This week we note an upcoming registration deadline for the NHA Annual Meeting and Humanities Advocacy Day, new errors found in a Virginia history textbook, history teaching in Britian, and advice for those interviewing for jobs at the annual meeting. We also link to an article on U.S. population migration over the past century, thoughts on citing e-books, some belated holiday history, and a look at the brutality of Medieval warfare.

News

• 2011 Annual Meeting & Humanities Advocacy Day
  Tomorrow is the last day to receive the discounted registration price for the National Humanities Alliance Annual Meeting and Humanities Advocacy Day.

Teaching

• Some Va. history texts filled with errors, review finds
  The Washington Post digs deeper into the recent Virginia textbooks controversy, over the factually incorrect Our Virginia: Past and Present. Closer scrutiny from a group of scholars turn up of "dozens" of additional mistakes in the textbook. The Post reports that the publisher at the center of the controversy is now planning to hire a professional historian for revisions, but also reports that one county in Virginia just adopted the books, because "Their product is substantially less expensive.” Update: AHA Executive Director James Grossman spoke with WTOP reporter Kate Ryan yesterday about the need for professional standards when it comes to writing history textbooks.
• History teaching: ‘A total disgrace’
  Actor Colin Firth and historians Tariq Ali and Niall Ferguson discuss the "disastrous" state of history teaching in Britain and proposals for reform there. See also the full program that Firth guest edited.

Annual Meeting

• Tell Us About Your Dissertation: And Other Commonly Fumbled Interview Questions
  In time for the AHA’s Annual Meeting, Claire B. Potter offers some tips (including how to talk about your dissertation and classes you teach) for those interviewing for jobs.

More

• 2010 Census: South and West Advance (Without California)
  This article from Newgeography looks at 2010 census data and the population migration of U.S. residents over the past 100 years. The ratio of residents in the South and West versus the Northeast and Midwest is nearly the reverse of what it was in 1950.
• The future of footnotes
  Jonathan Rees contemplates the challenges of reading and citing e-books he’s downloaded to his iPad.
• Celebrating This Holiday Season With A History of the Winter Holidays
  Even though Christmas is over, check out The National Women’s History Museum video,  A History of the Winter Holidays, which trackswomen’s roles in Christmas traditions, from Queen Victoria to Louisa May Alcott.
• Nasty, brutish and not that short
  The Economist takes a look at the gruesome realities of Medieval battles.

Contributors: David Darlington, Elisabeth Grant, and Robert B. Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.