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: Groong/Armenian News Network
9-25-06
In a move hailed as a victory for freedom of speech, a Turkish court acquitted Elif Shafak, a University of Arizona assistant professor in Near Eastern Studies, saying there was no evidence that she "insulted Turkishness" in one of her novels, according to the Associated Press. Armenian characters in Shafak's novel, "The Bastard of Istanbul," refer to Turkish butchers who were part of the Armenian genocide in 1915.
The trial ended 1 1/2 hours after it began, with Judge I
Source: ABC
9-4-06
A recent New York Times article about John McCain's growing "kitchen cabinet," contained a piece of information that might have been meaningless to many American readers, but resonated strongly with most British ones.
According to a McCain aide, the article said, one of the senator's unofficial advisors as he ponders a possible run for the White House is the British-born Harvard historian Niall Ferguson. Though relatively unknown in the United States,
Source: Press Release -- Historians Against the War
9-1-06
As the violence in Iraq and across the Middle East intensifies, with the accompanying attack on civil liberties here at home, the need for an informed public debate is vitally important. As historians, concerned scholars, students, and activists, we are acutely aware that the transformations now occurring have far-reaching implications for our current lives and for future generations.
With mid-term elections scheduled for November, we have the opportunity to focus campus attention
Source: Editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune
9-23-06
First, a calming caveat: Saul Cornell doesn't want to take away your guns. He's neither antigun nor progun. He really isn't a gun guy at all. His thing is history.
Cornell, a professor at Ohio State University, passed through town the other day with much to say about regulating guns. Yet his aim isn't to take sides in the modern gun-control debate -- a squabble he thinks has strayed rather off-topic. It's far more interesting, he thinks, to look back to learn what this country's fo
Source: Bruce Craig in the newsletter of the National Coalition for History
9-20-06
Each year we look forward to reporting on the historians and humanists who have been honored with one of the coveted MacArthur Awards a $500,000 prize that each fellow receives courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This year, however, we are sorry to report that of the twenty-five named fellows (of which twelve are academics), not one is an historian.
Each year, the MacArthur Foundation awards an unrestricted fellowship to talented individuals who have sho
Source: HNN Staff
9-22-06
Thomas Fleming, the author of more than 40 books, has written a children's book: Everybody's Revolution, published by Scholastic.
Fleming takes a multicultural perspective on the Revolution, emphasizing the contributions of a wide variety of groups. According to the book's description:
The dimensions of the patriot cause during the American Revolution were far more multicultural and multiethnic than we have for so long believed. Women, African Americans, Jews, Na
Source: Christopher Phelps in solidarity-us.org
9-21-06
MORRIS SLAVIN, A historian of the French Revolution and one of the last remaining veterans of the American Trotskyist movement of the early 1930s, died on February 6 in Denver, Colorado, at the age of 92. The vast majority of Slavin's years were spent in Youngstown, Ohio, but his childhood took place in Russia.
Slavin was born in Kiev in 1913 on the eve of the First World War. His parents were Lazar Slavin, owner of a lumber yard and forests, and Vera Slavin, a graduate of the Unive
Source: Sandbox, the blog of Martin Kramer
9-20-06
Over at Sandstorm, I have a column on the intellectual history of the Islamism-fascism comparison in the social sciences. The comparison wasn't born in the White House, but has a long academic pedigree. There I quote Michigan professor Juan Cole's denunciation of "the lazy conflation of Muslim fundamentalist movements with fascism." But there was nothing lazy in the "conflations&
Source: Mark Oppenheimer in the Chronicle of Higher Ed
9-20-06
... Much has been written about the divide between academe and "the real world," and about academic writing versus popular writing. But far less has been said about the split within the academy between those who care about the popularization of academic learning — either they want to be popularizers, or they enjoy reading popularizers, or they at least feel a professional obligation to know who the popularizers are — and those who do not. Residing in the same department can be a profes
Source: Dennis Prager at frontpagemag.com
9-19-06
[Dennis Prager hosts a nationally syndicated radio talk show based in Los Angeles. He is the author of four books, most recently "Happiness is a Serious Problem" (HarperCollins). His website is www.dennisprager.com. ]
This is the second part of my radio dialogue with an icon of the Left, Howard Zinn, professor emeritus of Boston University, author of A People's History of the United States. (Read Part One here.) The intention of th
Source: Campaign Website
9-19-06
Thank You!
Dear Supporters,
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your consistent support of my United States Senate campaign. Your faith in our message helped all of us at the Lichtman campaign bring positive, fundamental change across the state of Maryland.
Although we did not prevail in this campaign, I can assure you that I, my wife Karyn Strickler, my staff, and our volunteers worked as hard as humanly possible to reach the voters of Maryland.
Source: Journal of American History
9-1-06
There are generally two momentous occasions in a European academic's career: when the professor accepts an appointment at a university and when she or he retires from that appointment. On those occasions the professor's colleagues, students, administrators, relatives, and friends, from home and abroad, gather to celebrate a professional life. The honoree gives a formal lecture. On the first occasion the honoree reflects on the state of the field and projects what the professor hopes to contribut
Source: Zaman.com
8-6-06
Ilan Pappe, an Israeli-born professor at Haifa University, who is well-known as a revisionist or "post-Zionist" Israeli historian. He has a BA from Hebrew University and a PhD from Oxford. He is a senior lecturer in the department of Political Science at Haifa University and the Chair of the Emil Touma Institute for Palestinian Studies in Haifa. He is also the Academic Director of the Research Institute for Peace at Givat Haviva. Ilan Pappe is the author of many books on the Israeli-Pa
Source: NYT
9-1-06
Leonard W. Levy, an exacting, dogged, prolific and combative constitutional historian whose work was frequently cited by the United States Supreme Court and won him a Pulitzer Prize, died on Aug. 24 in Ashland, Ore. He was 83.
His death followed years of poor health and a recent stroke, said his wife, Elyse.
Professor Levy’s Pulitzer, the 1969 prize for history, was awarded for his “Origins of the Fifth Amendment.” He published almost 40 other books, on topics including religious liberty,
Source: Cavalier Daily
9-7-06
f you've ever taken "Religion in America Since 1865," you probably recall religious studies Prof. Heather Warren periodically strumming away at her guitar during class. The reason for Warren's display of guitar skills is not to give her rendition of a John Mayer ballad but to engage her students as she illustrates her main points.
"One of the things I do find within many faiths, particularly in American religious life, [is that] people sing what they believe," Wa
Source: Press Release--Rutgers (Newark)
8-28-06
Newly appointed Rutgers-Newark Professor of History Annette Gordon-Reed has attracted attention from fellow scholars and mainstream media due to her work on the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and one of his female slaves, Sally Hemings. In many ways, this work reflects a central theme of her research and teaching.
“The issue of race has been at the heart of the American dilemma from the very beginning,” Gordon-Reed notes. “How do you develop a multicultural society when you h
Source: Press Release--University of West Ontario
8-31-06
An internationally recognized historian and authority on Jewish history starts a five year term this fall as an adjunct research professor in the History Department at the University of Western Ontario.
Sir Martin Gilbert is a leading authority on Jewish history and the official biographer of Winston Churchill. He previously lived in London, England.
"It's very exciting," says Gilbert. "I've been coming to London on and off for a number of years. I like
Source: The Elm, Wash College Student Newspaper
9-8-06
The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience has recently undergone a facelift in its leadership by promoting Adam Goodheart, professor of American Studies, to director.
Goodheart said he is "helping to turn Washington College into a kind of 'magnet school' for students interested in American history, politics, and culture, archaeology, historic preservation and similar fields."
The Center, constantly striving to connect American history to t
Source: Chris Lehmann interview with Michael Kazin for NPR
9-1-06
Q: Do you find -- as I did -- Hobsbawm's account of the public past disturbingly selective when it came to the abuses of the Soviet Union? He mentions the Gulags in a handful of brief passages, and says even less about the Stalin-era purges and show trials.
Certainly, Hobsbawm is too sympathetic to what used to be called "the Soviet experiment" -- the decidedly unscientific order that had a mostly deleterious impact on the history of the 20th century, particularly the hist
Source: Advance-Titan
9-11-06
Within the dark hallways of the Clow faculty building is the office of Dr. Stephen Kercher. Amid the various history books and other assorted papers piled up on Kercher’s desk, you might find a copy of Kercher’s new book, “Revel With A Cause: Liberal Satire in Post-War America.” The book is Kercher’s analysis of the period from 1945-1965, when political satirists were at their most venerated.
“I’ve always been compelled by how artists use humor and comedy to criticize social patter
