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: http://www.jta.org
11-9-07
The Jewish Museum in Berlin will give its annual prize to a former German chancellor and a German-American historian.
The prize for understanding and tolerance will be presented to Helmut Kohl and historian Fritz Stern in the museum's new glass-enclosed courtyard on Nov. 17. Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Holbrooke will take part in the ceremony.
Kohl is to be recognized for making the relationship between Israel and Germany a cornerstone of German foreign po
Source: http://fredericksburg.com
11-13-07
THE VOICE OF the slave is rarely heard. During the more than two centuries of slavery in America, millions of Africans and African-Americans were held in bondage. Of those, only about 200 left behind narratives that have found their way into print. The silence of the slave reverberates like none other, robbing history of a vital voice--specially in Fredericksburg. The voice of Fredericksburg's slaves has been virtually silent.
But with the publication of Yale professor David Blight'
Source: Toronto Globe & Mail
11-10-07
When historian Giles MacDonogh submitted the 600-page manuscript for his book After the Reich this year, he thought that he had written a comprehensive history of Germany in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Instead, he has realized in recent weeks that what he has written is a book about Iraq.
While his book doesn't say a word about Iraq or the Middle East and focuses rather heavily on the minutiae of daily life in Bavaria and Saxony, he has discovered, as have many other authors of
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE)
11-12-07
Juan Cole is in a gloomy mood this Veterans Day.
“On Veterans Day, he writes, “think about the thousands of U.S. dead and wounded in Iraq (for what purpose, exactly?), and think about Iraqi Veterans against the War . . .
“Typically this group and others like it are being denied a voice in public commemorations of the veterans (who apparently should be honored but should not actually be allowed to speak for themselves.)”
Citing newspaper accounts, Cole write
Source: Cinnamon Stillwell at CampusWatch
11-12-07
Earlier this year, the Center for Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. It was founded in 1957 by Gustave E. Von Grunebaum, a scholar at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute and the first president of the Middle East Studies Association. Grunebaum sought to establish at UCLA a groundbreaking Middle East and Islamic Studies program featuring an array of experts in languages, culture, and history.
Unfortunately, the
Source: Email to HNN from an assistant editor at Lapham's Quarterly
11-12-07
I'm an assistant editor at Lapham's Quarterly, a new history magazine started by Lewis Lapham, the editor of Harper's for many years. We're launching our first issue tomorrow, entitled "States of War," and it will be available on newsstands across the country, including Barnes & Noble and Borders. The issue includes both historical texts (ranging from Thucydides to Jessica Lynch) and contemporary commentary from Fritz Stern, Caleb Carr, Tom Holland, and John Mueller. By connecting
12-31-69
[HNN Editor: Next Saturday Mr. Fleming, a member of the board of directors of HNN, will receive the Governor Richard Hughes award for lifetime achievement in writing history from the NJ Historical Commission. His planned speech appears below.]
This award means a lot to me. Those words, Lifetime Achievement, stir long thoughts.
I remember one of the first times I spoke here in Trenton. Governor Brendan Byrne was supposed to introduce me. We talked offstage for a whi
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE)
11-9-07
Among American world's fairs there have been two standouts. Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, besides introducing the Ferris Wheel, Cracker Jack, and alternating current, radically changed the course of American architecture, dooming the idiosyncratic styles of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright and inspiring a seemingly endless procession of neoclassical buildings — libraries, museums, banks, even office towers. New York's 1939 World's Fair, with its "World of Tomorrow"
Source: Ascribe
11-7-07
For more than a century, voting machines have helped shape American political history.
The chaos of the 2000 presidential election in Florida demonstrated the crucial role that voting machines played in shaping the outcome of that election. But Bryan Pfaffenberger believes there is value in understanding that the interaction between technology and culture has been going on for more than a century.
Pfaffenberger, a historian of science and an associate pr
Source: Zmag
11-7-07
Jeffery R. Webber caught up with New York University historian Sinclair Thomson on September 7, 2007 in Montreal to discuss indigenous and popular politics in Bolivia and the character of the Evo Morales government. The interview was also an opportunity to learn about some of the theses advanced in the new book Revolutionary Horizons: Past and Present in Bolivian Politics (Verso, 2007), which Thomson co-authored with Forrest Hylton.
***
JRW: In a 2005 New Left Review ar
Source: Cinnamon Stillwell at CampusWatch
11-8-07
After a contentious two-year campaign waged by the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) and other supporters, a mural dedicated to the late Columbia University English and comparative literature professor Edward Said was unveiled at San Francisco State University (SFSU) last week.
Former SFSU Arabic professor Fayeq Oweis – now teaching the same subject at Santa Clara University – was the lead artist for what's been labeled the "Palestinian Cultural Mural." The mura
Source: Independent (UK)
11-7-07
Norbert Casper Loewenstein (Norbert Lynton); art historian and arts administrator: born Berlin 22 September 1927; Lecturer in History of Art and Architecture, Leeds College of Art 1950-61; Senior Lecturer, then Head of Department of Art History and General Studies, Chelsea School of Art 1961-70; London Correspondent, Art International 1961-66; Art Critic, The Guardian 1965-70; Director of Exhibitions, Arts Council of Great Britain 1970-75; Professor of the History of Art, Sussex University 1975-
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE)
11-7-07
Citing a pattern of outside interest groups aggressively seeking to impose their influence on recent collegiate hiring and tenure decisions, five prominent professors [including Princeton historian Joan Wallach Scott] have formed the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend the University. They are circulating an online petition that takes explicit aim at "groups portraying themselves as defenders of Israel," which, the committee alleges, are disseminating "unfounded insinuations and allegation
Source: AHA Blog
11-4-07
On Tuesday of last week, October 30th, the National Park Service and National Trust for Historic Preservation held a reception to honor and recognize two new additions to the National Park Service team: Robert K. Sutton, chief historian; and Daniel Odess, assistant associate director, Park Cultural Resources.
NPS Director Mary A. Bomar addressed the crowd, introducing both Sutton and Odess, and then went on to express her vision of the future mission of the National Park Service. Sh
Source: Robert Townsend at the AHA blog
11-5-07
The federal government is inviting comments (at http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/documents/20071026.htm) on policies that lead to the intrusion of institutional review boards (IRBs) into oral history research. This provides a rare opportunity for members of our profession to register their objections. I urge every historian who conducts oral history, or is responsible for students who use oral history methods, to respond to this request and ex
Source: http://www.register-mail.com/
11-6-07
One way to make history interesting is to provide visual clues to reinforce what is said or read.
Junius Rodriguez, associate professor of history at Eureka College, did just that during his recent lecture in Canton on "Liberty Lines: The Underground Railroad in Central Illinois."
Reaching into a small bag, he produced a chain to be worn about the neck of a slave. It was used to secure slaves, and often linked several of them together. This was done, Rodriguez said,
Source: http://www.dailypress.com
11-6-07
HAMPTON — - The Newport News historian who has been with the city for decades plans to retire Nov. 30 and take on a similar role in Hampton for $120,000 a year.
Hampton's City Council will vote Wednesday on hiring John V. Quarstein, 54, to be director of Hampton's history, City Manager Jesse Wallace said. The city is offering a contract of $10,000 a month for five years with the option to extend it another five years, Wallace said.
The contract includes a $10,000 lump s
Source: http://www.normantranscript.com/
11-6-07
Historians often judge presidents differently than their contemporary public, and presidents would do well to learn from history, presidential historian Michael Beschloss told University of Oklahoma students Monday evening.
He and OU President David Boren led an informal discussion with about 100 OU students at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave.
One of the key roles of a historian is to hold current presidents accountable not to repeat history's mistakes, Be
Source: Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
11-2-07
Daniel Pipes loves Arab cuisine, Arab literature and the Arabic language. When working in his Philadelphia office, he often plays Arab music in the background.
That's about as far as he goes.
Otherwise, the soft-spoken Harvard Ph.D. and Middle East pundit is hard-pressed to speak well of the Arab world, at least when it comes to politics. Israel, he says, is at war with Arab enemies and "when a war takes place, you should try to win. Wars are resolved not through n
Source: H-GERMAN@H-NET.MSU.EDU
11-5-07
On November 1, 2007, Professor Gerald Feldman, of the Department of
History at the University of California, Berkeley died at the age of
seventy his home in Berkeley following a protracted battle with cancer.
Gerald Feldman's death is a great loss for the international
historical profession, for his friends and colleagues at the
University of California, Berkeley and for his many colleagues and
friends here in Germany where he was a frequent visitor. He was one of
the preeminent hist
