Week of April 8, 2013

Up Front: OAH Annual Meeting

Highlights from the 2013 OAH Annual Meeting, Day 3 David Austin Walsh Tags: annual meetings, OAH 2013, San Francisco

VIDEO: Navigating Segregated Life in America's Racial Borderlands Albert Camarillo (Stanford) Tags: Albert Camarillo, OAH 2013, racial borderlands, videos

VIDEO: Eric Foner's "Reconstruction" at Twenty-Five Kate Masur (Northwestern); Heather Andrea Williams (UNC Chapel Hill); Gregory P. Downs (CUNY Graduate Center); Thavolia Glymph (Duke); and Steve Hahn (UPenn), and of course Eric Foner (Columbia) Tags: Eric Foner, OAH 2013, Reconstruction, videos

VIDEO: OAH Plenary: Corporations in America Naomi Lamoreaux (Yale); Richard White (Stanford); Bethany Moreton (University of Georgia); Karen Ho (University of Minnesota); and Peter James Hudson (Vanderbilt) Tags: OAH 2013, videos, corporations, capitalism

VIDEO: Research and Publishing in the Digital Age Philip Ethington (USC); Adam Arenson (UTEP); Niels Hooper (UC Press), and Susan Ferber (OUP) Tags: digital history, digital humanities, OAH 2013, videos

Turnout Middling at OAH Meeting in San Francisco David Austin Walsh Attendance is down from last year's meeting, but numbers always lower for West Coast conferences. Tags: conferences, historical associations, OAH 2013, annual meetings

VIDEO: OAH Plenary -- Freedom Struggles Matthew Countryman (University of Michigan); Clayborne Carson (Stanford University); Barbara Ranby (University of Illinois at Chicago); Tera W. Hunter (Princeton University); and Scott Kurashige (University of Michigan) Tags: historical conferences, MLK, OAH 2013, videos

OAH 2013 Survival Guide David Austin Walsh Tips, tricks, gadgets, and other important advice for the 2013 OAH. Tags: OAH 2013, survival guide, annual meetings, conventions

POLL: Have You Engaged with the History of Capitalism? The New York Times ran a major story yesterday profiling the new historians of capitalism. Why haven't other historians jumped on board? Tags: economic history, historians, history of capitalism, polls

News at Home

New Opposition to Old Sports Mascots Jim Loewen When will racist and offensive "Indian" mascots finally be retired? Tags: mascots, Native Americans, racism, sports

Social Security Cuts: More Than Money At Stake Ira Chernus's MythicAmerica There's a simple and easy way to save Social Security (hint: raising taxes), but no one wants to talk about it. Tags: Social Security, FDR, budget, fiscal policy

Calling All Family Historians: Ideas for New York Times Column? Stephanie Coontz I'll be writing a guest column on family/gender in May and June -- if you've been doing some interesting research to highlight, let me know! Tags: family history, gender history, New York Times, research

News Abroad

The Secret to Margaret Thatcher's Success Peter Dorey The "Iron Lady's" was in the right place at the right time. Tags: British conservatism, conservatism, United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher

The AP Capitulates to the Muslim Brotherhood Walid Phares No more use of the term "Islamists." Tags: Associated Press, CAIR, Islamists, Muslim Brotherhood

Francis and Xi: More Similar Than You Think Jeffrey Wasserstrom The succession rituals of the Catholic Church and the Chinese Communist Party are surprisingly similar. Tags: Catholic Church, China, Pope Francis, Xi Jinping

Georgia's On Again/Off Again Relationship with Joseph Stalin Alicia Hooper A new, quasi-dictatorial regime is bringing Uncle Joe back into favor. Tags: Joseph Stalin, Georgia, historical memory, communism

Historians & History

The Chaotic and Bloody Aftermath of WWII in Europe Robin Lindley Author and historian Keith Lowe on his groundbreaking history Savage Continent Tags: World War II, Europe, refugees, Keith Lowe

Education

Do the Common Core Standards Flunk History? Craig Thurtell By putting historical documents in the hands of English teachers, Common Core does a discredit to both disciplines. Tags: curriculum, education, national history standards, Common Core

Gilder Lehrman's Common Core Problem Alan Singer The "First Emancipation" lesson plan is both Common Core and Gilder Lehrman at their worst. Tags: curriculum, emancipation, Gilder Lehrman, education

Culture Watch

Paying Tribute to the Master of Suspense Bruce Chadwick The Radiotheatre: Alfred Hitchcock Theater Festival kicks off to a rousing start. Tags: plays, radiotheatre, theater reviews, Alfred Hitchcock

Books

Review of Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise Jim Cullen The strengths and limitations of Big Data. Tags: 538 blog, Nate Silver, art of prediction, Signal and the Noise

Review of Albert J. Figone's Cheating the Spread Luther Spoehr Corruption in college sports is as American as apple pie, but it took the point spread to turn corruption into an institution. Tags: Albert J. Figone, NCAA, Cheating the Spread, college sports