Historians in the News

Historian sues University of South Florida, claiming sexual harassment and discrimination by fellow professor

Former Associate Professor Tamara Zwick claims that the chair of the USF Tampa history department, Fraser Ottanelli, repeatedly sexually harassed her and spread false rumors about her.

Miriam Griffin, Who Put Nero in a New Light, Dies at 82

One of the world’s foremost classical scholars, she wrote books about Seneca and Nero.

Historian seeks UK apology for forced wartime conscription of West Africans

The campaign, the first of its kind, is being led by historian and author Dr Robert Peprah-Gyamfi, whose own uncle was among those forced conscripts.

Martin Duberman: Why LGBT Activism Needs to Return to Its Radical Roots

The veteran LGBT activist and historian argues in his new book that modern activism has lost its way—and lost its spark—in pursuit of mainstream acceptance.

Outcry over word "Aboriginal" continues as historians push for ban on changing certificates

The decision by a West Australian bureaucrat to redact the word "Aboriginal" from official documents has created an outcry among archivists, genealogists and historians across Australia.

Drexel professor says fascism has arrived in the US

by Robert Zaller

In an op ed for the student newspaper Robert Zaller says “this country is in the deepest and most awful trouble any of us have known.”

A Maverick Candidate’s Message to the AHA: Elect More Adjuncts

A medievalist petitions her way onto the ballot for the American Historical Association’s council.

Thomas Sugrue takes to the NYT to set the record straight about the Civil Rights Movement’s lesson for today’s protesters

by Thomas J. Sugrue

The lesson? To succeed you often have to be uncivil.

Ritual Child Sacrifice Uncovered in Bronze Age Turkey

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that at least 11 children and young people were killed as a result of ritualistic sacrifice between 3100 and 2800 B.C.E.

Historian swore he'd never leave Coca-Cola — then Ford called

Ford Motor Co. has hired away Coca-Cola's image historian, Ted Ryan, who will essentially sculpt Ford's story and seek to reframe how America and the world think of the iconic carmaker.

Penn unveils new findings on history with slavery: Over 75 former trustees owned slaves

Earlier this year, an undergraduate student research study supported by Penn's History Department found that many of the University's founding trustees had substantial connections to the slave trade.

Philip Zelikow says step-by-step diplomacy in Korea has failed, so it’s time to try something new

He should know. He was involved in the step-by-step talks under Bush.

Historian Michael T. Landis tried to clear his name. Colleagues didn’t buy it.

After an investigation found that he had behaved inappropriately with female students, Landis, an assistant professor of history at Tarleton State, privately told well-known female historians that he had been the victim of a smear campaign. It backfired.

Renowned Johns Hopkins slavery scholar Willie Lee Rose dies at 91

Her "Rehearsal for Reconstruction," published in 1964, is considered a groundbreaking work in the scholarly reconsideration of North American slavery.

Well-Behaved Women Make History Too

What gets lost when it’s only the rebel girls who get lionized?

President Trump Is Looking for Suggestions for Pardons

So Time Magazine asked 7 historians for their thoughts. Who else besides Jack Johnson should get a pardon?

Black history is still largely ignored, 70 years after Empire Windrush reached Britain

by April-Louise Pennant and Nando Sigona

It is far more common for students to become familiar with Britain’s “heroic” involvement in the abolition of slavery in the 19th century than with the financial benefit Britain wrought from the slave trade in the two centuries beforehand.

A.P. World History Tries to Trim Thousands of Years, and Educators Revolt

No Roman Empire. No Mongols. No ancient Chinese dynasties or early Indian states. And you can forget about the Incan and Aztec empires before the Europeans dropped their anchors.

Parents, Teachers, Legislators Support Reinstating Passage of U.S. History Test as High School Graduation Requirement in Massachusetts

“Support for the U.S. history graduation requirement has remained strong despite the anti-testing backlash we’ve seen in recent years."

Conservative Mark Bauerlein says humanities faculty are in denial about their own role in the decline of the humanities

by Mark Bauerlein

"The undergraduate masses want one thing, the elite tells them they’re wrong and deliver another thing."