News & Advocacy

News

The latest activity of the AHA and historians in supporting history and historical thinking.

  • AHA Sends Letter to University System of Georgia Opposing Proposed Changes to the General Education Curriculum (March 2020)

    Mar 30, 2020 - 

    In a letter to Dr. Tristan Denley, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for the University System of Georgia and chair of the General Education Redesign Implementation Committee, the AHA opposed proposed changes to the general education curriculum. The letter from the AHA asserts that the legislative requirement for instruction in the history and government of the United States and Georgia cannot be fulfilled by taking only one course, either in history or political science, and that proper instruction in history can be fulfilled only by trained historians. 

  • AHA Signs onto Statement Encouraging Temporary Adjustments to Faculty Review and Reappointment Processes during COVID-19 Crisis (March 2020)

    Mar 23, 2020 - 

    The AHA signed onto a statement from the American Sociological Association regarding faculty review and reappointment processes during the COVID-19 crisis. The statement encourages institutions of higher education to consider appropriate temporary adjustments to their review and reappointment processes for tenured and contingent faculty, including adjusting expectations for faculty scholarship, limiting the use of student evaluations of teaching, and extending tenure timelines. The AHA also urges all higher education institutions that employ contract and/or part-time faculty to compensate fully for courses already contracted for summer and fall offerings.

  • AHA Encourages Congress to Support NEH during COVID-19 Crisis (March 2020)

    Mar 20, 2020 - 

    On March 19, AHA executive director Jim Grossman co-signed a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting emergency funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities that would include support for historians whose income is imperiled by current conditions in higher education and other history-focused institutions, professional development relating to classroom and other historical work, and other needs relevant to the COVID-19 crisis. 

  • AHA Joins Lawsuit Challenging ICE Records Disposition (March 2020)

    Mar 16, 2020 - 

    The AHA has joined the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations in a lawsuit against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) challenging NARA’s approval of ICE’s records disposition, which authorizes ICE to destroy several categories of records documenting mistreatment of immigrants detained in ICE custody.

  • Communications and Operations Assistant Position Opening at the AHA

    Mar 04, 2020 - 

    March 4, 2020 -  Join our collaborative team of staff dedicated to promoting history and the work of historians. The AHA is accepting applications for a Communications and Operations Assistant. We will begin reviewing applications on March 20, 2020.

  • AHA Supports Release of Grand Jury Records of Historical Significance (March 2020)

    Mar 02, 2020 - 

    In connection with the amicus brief in Pitch v. United States, which was filed in September 2019, the AHA signed onto a letter to the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the United States Courts proposing a revision to Rule 6(e) to specify that the courts can release grand jury records based on historical significance. The proposed amendment would make clear that district courts have authority to order disclosure, in appropriate circumstances, of grand jury materials of historical significance, and it would provide a temporal limit for secrecy regarding grand jury materials that are stored as archival records at the National Archives.

  • AHA Expresses Concern over Deletion of Immigration Records (Feb 2020)

    Feb 29, 2020 - 

    In a letter to the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) on February 27, 2020, the AHA expressed concern over reports that EOIR had omitted close to 1,000,000 records from its September 2019 anonymized data release. The missing records include more than 1,000 applications for relief filed by immigrants in the course of immigration court proceedings, which are not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

  • Marketing Manager Position Opening at the AHA

    Feb 18, 2020 - 

    February 18, 2020 -  Join our collaborative team of staff dedicated to promoting history and the work of historians. The AHA is accepting applications for a Marketing Manager. We will begin reviewing applications on March 1, 2020.

  • AHA Sends Letter to French President Emmanuel Macron with Concerns about Unclear Procedures for Declassification of Archives

    Feb 11, 2020 - 

    In a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, the AHA expressed concern that the change in policy to declassify documents at Vincennes and other repositories in France has rendered many documents inaccessible. The AHA encouraged the development of a clear, efficient, and effective procedure for declassification so that historians and other researchers can access materials of ongoing public importance.

  • AHA Member Holloway Appointed President of Rutgers University

    Jan 30, 2020 - 

    Jonathan Holloway, AHA member and provost of Northwestern University, has been appointed the 21st president of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Following appointments at Northwestern University and Yale University, Holloway will begin serving as president of the university on July 1, 2020.

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