Historians in the News

Niall Ferguson's 4 Reasons Why US Dominance Is Over

 The factors he cited:

Glastonbury Abbey's pottery link to Dark Ages

Pottery fragments from an excavation archive of Glastonbury Abbey have shown the site dates back to the Dark Ages, which is later than previously thought.The research project into the 1951-1964 excavation archive have shown humans occupied the site in the late 4th or 5th centuries.Archaeologist John Allan said: "We hadn't realised these periods were represented in the excavated pottery."Other finds include "exotic" pottery from Italy, Spain, Portugal and France....

talian archaeologists hunt for Mona Lisa model

Archaeologists on Wednesday began digging for the remains of a 16th-century woman believed to be the model for Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa in a bid to unlock an art world mystery.The team of historians say they will try to find the remains using geo-radar equipment and then try to re-create a likeness of what the woman, Lisa Gherardini, would have looked like to compare her to the painting.

House where Nelson Mandela's gun 'buried' up for auction

A suburban house thought to have been built over the spot where Nelson Mandela buried the first weapon of the African National Congress's armed resistance will go up for auction on Thursday amid fears that bounty hunters could buy it and unearth the gun to sell abroad.The sale of 5 George Avenue in Rivonia, northern Johannesburg, has attracted attention from around the world which is expected to send the three-bedroom property's original asking price of 3 million rand (£435,000) spiralling.

PolitiFact says Doris Kearns Goodwin was mistaken in saying no U.S. combat deaths under Eisenhower

During the May 8, 2011, edition of NBC’sMeet the Press, historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin offered a striking statistic about combat casualties under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.Host David Gregory began the exchange by playing a video clip from Robert Kagan, a foreign policy scholar and commentator who has advised several Republican office-holders.

Horace Freeland Judson, Science Historian, Dies at 80

Horace Freeland Judson, a science writer whose 1979 book “The Eighth Day of Creation” is regarded as the definitive account of the breakthroughs that transformed molecular biology in the mid-20th century, died on Friday at his home in Baltimore. He was 80. The cause was complications of a stroke, his daughter Olivia said.

New book by Kissinger on China gives Mao a pass on millions of dead

... Mr. Kissinger’s fascinating, shrewd and sometimes perverse new book, “On China,” not only addresses the central role he played in Nixon’s opening to China but also tries to show how the history of China, both ancient and more recent, has shaped its foreign policy and attitudes toward the West. While this volume is indebted to the pioneering scholarship of historians like Jonathan D. Spence, its portrait of China is informed by Mr.

AHA explores the practice of "Political History Today"

[HNN Editor:  In the latest issue of Perspectives the AHA explores how political history is practiced today.]

What Does the Fiscal 2011 Budget Hold for the History and Archives Communities?

Teaching American History grants (Department of Education): The Teaching American History Grants (TAH) program sustained a 61 percent cut of $73 million reducing the allocation from $119 million in fisc

History Faculty Salaries Fall Behind Inflation and the Rest of Academia

Average salaries for history faculty in four-year colleges and universities increased by just 0.5 percent over the academic year 2010–11—the smallest increase for our discipline in 25 years of surveying by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR).

NYT runs feature on Manning Marable's Malcolm X Multimedia Study Project

 I ARRIVED at Butler Library on the Columbia campus last week, showed my ID and was directed to a fifth-floor room where I could examine in person a trove of documents related to Malcolm X.That the documents were in digital format, and I would be viewing them on a Web site, made the exercise seem a bit extraordinary. Can’t you just send me a link? I asked.

NYT interviews Susan Martin about her new book on immigration

 

Using History to Mold Ideas on the Right

ALEDO, Tex. — In an unmarked office building in this ranching town, among thousands of Revolution-era documents and two muskets with bayonets, David Barton might seem like a quirky history buff. But the true ambition of this slender man in cowboy boots is to use America’s past to remake its future, and he has the ear of several would-be presidents.

NYT profiles self-taught historian who's hero to the right

Related Links David Barton on the Jon Stewart Show (5-4-11) ALEDO, Tex. — In an unmarked office building in this ranching town, among thousands of Revolution-era documents and two muskets with bayonets, David Barton might seem like a quirky history buff. But the true ambition of this slender man in cowboy boots is to use America’s past to remake its future, and he has the ear of several would-be presidents.

Former Tulane history professor faces fraud investigation in Minnesota

A North Oaks couple who moved here in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have wrongfully collected more than $430,000 in medical and disability benefits for their children since 2006, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Archivist Troubled by Records Policy

David Ferriero, the nation’s archivist, said Tuesday that he was uncomfortable with letting White House staff members decide whether their electronic messages from personal accounts were work-related and must be saved. Mr. Ferriero told a House hearing that official communications sent from a presidential employee’s personal device, using personal accounts, must be preserved under the law, but that a staff member gets to determine what is official. Asked whether he was comfortable with a voluntary system, he replied, “Any time there is human intervention, then I’m not comfortable.”

The History of the “Tenured Radical”

Most bloggers treat their blog as an online journal. Others use it to communicate with others about their pregnancy, eating habits, or their last trip to Spain. Claire Potter, professor of History and American Studies, has a different approach.“The Tenured Radical is an alternate personality,” Potter said. “It’s kind of like me in drag, or something.”

Will violence ever cease in Northern Ireland, expert wonders

Police in Northern Ireland have made three arrests in connection to the death of a Northern Ireland police officer last month.To most of the Americans I have spoken with about Northern Ireland, the situation in Belfast is an example for the world to follow in terms of resolving conflict....

Political experts say killing of bin Laden was 'mission accomplished'

JOLIET — The death of Osama bin Laden on Sunday is a psychological victory for a country weary of war, said Joe Gaziano, chairman of the political science department at Lewis University in Romeoville.“It’s part of the mission,” he said. “It’s mission accomplished — we got bin Laden.”

In Jefferson Lecture, Drew Faust Traces the Fascination of War, From Homer to Bin Laden

War is hell—and it's a helluva story. Throughout history, from Homer's time on through the Civil War and into the present-day war on terror, we've been powerfully drawn by war narratives.Drew Gilpin Faust, the president of Harvard University and a prominent historian of the Civil War, made that bloody fascination the subject of her 2011 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, delivered here Monday night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Jefferson Lecture is the federal government's most prestigious award for intellectual accomplishment in the humanities.