The AHA has hosted Congressional Briefings since 2005, on issues ranging from healthcare policy, to gun rights and regulations, to farm policy, and other topics of importance to Congress. The AHA’s briefings have been attended by staffers from the House of Representatives and the Senate, the White House, and federal agencies and research institutions, and have informed policy decisions at the highest levels.
To learn about the history of the Congressional Briefings series, please read “Back in Session: The Return of the Congressional Briefings Program” by Dane Kennedy (Perspectives on History, November 2023). Many briefings were recorded by C-SPAN and are available on the AHA’s YouTube channel.
The AHA is grateful to the Mellon Foundation for its generous support of the Congressional Briefings series.
2023-2024 Briefings
September 24, 2024
American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools
2005-2020 Briefings
Federal Responses to Economic Crisis, 2020
Vaccine Development, 2020
Congressional Oversight of Presidential Misconduct, 2019
US and Middle East Oil, 2019
History of US-Iran Relations, 2019
History of US Healthcare Policy, 2019
History of Gun Rights and Regulations, 2019
How Congress Reforms Itself, 2019
History of US Refugee Policy, 2018
Dane Kennedy, "Myths and Realities of the US Refugee Policy" (Perspectives on History, 2018).
Federal Farm Policy, 2018
Dane Kennedy, "Ground Strategy: How Federal Farm Policy Shaped America" (Perspectives on History, 2018).
History of US Trade Policy, 2018
History of US Infrastructure
History of Higher Education Policy, 2018
Dane Kennedy, "How the Feds Reshaped Higher Education" (Perspectives on History, 2018).
Automation and the Workforce, 2017
Dane Kennedy, "Will Robots Rule the World?" (Perspectives on History, 2017).
What to Do with Confederate Monuments, 2017
Dane Kennedy, "What Should We Do with Confederate Monuments?" (Perspectives on History, 2017).
History of Civilian Control of the Military, 2017
Dane Kennedy, "Is Civilian Control of the Military Eroding?" (Perspectives on History, 2017).
History of US-China Relations, 2017
Dane Kennedy, "US-China Diplomacy: Historical Perspectives on Challenges Confronting the People’s Republic" (Perspectives on History, 2017).
History of Executive Orders, 2017
Dane Kennedy, "The Paradoxes of Presidential Power: A Brief History of Executive Orders" (Perspectives on History, 2017).
Zika: Historic Parallels and Policy Responses
The Opioid Crisis in Historical Perspective, 2016
Dane Kennedy, "The Opioid Crisis in Historical Perspective" (Perspectives on History, 2016).
Partisanship on the Hill, 2016
Dane Kennedy, "Congressional Partisanship in Historical Perspective" (Perspectives on History, 2016).
Legacy of the Voting Rights Act, 2015
Dane Kennedy, "The Legacy of the Voting Rights Act" (Perspectives on History, 2015).
History of Incarceration, 2015
Dane Kennedy, "How We Became the 'Jailhouse Nation': Historians Discuss Mass Incarceration in the US" (Perspectives on History, 2015).
History of the Federal Tax System, 2015
Dane Kennedy, "Our Federal Tax System: How We Got Here from There" (Perspectives on History, 2015).
Historical Perspectives on Ukraine, 2015
Dane Kennedy, "National History Center Holds Congressional Briefing on the Ukraine Crisis" (Perspectives on History, 2015).
Historical Perspectives on the Ebola Epidemic, 2014
Dane Kennedy, "The National History Center’s Congressional Briefing on the Ebola Epidemic" (Perspectives on History, 2014).
History of Immigrant Entrepreneurship, 2014
Dane Kennedy, "The NHC’s Latest Congressional Briefing: On Immigrant Entrepreneurship" (Perspectives on History, 2014).
Congressional Oversight of the Intelligence Community, 2014
Dane Kennedy, "Overseeing Intelligence: Historians Brief Congress on Its Past Relationship with the Intelligence Community" (Perspectives on History, 2014).
History of Immigration Policy, 2013
Marian J. Barber, "Spring Congressional Briefing on the History of Immigration Policy" (Perspectives on History, 2013).
Historical Perspectives on Space Policy, 2012
Marian J. Barber, "Historical Perspectives on Space Policy: A Congressional Briefing from the Center" (Perspectives on History, 2012).
History of Federal Education Policy, 2005
Miriam E. Hauss, "History of Federal Education Policy Discussed at Congressional Seminar" (Perspectives on History, 2006).
History and Policy Education Program
The AHA’s History and Policy Education Program (HPEP) brings the principles of the Congressional Briefings program into the classroom to help students appreciate the importance of bringing historical perspectives to contemporary policy conversations. This initiative provides a guide for history educators to develop and host briefings about the historical dimensions of current policy questions, using materials from past briefings.