Historians in the News

Why we're still fighting over U.S. history

by Nathan Pippenger

There’s trouble afoot in Texas, where a recent watchdog review of proposed new social studies textbooks for Grades 6-12 has found a whole slew of problems.

Historian Geoffrey Ward tells CBS: Fox News would have ‘loved’ to show FDR with polio ‘at his most helpless’

“I think if he were running now, sadly, I think TV crews would compete with each other to see who could get the footage that showed him at his most helpless. He had to be carried in and out of buildings. He had to be helped to remove his braces and so on.”

After Ferguson, some black history grad students wonder: Does Pursuing a Ph.D. Matter?

“As much as I try to explain how white supremacy works to some people in my cohort, I feel like they don’t get it. It makes me feel like my work is in vain as a black man in the academy.”

Ken Burns is in a race to slow us down

“We are in a media culture where we are buried in information but we know nothing."

Once again Ken Burns turns to Geoffrey Ward to write his script, this time about the Roosevelts

Ward, who himself contracted Polio as a child, goes on camera in the new series--a first.

Historian warns that countries go into decline when they become rigid, oppress minorities, and become weak militarily

That’s the lesson of the decline and fall of the Safavid Empire (Persia)

Cornell History Professor Calls President's Speech High on Rhetoric Low on Action

"If someone is dangerous enough to fight then you fight to win."

Critics question accuracy of new conservative-leaning social studies textbooks up for adoption in Texas

"The reviewers laid out numerous errors and shortcomings in the books, such as political cartoons that make fun of affirmative action programs and present “ideologically slanted” views on government and social security taxes."

With debate, State Board lays U.S. history flap to rest

Members of the State Board of Education Wednesday got it from both sides in the culture wars controversy over the new Advanced Placement U.S. history course and test.

Daniel Pipes admits he was wrong to dismiss the Kurds back in 1991

by Daniel Pipes

"I can account for these errors: In 1991, no one knew that autonomous Kurdish rule in Iraq would flourish as it has."

Impact of the Great Recession on History? Fewer Students Are Majoring in History.

Fewer students are majoring in history, but the number of history departments has barely budged.

Rick Perlstein explains what politicians can learn today from Reagan’s unexpected rise to power (interview)

by Harold Pollack

An interview with Rick Perlstein: Reagan’s improbable success, The OPEC oil embargo, the Patty Hearst kidnapping, whether President Obama underestimated the implacability of his political opponents and what Perlstein himself has learned from critical essays written about his book.

Conversation With Ken Burns

The filmmaker, whose latest documentary, ‘The Roosevelts,’ premieres Sept. 14 on PBS, talks about their fears, personal struggles and sense of duty.

University of Illinois Bigwig to Native American Studies scholar Jean O’Brien: Drop Dead

by Claire Potter

"OK, University of Illinois Board of Trustees chair Chris Kennedy did not exactly say that to University of Minnesota Native American Studies scholar Jean O’Brien, who had written to express her distress over the Steven Salaita #HireFire."

NYT praises Kissinger’s new book as right for the times

Given the multiplying foreign policy emergencies in the headlines, from the advance of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to the face-off between Russia and Ukraine, the subject of Henry Kissinger’s new book, “World Order,” could not be more timely.

Niall Ferguson and Paul Krugman finally agree on something ... Scotland should remain part of the UK

They're known for a bruising battle, but on Scotland they agree.  

Digital History Center Strives to Connect With the Public

The center’s scholars strive to capture the voices of historical actors not traditionally represented in archives, like slaves and American Indians, through projects that map the past and involve the public in analyzing historical data.

Daniel Pipes says you can blame one man for the sudden surprise success of ISIS … Turkey’s Erdogan

by Daniel Pipes

"Without Turkish support, ISIS would not be where it is."

Historian finds himself on the front lines of the NJ Bridgegate scandal

by HNN Staff

"Sometime after I decided to go to UVA, I briefly took a job with PoliticsNJ.com, run by an anonymous editor who went by the name of a long-deceased governor of New Jersey named Walter "Wally" Edge. Wally, I learned years later, was David Wildstein."

The Economist slams the new book on slavery by Edward Baptist and then apologizes for it — and takes it down

by Edward Baptist

The Economist's book review stated that slaves were treated well by their owners.