Popular Culture
Scratch a historian, and chances areyou'll find a connoisseur of someform of popular culture. Scratch aconnoisseur of popular culture, andyou just might find someone with apassion for history. As historians thinkabout ways to bring our expertise topublic conversations, we can't afford toignore music, television, video games,and other media that employ history.This month's feature stories and Perspectiveson Culture column refuse tocondescend to popular culture-anapproach we think is worth emulating.Image: D J Shin, via WikimediaCommons, CC-BY-SA-3.0.
Staff
Featured Articles
Holocaust Museum Project Engages Citizen Historians to Gain Better Understanding of What Americans Knew
Seventy-three years ago, on December 4, 1942, a newspaper in Battle Creek, Michigan, then a town of 40,000 people 120…
AHA Welcomes New Staff Member: Kritika Agarwal
The American Historical Association is pleased to welcome Kritika Agarwal as our new associate editor, publications.
Advocacy Briefs: Action on “Campus Carry,” Oral History, and K–12 History Education
In November, the American Historical Association joined 28 other scholarly societies in opposing legislation designed to facilitate the carrying of…
Townhouse Notes
I’m fairly certain that in every course I’ve taught, I led a discussion about what history is by saying “the…
Scale in History
The AHA’s annual meeting is perhaps the biggest regularly scheduled historical conference on our planet. Presentations at the January 2016…
From the National Coalition for History: Congress Restores Funding for K–12 History Education
After nearly a decade of false starts, President Obama has signed a new education law (PL 114-95) to replace the…
On the US Visa Waiver Program
To the editor: In 2006, Waskar Ari, a citizen of Bolivia and a Georgetown PhD, was denied an academic visa…
On “Charm School, from Application to Interview to Campus Visit”
To the editor: AHA president Vicki Ruiz’s well-intentioned “Charm School, from Application to Interview to Campus Visit” (October 2015) serves…
On “Black Histories Matter”
To the editor: Iread the article “Black Histories Matter” (Perspectives on History, September 2015) with interest. Unfortunately, the marginalization of…
AHA Member Spotlight: Amy Williams
AHA members are involved in all fields of history, with wide-ranging specializations, interests, and areas of employment. To recognize our…
Crossing Boundaries: Old Questions and New Debates in Immigration History at the 2016 AHA Annual Meeting
The theme of this year’s AHA annual meeting, held in Atlanta, was “Global Migrations: Empires, Nations, and Neighbors.” DREAM activists…
Introduction to the AHA Plenary on “The Confederacy, Its Symbols, and the Politics of Public Culture,” January 7, 2016
After receiving numerous requests for a posting of my introduction to the AHA’s opening plenary session at its annual meeting…
The GECC Open Forum on Career Diversity
At an Open Forum hosted by the AHA’s Graduate and Early Career Committee (GECC), this was Karen Wilson’s message for…
Why Americans Get to Talk So Much
Established by the AHA in 2002, the National History Center brings historians into conversation with policy makers to stress the…
A-HA Moments in Atlanta
The AHA received many rave reviews of the 2016 annual meeting in Atlanta, including this poem from attendee. ATL to…
CLGBTH Call for Papers for 2017 Annual Meeting
The Committee on LGBT History seeks a special slate of panels and roundtables to present to the AHA Program Committee…
AHA Member Spotlight: Jacob Kramer
AHA members are involved in all fields of history, with wide-ranging specializations, interests, and areas of employment. To recognize our…
Ken Burns Will Deliver 2016 Jefferson Lecture
The is pleased to learn that Ken Burns, award-winning historical filmmaker and documentarian, will deliver the 2016 Jefferson Lecture in…
“The History of Terrorism: New Avenues of Research”
Last week saw President Obama deliver the last State of the Union of his presidency, and within its first two…
AHA Member Spotlight: Jeffrey L. Sturchio
AHA members are involved in all fields of history, with wide-ranging specializations, interests, and areas of employment. To recognize our…
NEH Invites Entries for the Chronicling America Data Challenge
Printed newspapers play a much smaller role in American life than they did in earlier periods of our history. In…
2016 Annual Meeting Roundup on AHA Today
Thank you to all who contributed to making the meeting a success! In case you missed them or weren’t able…
#AHA16 Day 4 Highlights
Spirits were still high on day 4 of #AHA16! Fourth and final day at #aha16. Looking forward to panels on…
AHA Member Patricia Limerick Appointed to the National Council on the Humanities
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced today that Patricia Limerick, a long-standing member and past vice president of the…
Patricia Limerick on Her Appointment to the National Council on the Humanities
I am grateful for and humbled by my appointment to the National Council on the Humanities, as I was by…
Proposed Resolution on Palestinian Academic Freedom Defeated at AHA Annual Meeting
At the 2016 business meeting of the American Historical Association in Atlanta, members voted against a proposed resolution, “Protecting the…
#AHA16 Day 3 Highlights
With two days already under their belts, many attendees were still going strong on day three: #aha16 has been wonderfully…
The Natty Professor
It is almost that time of year again; the AHA annual meeting is upon us. From across North America and…
#AHA16 Day 2 Highlights
As day 2 of #AHA16 began, the previous night’s plenary on the Confederacy, its symbols, and the politics of public…
“The Confederacy, Its Symbols, and the Politics of Public Culture”
A plenary is a meeting “attended by all participants at a conference or assembly.” The plenary at the 2016 AHA…
The Delorean Moment; or, Fun at the AHA Annual Meeting
“Is that a DeLorean?!” my grad school friend screamed mid-conversation, looking across 18th Street. It was the first weekend of…
#AHA16 Day 1 Highlights
It was a gorgeous day in Atlanta to kick off the 2016 AHA annual meeting. Many first-time visitors found themselves…
View from the Exhibit Hall
“Visit our booth!” You’ll find this exhortation in the very many ads in the back of your AHA annual meeting…
Crashing Receptions and Networking at the AHA Annual Meeting
What makes conferences like the AHA annual meeting truly special is that they offer the rare occasion for historians to…
AHA16 Signature Cocktail Names Announced!
AHA staff is thrilled to announce the winning names of this year’s “Name That Cocktail!” contest. Each year, historians submit…
Attending the Meeting from Afar: A Few Notes for AHA16 Social Media
We will be meeting in Atlanta January 7-10 for four days of intellectual enlightenment and discussion on the historical profession. In addition to…
Textual Studies and Book History at the AHA Annual Meeting
Historians often rely on the written record to reconstruct the past. Documents, printed books, and other artifacts all provide historians…
No More Guilty Pleasures: Popular Culture (and More) in the January Perspectives on History
Are historians shaking off a Frankfurt School hangover? Anecdotally, it seems that having a taste for mass culture is more…