Historians in the News

Harvard’s Drew Faust remembers when she decided to march in Selma

She skipped her exams to participate.

Historians meeting in Berlin are debating Germany's responsibility for the Armenian Genocide

Witness or accomplice? New findings show that Germany’s complicity is greater than previously assumed.

Gender bias ‘rife’ in UK history departments, says report

Conditions for female academics in some UK university history departments “smack still of the 1970s.”

Senate historian Donald Ritchie to retire

Actually: " “Historians never retire, they just have more time to research.”

Yale changing requirements for history majors

It’s the biggest change in a generation, says Beverly Gage

GW professor under consideration for Pulitzer Prize

Eric Cline, a classics and anthropology professor, is up for a prize for “1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed.”

The next president-elect of the American Historical Association will be one of these two men

It will be either the University of Pennsylvania's David B. Ruderman,   or UC's Tyler Stovall.

What happens when historian Yuval Noah Harari and psychology's Daniel Kahneman meet up? Find out.

Harari is the author of the new book, Sapiens:  A Brief History of Humankind.  Kahneman is the author of Fast and Slow Thinking.

National Security Archive Sues State Department Over Kissinger Telephone Messages

Kissinger turned over the messages to the State Department in 2001, but State has refused to make them available, claiming executive privilege.

Scholars, Writers and Thinkers Call for Academic Freedom in Thailand

They are particularly upset over the firing of Dr. Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a leading historian at Thammasat University who was forced to flee the country for his life.

Stanford’s Ian Morris says technology is changing the human animal

Ian “Why the West Rules" Morris says that in the 21st century our cultural evolution is feeding back into our biological evolution.

Yale historian traces the establishment of slavery plantations to a taste for sugar

"So one of the most cataclysmic movements of people in the history of the world is the result of what might be seen as a frivolous or minor fashion. “ — Paul Freedman

Dr. Saad Eskander's forced departure from Iraq's National Library and Archives deplored

by Jeffrey Spurr

"Dr. Eskander's ouster is another example of the shocking incapacity of Iraq's leaders for wise and effective governance."

Nancy Cott selected as the next President-Elect of the Organization of American Historians

After the Annual Meeting, Jon Butler, Yale University, emeritus, will become OAH President, Nancy Cott, Harvard University, will become President-Elect, and Ed Ayers, University of Richmond, will become Vice President.

Timothy V Johnson Named Head of Tamiment Library

Scholar of African Diaspora History to head renowned center for the study of left politics, labor, and social protest movements

Jill Lepore says Wonder Woman is the missing link in the history of feminism

"The book argues against the idea that the struggle for woman’s equality came in waves."

Scholar calls ISIS destruction of antiquities an example of ethnic cleansing

In an interview Zainab Bahrani, professor of Near Eastern and East Mediterranean art and archeology at Columbia University, says it’s an attack on diversity.

Biographer of a Progressive reformer says it's odd reading stories about inequality in the news every day

Economic inequality in the U.S. is Déjà Vu all over again, says Robyn Muncy.

Dutch sociologist says that what is new about mass killing is that we’re embarrassed by it

University of Amsterdam Professor of Social Science Emeritus Abram de Swaan takes a hard look at the subject in his new book, “The Killing Compartments: The Mentality of Mass Murder.”

NYT History Book Reviews: Who Got Noticed this Week?

by Erik Moshe

Can a book that includes possibly plagiarized sections be saved? That’s our question of the week about a book under review.