History and the Military
Today, the role of student military experience in higher education occupies an increasingly prominent place in conversations about college access, curriculum, and affordability. But it's possible that many historians haven't given much thought to the ways student veterans will come to shape classroom discussions, or considered that military training requires critical thinking skills that the study of history can draw out. This issue presents two takes on the subject from military veterans. Image: artist unknown, "The Colors: Four Years Pass in Final Review," US Army Center of Military History.
Staff
Rare Air: Pan Am and the Height of Style
With its legacy of dashing pilots, clean-cut attendants, and speedy flights to exotic destinations in “clippers” emblazoned with its distinct…
Why Study History?
“Wondering What to Do with Your BA in History?” is one of the AHA’s most popular publications. The AHA Today…
Advocacy Briefs: AHA Protests Threats to Academic Freedom in Poland
AHA president Patrick Manning sent a letter to Polish president Andrzej Duda expressing concern over the government’s treatment and potential…
Townhouse Notes January 2017
I have been immensely gratified over the past year and a half to hear from so many Perspectives readers, new…
Bound and Gagged
We live, we are constantly told, in an era of accelerated innovation and change. Those who make this argument usually…
Fighting for History, within and beyond the Beltway
Editor’s note: Portions of this column were adapted from updates available at the National Coalition for History’s website, historycoalition.org. Women’s…
Political History: An Exchange
Editor’s note: The New York Times opinion pages sent shock waves through the historical community last August with “Why Did…
Political History and the History of Sexuality
In my little corner of the world, there was quite a ruckus in August 2016 when Fredrik Logevall and…
US Political History: Alive and Well?
As every author of a newspaper op-ed knows, it’s hard to do nuance in 800 words. But one accepts the…
Stein Responds
Self-proclaimed guardians of political history have regularly issued jeremiads about the decline of our field. For years, this typically took…
Richard R. Beeman (1942-2016)
Historian of Colonial and Early National America Richard R. Beeman, John Welsh Centennial Professor of History emeritus at the University…
Human Rights in the Era of Trump
“Don’t tell me it doesn’t work—torture works,” then presidential candidate Donald Trump said at a February 2016 campaign event in…
AHA Condemns Executive Order Restricting Entry to the United States
The strongly condemns the executive order issued by President Donald J. Trump on January 27 purportedly “protecting the nation from…
AHA Member Spotlight: David Zwart
David Zwart is an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has been…
The Obligations of Citizenship and the Limits of Expertise: AHA Session 61
If you haven’t seen Stanley Fish in a while, I’ll tell you this: the man has not lost a step.…
NEH Action Alert
Last week a news story appeared in The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper with a strong reputation for accuracy, that the…
Monumental Effort: Historians and the Creation of the National Monument to Reconstruction
One of President Obama’s last act while in office was to designate a national monument to Reconstruction in Beaufort, South…
Actions by the AHA Council, June 2016 to January 2017
Through e-mail conversation from June 7, 2016, to December 1, 2016, and at meetings on January 5 and 8, 2017,…
Oral History Research Excluded from IRB Oversight
On January 19 the federal government issued its final rule governing Institutional Review Boards, which “explicitly removes” oral history and journalism from…
AHA Member Spotlight: Felipe Hinojosa
Felipe Hinojosa is an associate professor at Texas A&M University. He lives in College Station, Texas, and has been a…
Committee on LGBT History Solicits Submissions for AHA18
The Committee on LGBT History is soliciting submissions for next year’s meeting of the American Historical Association in Washington, DC,…
Broadening Your Career Horizon
The challenging academic job market facing historians is one topic that is frequently discussed in graduate courses, academic journals, and…
AHA Member Spotlight: Daniel Gifford
Daniel Gifford is a term assistant professor and the course coordinator of INTO Mason’s “American Cultures” course for international students…
Political History, the AHA Job Market Report, and More: Introducing the January Issue of Perspectives
The AHA staff returns to our headquarters today, a bit worn from the 2017 annual meeting in unexpectedly snowy Denver,…
Making Memories at AHA17
Whether this is your first or fiftieth annual meeting, you can probably pick out a favorite moment from the familiar…
Behind the Scenes at the Annual Meeting
Who do you call if you spot a pigeon flying around in the Job Center at the AHA’s annual meeting?…
AHA Statement on Right to Nonviolent Political Action
The AHA Council, at its January 5, 2017, meeting, approved the following statement: The AHA upholds the rights of students, faculty,…
The Muddled History of the Denver Omelet
The Denver omelet is a near ubiquitous offering on diner and greasy spoon menus across the country, but what is…
AHA Plenary, “The First Hundred Days: Priorities for a New US President”
Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as the nation’s 45th president on January 20, 2017. With that fast-approaching fact in…
Becoming an Assistant Professor: Things I Wish I’d Known as a Grad Student
As I gear up for another AHA annual meeting, I have been reflecting a lot about my own transition from…
Hunting and Gathering
On the first day of the AHA’s annual meeting, the most senior editors, the youngest marketing assistants, and anyone else…
Confessions of a Recovering Introvert
Attending my first AHA annual meeting as a graduate student almost 25 years ago, I knew only my advisor, whom…
AHA17 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…
Tweeting at the Annual Meeting: Results from the AHA17 History Hashtags Drive
Following the 2016 annual meeting in Atlanta, I argued in Perspectives that historians should try and engage in tweeting strategically…