Historians Making News

This space highlights the accomplishments of historians. Members and non-member historians are encouraged to submit news about prizes, promotions, honors, tenure, and new jobs. Entries to be considered for inclusion on "Historians Making News" can be about yourself, another historian, or group of historians. AHA staff will review all submissions.

  • AHA Member Receives Dr. John Hope Franklin Award

    Feb 13, 2019 - 

    Diverse Issues in Higher Education awarded the 2019 Dr. John Hope Franklin Award to Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and African American Studies at Harvard University and AHA life member. The award, which recognizes contributions to higher education, will be presented on March 11, 2019, during the 101st centennial meeting of the American Council on Education (ACE) in Philadelphia.

  • AHA Member Wins Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

    Feb 11, 2019 - 

    David Blight, Class of 1954 Professor of American History at Yale University, AHA member, and former AHA councilor, was awarded the 2019 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize for his book Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. This annual award honors a work that enhances the general public’s understanding of the Civil War era, and the prize committee praised Blight for “the most comprehensive and multi-dimensional biography of Frederick Douglass ever written.”

  • AHA Member Comments on Conservative Right and Academia

    Feb 05, 2019 - 

    On January 31, Kimberly Phillips-Fein, associate professor of history at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University and AHA member, published an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education examining the evolution of conservative criticism and distrust of the university system. 

  • Rosenfeld Discusses Democracy, Fact-Checking, and Fake News

    Jan 31, 2019 - 

    The New Yorker published an interview with Sophie Rosenfeld, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and AHA vice president, Research, who discusses the relationship between American democracy and the idea of truth in the era of social media and "fake news." Rosenfeld examines the way in which notions of truth have been contested in American history and emphasizes the continued importance of asking what is true and "How do you know what's true?"

  • Lehfeldt Discusses Importance of Storytelling in History Teaching

    Jan 09, 2019 - 

    Liz Lehfeldt, Mandel Professor in Humanities at Cleveland State University and former AHA vice president, Teaching, responded to the declining number of history majors with her thoughts in a January 9 Inside Higher Ed article, "Why Study History?" Lehfeldt asks, "What story does our pedagogy tell about the significance of history and why students should care?"

  • New York Times Publishes Op-Ed by AHA Member

    Dec 07, 2018 - 

    On December 1, Ana Minian, AHA member and professor of history at Stanford University, wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times discussing America's current detention policies and charting how the federal government's position has changed throughout history.

  • Former AHA President Receives Prestigious Faculty Award

    Dec 07, 2018 - 

    On November 26, William Roger Louis, former AHA president and Kerr Chair in English History and Culture, Distinguished Teaching Professor, and co-director of the British Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin, was conferred the University of Texas at Austin Civitatis Award in recognition of outstanding faculty citizenship. The award, bequeathed by university President Gregory Fenves, is the highest award a faculty member can receive at UT. It recognizes dedicated and meritorious service to the university above and beyond the regular expectations of teaching, research, and service.

  • AHA Member Weighs in on Confederate Monuments Controversy

    Dec 04, 2018 - 

    On November 30, James Leloudis, AHA member and professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published an article in the News & Observer on the future of Silent Sam and the ongoing debate surrounding Confederate monuments.  In the article, Leloudis offered context for the discussion and drew on the AHA's Statement on Confederate Monuments, published in August 2017.

  • AHA Past President Tyler Stovall Interviewed on Anniversary of WWI Armistice

    Nov 15, 2018 - 

    On November 9, 2018, Tyler Stovall, AHA past president and professor of history and dean of humanities at the University of California, Santa Cruz, offered comments on the lessons and legacy of World War I during a live interview with i24News. Stovall drew parallels between the divisive nationalist fervor in Europe today and that of 100 years ago and discussed the war's lasting impact in the Middle East. The interview, available for download, comprised part of the global 24-hour television news network's coverage marking the centennial anniversary of the WWI Armistice.

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