History of Cartography Project Added December 01, 2020

Welcome to the New Fireside Chat: How to Give a Virtual Book Talk Added January 06, 2021

AHA Executive Director Featured in Inside Higher Ed (January 2021) Added January 08, 2021

AHA executive director Jim Grossman was featured in an article in Inside Higher Ed that discussed the January 6, 2021, crisis in the US Capitol. Grossman added historical context to the day’s events, saying, “Everything has a history, and what is happening at the US Capitol is part of a historical process that needs to be understood.” Grossman also noted that the rioters are “people whose historical sensibilities have been nurtured by popular culture and cynical politicians willing to manipulate bigotry for self-interested purposes.”

Getting Started in Digital History: Pedagogy in the Time of COVID Added February 11, 2021

As many of us have learned over the past year, when used effectively, new technologies have the power to bring history to life and transform the study of the past into an active, hands-on process. But technology can only enhance student learning if it is used creatively, with ethics and equity in mind. This year’s AHA Digital History Workshop will explore how you can integrate technology and Internet resources into your teaching in powerful, imaginative, and equitable ways that will engage your students and allow them to demonstrate their knowledge and skills using novel methods.

AHA Member Spotlight: Susan Kwosek Added February 12, 2021

AHA Member Awarded Digital History Grant (February 2021) Added February 12, 2021

Congratulations to AHA member Brandon Jett (Florida South-Western State Coll.), who was recently awarded a grant from the American Society for Legal History for his digital history project “Lynching in LaBelle.” The digital history project will include primary and secondary sources with information related to the 1926 lynching of Henry Patterson, biographies of those involved in the trial, official documents from the investigation, court records, and other artifacts that Jett and three students in his African American history course have collected.

Confronting a Pandemic: The AHA Supports Historians with the Help of NEH CARES Added February 16, 2021

AHA Sends Letter to SFSU President Regarding “Investigation” of History Professor (April 2023) Added April 27, 2023

The AHA has sent a letter to San Francisco State University president Lynn Mahoney expressing “deep concern” regarding the university’s “investigation” of Professor Maziar Behrooz for showing a drawing of the prophet Muhammad in his course on the history of the Islamic world between 500 and 1700. “Sanctioning Professor Behrooz for showing an image relevant to the course on grounds that it offended a student would constitute a serious breach of the professor’s academic freedom,” the AHA wrote. “Any attempts to ban the teaching of primary sources on the grounds that they offend religious sensibilities would mean that SFSU would be taking a position on a theological matter—one that is well beyond the purview of institutions of higher education.”

Teaching History with Integrity

Confronting Controversies about America’s Past The AHA, its members, and other historians find ourselves on the front lines of a conflict over America’s past, confronting opponents who are actively promoting ignorance in service of misleading notions of unity. Through Teaching History with Integrity, the AHA leads or participates in several initiatives to provide resources and support for history educators facing intensifying controversies about the teaching of the American past. Historians have a crucial role to play as participants in public deliberations about how to engage students in truthful and rigorous inquiry in history classrooms. For details about the status of divisive concepts legislation in the United States, see Education Week, Quorum, the American Association of University Professors, and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

AHA Vice President Named President of Howard University (May 2023) Added May 03, 2023

Congratulations to AHA Research Division vice president Ben Vinson III, who has been selected to serve as Howard University’s 18th president. Vinson is currently provost at Case Western Reserve University; he will replace current Howard president Wayne A.I. Frederick on September 1, 2023.