the fellowship.
See the AHA Calendar for more upcoming meetings and seminars, research, awards and fellowships, 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.
Seminars: International Faculty Development Seminars
The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) is offering 17 International Faculty Development Seminars (IFDS) in 20 countries for 2012. IFDS are interdisciplinary academic programs designed for college and university faculty and administrators. The seminars consist of one to two intensive weeks of lectures by local faculty and experts from prestigious institutions, site visits that illuminate ideas explored in those lectures, and opportunities for lively discussions with international colleagues. Learn more.Author Talk: Geraldine Brooks & Tony Horwitz Book Talk and Luncheon
Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Tony Horwitz (Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War) and Geraldine Brooks (People of the Book, Year of Wonders) discuss their recent works at a luncheon at the Hay-Adams in D.C. on Friday, January 20, 2012. Learn more and purchase tickets here.
Keep up with the latest information on history and the profession on the AHA's blog, AHA Today. Recent posts include:
Session of the Week
Recent "Session of the Week" posts featured session 36, Digital Humanities: A Hands-On Workshop, and session 198, James M. McPherson: A Life in American History. Also, read about session on Chicago history and LGBTQ history.From the Archives Wiki: Navigating Indonesian Permits and Archives
Kevin Fogg, a PhD candidate in History at Yale University, has shared his knowledge of Indonesian archives on the AHA's Archives Wiki.What We're Reading
The December 15 edition of What We're Reading included links former AHA President Barbara Metcalf's invitation to Newt Gingrich to join the AHA, what it's like to be an intern at the National Museum of American History, and more. For the December 8 edition, historians debated Newt Gingrich's history background and we looked back at the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor through archival records and oral histories.Grant of the Week
Some of our most recent Grant of the Week posts include Digital History Research Awards and Gilder Lehrman Institute Teacher Seminars for 2012.
The AHA 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. Their most recent reports include:
National Coalition for History
Recent news from the National Coalition for History:
House and Senate Pass Fiscal Year '12 Funding Bill
The House and Senate have completed action omnibus spending bill for fiscal year (FY) 2012. Of major interest to the historical community, the Teaching American History Grants program at the U.S. Department of Education has been terminated, while the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) was saved from virtual elimination.
National Humanities Alliance
Announcements from the National Humanities Alliance:
FY 2012 Appropriations Update
Government Operations Extended thru December 16th.
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Read COSSA's most recent Washington Update for news on spending bills, Senate hearings, education and more.
Please feel free to forward this email on to a colleague or friend.
Last Updated: December 30, 2011
