History and Popular Culture

Scratch a historian, and chances are you’ll find a connoisseur of some form of popular culture. Scratch a connoisseur of popular culture, and you just might find someone with a passion for history. As historians think about ways to bring our expertise to public conversations, we can’t afford to ignore music, television, video games, and other media that employ history. This month’s feature stories and Perspectives on Culture column refuse to condescend to popular culture-an approach we think is worth emulating. Image: D J Shin, via Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Staff

Allison Miller, editor
Stephanie Kingsley, associate editor, web content and social media
Kritika Agarwal, associate editor, publications
Sadie Bergen, editorial assistant
Liz Townsend, coordinator, data administration and integrity

Featured Articles

Adventures in time: The popular web series History Respawned features academic historians analyzing the context and accuracy of video games.

January 1, 2016

Features

Backward Compatible
Jay Javier/Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

January 1, 2016

Features

The Past, Conditionally

January 1, 2016

Features

Classroom Soundtrack
Protests against Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at San Jose's SAP Center, September 2007. Credit: S. Lin, Alliance for Justice and Accountability

January 1, 2016

Viewpoints

Can the South Asian Academic Speak from Abroad?
Roger Rees as William Bradford in Ric Burns's The Pilgrims. Credit: Tim Cragg/PBS

January 1, 2016

Perspectives on Culture

Why Is William Bradford Smiling?
Wooden bridge against a background of green trees.

January 1, 2016

Career Paths

From Academia to ETS

From the AHA

The AHA Townhouse

January 1, 2016

From the Editor, Townhouse Notes

Townhouse Notes, January 2016
Pencils on yellow background

January 1, 2016

From the Executive Director

“Safe From” and “Safe For”
The Honkōji world map of 1470, a copy of the renowned Kangnido map of 1402, created in Korea. The map shows trade routes among Africa, Europe, and Asia, as well as capital cities. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

January 1, 2016

From the President

Scale in History
A very long line of yellow lines at different brightnesses on a black background

January 1, 2016

AHA Activities

AHA Welcomes New Staff Member: Kritika Agarwal
Black background with clusters of translucent and overlapping dark blue, pink, and orange dots of varying sizes, some of which have blurred edges.

January 1, 2016

AHA Activities

Advocacy Briefs, January 2016
Jan 2016 Perspectives on History

January 4, 2016

From the Editor, Perspectives Daily

No More Guilty Pleasures
AHA 2020 - New York, NY - January 4, 2020

January 1, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting

Awards, Prizes, and Honors Conferred at the 130th Annual Meeting
DREAM activists protest President Obama's visit to Austin in May 2011. DREAMers continue facing challenges such as being banned from pursuing higher education in universities in Georgia.

January 28, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

Crossing Boundaries
From the obverse of a photo postcard depicting the lynching of Jesse Washington. Wikimedia Commons

January 27, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

Introduction to the 2016 AHA Opening Plenary
Panelists at the AHA GECC open forum. GECC invited graduate students and early career professionals to discuss the AHA’s Career Diversity for Historians initiative and related issues at the 2016 AHA annual meeting.

January 26, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting

The 2016 GECC Open Forum on Career Diversity
A “whale-bone corset.” Marc Monaghan

January 21, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting

A-HA Moments in Atlanta
AHA 2020 - New York, NY - January 4, 2020

January 12, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

#AHA16 Day 4 Highlights
AHA 2020 - New York, NY - January 4, 2020

January 10, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

#AHA16 Day 3 Highlights
AHA 2020 - New York, NY - January 4, 2020

January 9, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

#AHA16 Day 2 Highlights
AHA 2020 - New York, NY - January 4, 2020

January 8, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

#AHA16 Day 1 Highlights
Historians go back to the future at the 2014 AHA annual meeting in Washington, DC.

January 9, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

The Delorean Moment; or, Fun at the AHA Annual Meeting
The Cambridge University Press booth at the 2015 AHA annual meeting.

January 8, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

View from the Exhibit Hall
President's Reception at the 2015 AHA annual meeting. Mark Monaghan.

January 7, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting

Crashing Receptions and Networking at the AHA Annual Meeting
cocktail

January 6, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

AHA16 Signature Cocktail Names Announced!
AHA 2020 - New York, NY - January 4, 2020

January 6, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

Attending the Meeting from Afar
Mural from the Evolution of the Book series in the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress. John W. Alexander, Library of Congress.

January 5, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

Textual Studies and Book History at the AHA Annual Meeting
AHA 2020 - New York, NY - January 4, 2020

January 19, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting, Perspectives Daily

The History of Terrorism: New Avenues of Research
Stone Mountain, Goergia. Wikimedia Commons.

January 9, 2016

AHA Annual Meeting

The Confederacy, Its Symbols, and the Politics of Public Culture

Other Articles

January 1, 2016

From the National Coalition for History

Congress Restores Funding for K–12 History Education

January 25, 2016

From the National History Center

Why Americans Get to Talk So Much
Many golden string lights against blue and black background. The lights are out of focus, creating clusters of soft, round dots.

January 11, 2016

News, Perspectives Daily

AHA Member Patricia Limerick Appointed to the National Council on the Humanities
Many golden string lights against blue and black background. The lights are out of focus, creating clusters of soft, round dots.

January 11, 2016

News, Perspectives Daily

Patricia Limerick on Her Appointment to the National Council on the Humanities
Spotlight on a dark background

January 29, 2016

Member Spotlight, Perspectives Daily

AHA Member Spotlight: Amy Williams
Spotlight on a dark background

January 20, 2016

Member Spotlight, Perspectives Daily

AHA Member Spotlight: Jacob Kramer
Spotlight on a dark background

January 14, 2016

Member Spotlight, Perspectives Daily

AHA Member Spotlight: Jeffrey L. Sturchio

January 20, 2016

News

CLGBTH Call for Papers for 2017 Annual Meeting
Pen with paper and envelopes

January 1, 2016

Letters to the Editor

On the US Visa Waiver Program
Pen with paper and envelopes

January 1, 2016

Letters to the Editor

On “Charm School”
Pen with paper and envelopes

January 1, 2016

Letters to the Editor

On “Black Histories Matter”

News

Thin lines of light in green, blue, and yellow in a curved shape against the night sky.

January 1, 2016

News

Holocaust Museum Project Engages Citizen Historians to Gain Better Understanding of What Americans Knew
Thin lines of light in green, blue, and yellow in a curved shape against the night sky.

January 19, 2016

News, Perspectives Daily

Ken Burns Will Deliver 2016 Jefferson Lecture
Thin lines of light in green, blue, and yellow in a curved shape against the night sky.

January 13, 2016

News, Perspectives Daily

NEH Invites Entries for the Chronicling America Data Challenge