Recently Published

Re-Animating the 1619 Project: Teachable Moments Not Turf Wars

by James Brewer Stewart

Those of us who value the 1619 Project can reclaim our “teachable moment” by excavating beneath the heated rhetoric. There we will discover that the journalists and the historians embrace conflicting but equally valuable historical truths regarding slavery’s power to shape our nations past and present.

Trump's Acquittal and the History of the Intentionally Undemocratic Senate

by Ed Simon

What can and must be learned from the impeachment affair isn’t that resistance to Trump has to be fruitless, but rather that we can’t expect institutions and procedures to be that which saves us. 

Manipulation of Spanish History Has Manufactured A Constitutional Crisis

by Christopher Binetti

The history of Spain does not support the Spanish nationalist claim that Castilian is the natural language and culture for all people of the Peninsula.

The Making of a Periphery

by Ulbe Bosma

How did the once-prosperous islands of Southeast Asia transform into a “peripheral” region?

The Cold War New and Old: Architectural Exchanges Beyond the West

by Łukasz Stanek

Until today, many urban landscapes in West Africa bear witness to how local authorities and professionals drew on Soviet prefabrication technology, Hungarian and Polish planning methods, Yugoslav and Bulgarian construction materials, Romanian and East German standard designs, and manual laborers from across Eastern Europe.

How Religious History Helps Us Understand Russia's War Against Ukrainian Independence

by Khrystyna Karelska and Andreas Umland

In recent months, the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian multidimensional military, political, economic and cultural conflict has made international news. What is less well known beyond Eastern Europe is the important religious aspect of Moscow’s “hybrid war” against Ukrainian national independence.

Frank Ramsey: A Genius By All Tests for Genius

by Cheryl Misak

Unlike his friends Russell and Wittgenstein who focused on the vastness and the unknowability of the world, Ramsey believed it was more important to concentrate on what is admirable and conducive to living a good life. 

The Unique Struggles of Women and Native Americans to Vote

by Thom Hartmann

And how efforts to surpress certain voters continue. 

The Erasure of the History of Slavery at Sullivan’s Island

by Roy E. Finkenbine

Some 40% of the nearly 400,000 Africans imported into British North America and the young United States passed through this place.  It has been termed the “Ellis Island” of African Americans.

Remembrances, Race, and Role Models: The Renaming of a Middle School

by Frank P. Barajas

The new name of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, whatever it will be, should have a recognizable footnote so people can learn not only about the totality of Oxnard’s history but also its relationship with larger national currents.

The 1619 Project Debate with History of Slavery in New York City

by Alan Singer

Slavery and its legacies in New York City. 

The Dramatic Relationship Between Black America and the Academy Awards

by Elwood Watson

From Hattie McDaniel to #OscarsSoWhite. 

JFK's New Hampshire Primary Hope Resonates Today

by William Lambers

The day before the 1960 New Hampshire presidential primary, candidate John F. Kennedy talked about America's great hope for disarmament. Speaking at the University of New Hampshire, JFK said "No hope is more basic to our aspirations as a nation" than disarmament.

Should the Democratic Presidential Candidates Announce Their VP Picks Now?

by Joel K. Goldstein

History suggests that these well-intended proposals rest on mistaken judgments about the way the vice-presidential selection system now operates, exaggerate the benefits of the proposed reforms, and underestimate the difficulty of implementing those remedies.

Unforgettable Images, and Something New in TV News

by Ron Steinman

A month past the Capitol Riots, a veteran television news journalist observes that the coverage of the chaotic protest and breach of the Capitol relied on something new: masses of journalists and citizens (including the rioters) recording video on their phones where TV cameras couldn't operate, forming a rich and important composite of the day's events. 

Harriet Tubman and a National Legacy of Midnight Skies and Silent Stars

by Todd Lookingbill

The Oscar buzz around the film and the popularity of the biopic with critics and general audiences alike creates an opportunity to discuss and shine a light on the important landscape associated with this amazing historical figure. 

Why Thomas Jefferson Was Really No Friend of Religious Freedom

by M. Andrew Holowchak

Thomas Jefferson, because of the passage of his Bill for the Establishment of Religious Freedom, is customarily viewed by scholars as a paladin of religious freedom. Yet there is reason to question that view.

The Remarkable Success of Midwestern Front Porch Campaigns

by Jeffrey Normand Bourdon

No presidential electioneering technique has ever been as successful while appearing and disappearing as quickly as front porch campaigning.

Kindergarten Goes to the University Classroom: The Educational Value of Show and Tell

by Andrew Joseph Pegoda

During the Fall 2019 semester, I experimented with having students do 10-minute Show and Tell presentations in my Secularisms/Atheisms religious studies and U.S. history seminar. The results couldn’t have been better.

How the South Dominated American Education

by John Heffron

An excerpt from John Heffron's The Rise of the South in American Thought and Education: The Rockefeller Years (1902-1917).