This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: BBC
5-11-11
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....
Source: AFP
5-11-11
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.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
5-11-11
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.
Source: Dahlia Scheindlin at 972mag.com
4-19-11
It has been a troubled year for Israeli academia. The rising nationalist sentiment in the government, legislature and civil society has spilled over into bitter struggles on campuses throughout the country.
Source: Perspectives, the monthly newsletter of the AHA
5-9-11
[HNN Editor: In the latest issue of Perspectives the AHA explores how political history is practiced today.]
Source: Lee White in Perspectives, the monthly newsletter of the AHA
5-9-11
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
Source: Robert Townsend in Perspectives, the monthly newsletter of the AHA
5-9-11
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).
Source: NYT
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.
Source: NYT
5-4-11
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.
Source: NYT
5-3-11
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.”
Source: Chronicle of Higher Ed
5-2-11
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.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
5-1-11
Professor Richard Holmes, who died on April 30 aged 65, was one of Britain's most distinguished military historians, and a distinctive broadcaster with a soldierly mien, imparting knowledge and enthusiasm in equal measure.
Source: Star Tribune
5-4-11
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.
Source: Wesleyan Argus
5-3-11
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.”
Source: Fox 19
4-25-11
Former president and professor of Miami University, Phillip R. Shriver, passed away on Saturday in Oxford. He was 88.Shriver was president at Miami University from 1965-1981 and professor of history from 1947-1998. He taught at least one class every year except one during his 52-year career in the classroom, even while he was Miami's president....
Source: Voice of America`
5-2-11
In Indonesia, a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, many people voiced support for the U.S. operation that killed Osama bin LadenAlthough Indonesia is home to a variety of militant Islamic organizations that have carried out attacks against Western targets, the country has a history of religious diversity and moderation.So it is not surprising that Darma Widjaya, like many of the Muslims who came to midday prayers at the Sunda Kelapa mosque in Jakarta Monday expressed no sympathy upon hearing of the death of Osama bin Laden....
Source: HuffPo
5-3-11
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....
Source: Joliet Herald-News
5-3-11
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.”
Source: Palm Beach Post
5-2-11
Spontaneous celebrations of pride, where people pour into the streets to embrace the flag and each other, have mostly become the stuff of sports victories or Twitter-fomented revolutions in the Middle East.For American celebrations with any equivalence to what resulted from the news of the death of Osama bin Laden, you have to go back to 1945, to V-E and V-J days....The comparison is inexact because the comparisons only go so far. Sept. 11 may well have been this generation's Pearl Harbor, but bin Laden killed thousands while Germany and Japan killed millions.
Source: OAH Newsletter
5-2-11
At its March 2011 meeting, the Organization of American Historians (OAH) Executive Board approved revised Standards for Part-time, Adjunct and Contingent Faculty. This action took place after a year of intensive study by the OAH Committee on Part-Time, Adjunct, and Contingent Employment. The new standards reflect a major overhaul of the guidelines adopted in 2003 as part of a joint venture with the American Historical Association.
