Roundup

When the Public University is a Corporate Landlord

by Charmaine Chua, Desiree Fields and David Stein

During negotiations with graduate student workers, UCLA administrators claimed that increasing stipends would effectively subsidize local landlords through higher rents and squeeze the poor in the Los Angeles housing market. The reality is that the university is an investor in a huge real estate trust that is hiking rents itself. 

Can a "Return to Normal" Happen Without Repairing Sociability?

by Nate Holdren

The push to return to many pre-pandemic modes of working and living is taking place without sufficient provision for mitigating risk, and with seriously damaged bonds of trust and mutual support; people are again in proximity to each other, but far from being together. 

Does Sen. Fetterman's Depression Disclosure Signal Change in Mental Health Acceptance?

by Jonathan Sadowsky

51 years ago the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Senator Thomas Eagleton, was dropped from the ticket when it was revealed he had received treatment for depression. A historian of mental health says it's too simple to declare progress without acknowledging ongoing stigma. 

Is it Time to Rethink the Term "Indigenous"?

by Manvir Singh

The concept of indigenous peoples was developed to describe political relationships formed by European colonialism. Does it aptly describe complex ethnic relationships today? And can it be disrupted by archaeological discoveries of migration and habitation? 

The East Palestine Disaster Echoes 1948's Killer Smog in Donora, PA

by Cassondra Hanna

Despite the decline of rust belt industry, the Ohio Valley remains a backbone of the industrial transportation sector, making its residents uniquely vulnerable to acute toxic pollution if profits are allowed to outweigh environmental safety. 

Russia's Invasion Threatens Soviet Secret Police Archives in Ukraine—and Families' History

by Megan Buskey

During a brief recent window of time, records of Soviet secret police activities in Ukraine, including voluminous files kept on ordinary civilians, have become available to researchers. While pro-Russian politicians once kept them classified, Russian munitions now threaten their physical existence. 

Ron DeSantis is Making History a Political Issue; What does His Book Say?

by David Waldstreicher

Nobody paid much attention to the Florida governor's 2011 book "Dreams from Our Founding Fathers." Maybe we should now—it spells out a justification for a deeply conservative view of the constitution that dismisses the significance of racism in the founding and in the doctrine of originalism.

Drawing the Line between Assigning and Endorsing

by Steve Mintz

Controversies about recent books about the history and legacy of colonialism raise questions about what it means to assign – or refuse to – a book for students to read, discuss, and potentially critique, and how provocation works in the liberal model of inquiry. 

Ford's Pardon of Nixon and Leads Americans to Doubt Accountability, Democracy

by Garrett M. Graff

Democracy won't be secure unless those who hold positions of power can be assured of being held to account if they break the law or abuse the public's trust. 

The Carter Presidency Wasn't How we Remember It

by Kai Bird

While he was pessimistic about the moral quality of politics, a biographer says that the 39th president was capable of ruthless pragmatism that helped him achieve more than he is credited for, though it cost him reelection. 

The Roundup Top Ten for February 17, 2023

The top opinion writing by historians and about history from around the web this week. 

Temple Revives Old-Time Union Busting against Grad Students

by Heather Ann Thompson

Temple's decision to revoke the tuition remission of striking grad students (and threaten their ability to complete degrees) is the kind of hardball tactic that bodes ill for workers in every workplace in America, and a reminder of the need to understand the country's labor history. 

The Threat of Christian Nationalism

by Kristin Du Mez

"Because Christian nationalists believe that God is on their side and that the fate of Christian America is at stake, among staunch adherents there is no space for compromise."

We're Critics of Many DEI Initiatives. Ron DeSantis's Attacks are Still Wrong

by Amna Khalid and Jeffrey Aaron Snyder

Under the banner of fighting DEI, "DeSantis and his allies are waging an aggressive, highly orchestrated campaign against faculty expertise, faculty autonomy and faculty governance" that will harm academic freedom and education far more than it will help. 

The Three Little Letters that Have DeSantis on the Attack

by Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Erica Licht

By defunding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs in Florida's colleges, the governor is putting the state out of step with research-driven findings about how institutions and workplaces can incorporate diverse populations like Florida's – students, campuses and employers will pay the price for political posturing. 

The Specter of Woke Corporate Communism Haunts the Republican Mind

by Steve Fraser

How do you run a politically useful Cold War without any actual Communism? Just declare that the organs of global capitalism are, in fact, red—borrowing some anti-Semitic tropes along the way. 

DeSantis Knows Path to Victory Runs Through Right-Wing Churches

by Katherine Stewart

Ron DeSantis's efforts to outflank Donald Trump to win the allegiance of Christian nationalists will determine whether he can become the GOP nominee. The lengths he's gone to already to court that constituency should scare supporters of democracy. 

Drop "Culture War" Description: Banning Books and Restricting Ideas is Fascism

by Jason Stanley

Conflicting cultural values are a normal part of democracy. What leaders like Ron DeSantis want is to make sure only one set of values has a place in the public square. 

What's the Point of Nikki Haley's Campaign?

by Tom Nichols

No candidate is going to "restore sanity" to the Republican Party, even if any want to. 

Florida's Higher Ed Battles are, in Fact, Highly Precedented

by Barrett J. Taylor

Understanding the processes and agendas at work in the DeSantis administration's push to change higher education in Florida can help provide perspective on what's new, what's familiar, and what's at stake in the future.