AHA Pushes for Reauthorization of Title VI College Affordability Act

The AHA joined 30 other organizations expressing their support for reauthorization of the College Affordability Act, a federally funded Title VI-International Education program. The coalition urged the US House Committee on Education and Labor and Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment to continue its bipartisan support for the initiative.

AHA Comments on Proposed NLRB Rule Change

The National Labor Relations Board is considering a rule change that would diminish the right of graduate students at private universities to organize unions. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education,"ratherthan looking at the facts in any case before it, the National Labor Relations Board is aiming to create an overarching rulethat would exclude teaching and research assistants from being covered by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act." The American Historical Association opposes the proposed ruling.

AHA Member Discusses Impeachment Procedures on NPR

Donald Ritchie, AHA member and emeritus historian of the Senate, detailed the procedures for impeachment and trial of a president on an episode of NPR's All Things Considered.

AHA Awards 2019 Prizes for Publications and Professional Achievements

The American Historical Association is pleased to announce the winners of its 2019 awards and prizes competition. This year, the Association recognizes the distinguished work of 36 groups and individuals for their contributions to scholarship, public history, digital resources, and dedicated teaching and mentorship. Congratulations to our recipients. Awardees will be recognized at an awards ceremony during the AHA annual meeting in January.

AHA Defends Emeritus Professor Romila Thapar

On October 7, AHA President John McNeill sent a letter to Vice Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi to discourage the university's review of Romila Thapar's status as emeritus professor. McNeill cited her impressive record of contributions and achievements, including being named an AHA Honorary Foreign Member.

AHA Signs onto Amicus Curiae Brief Providing Historical Context to the Decision to Rescind DACA

The AHA has joined the Korematsu Center for Law and Equality (Seattle University), the Organization of American Historians, and numerous individual historians an amicus curiae brief supporting respondents in Department of Homeland Security, et al. Petitioners v. Regents of the University of California, et al, Respondents.  The brief explains the relationship between the history of anti-Mexican and Latinx racism and the use of related racist code words in the decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In situations involving the rights and careers of individual historians, historical practice in diverse venues, or the role of history in public culture, the AHA has the responsibility to take public stands - including participation in relevant legal proceedings. Everything has a history; in this particular case, the AHA considers it imperative for the court to be aware of the historical context of current efforts to vilify an entire racial group. 

AHA Signs onto MESA letter to US Department of Education

The AHA and other academic associations signed onto a letter from the Middle East Studies Association that registered alarm over the US Department of Education's position towards the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, an unprecedented intervention in academic curricula and the autonomy of higher education.

AHA Member Amanda Seligman Publishes Op Ed in Washington Post

Amanda Seligman, AHA member and professor of history and urban studies at the Universityof Wisconsin-Milwaukee, published an article in the Washington Post that shed light on Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK),a Chicago-based community activism group dedicated to occupying public spaces with positive loitering. Seligman also traces Chicago's historic roots as a city of activism and change.

Historians Call for Creation of Archive Housing Records from Opioid Lawsuits

On September 12, 35 medical historians filed with a federal judge to create a $30 million permanent archive to house millions of records produced in cases of opioid litigation. The coalition cited a precedent relating to lawsuits against the tobacco industry in decades prior, and insisted the legal documents are imperative to conducting historical research on the origin, handling, and impact of the national opioid crisis. Funding for the projects, the historians proposed, would come from the defendants.

AHA Member Receives Highest Student Award at Loyola

Hope Shannon, AHA member and Career Diversity Fellow at Loyola University Chicago, was awarded a 2019 President's Medallion. Each year, this award is bestowed in recognition of outstanding scholarship, leadership, and service to one student from each of the schools within the university. Congratulations to Hope!