The Roundup Top Ten for June 11, 2021
The Fog of History Warsby David W. BlightNations have histories, and someone must write and teach them, but the 1990s battle over the National Standards for History remains a warning to all those who try – setting a history curriculum is politics by other means, and the right has always been willing to fight over it. |
Conspiracies in the Classroomby Elizabeth Stice"Colleges and universities and faculty have a responsibility to ground their disciplines in truth claims that go deeper than the rabbit holes of the internet and to graduate students who are capable of distinguishing between conspiracy and reality." |
The Push For LGBTQ Equality Began Long Before Stonewallby Aaron S. LeckliderPride month is based on an origin story of the LGBTQ liberation movement that starts with Stonewall. There is a longer history of queer political activism that has been erased because of its origins in the left. |
The Fissure Between Republicans and Business is Less Surprising than it Seemsby Jennifer DeltonFriction between the Trump-led Republican Party and big business organizations like the Chamber of Commerce over supposed "woke capitalism" isn't a new story. Big business's partisan allegiances have shifted according to capital's interests for decades. |
A Supreme Court Case Poses a Threat to L.G.B.T.Q. Foster Kidsby Stephen Vider and David S. ByersState and local social service agencies for decades have been actively working to protect the safety and dignity of queer youth in the foster care system. A Supreme Court case threatens that progress in the name of "religious freedom." |
Protesters in Elizabeth City, N.C. are Walking in the Footsteps of Centuries of Fighters for Black Rightsby Melissa N. StuckeyA historian living and working at the site of Andrew Brown Jr.'s killing by police explains that local protesters are following generations of freedom seekers. |
It’s Time for an Overhaul of Academic Freedomby Emily J. LevineThe idea of academic freedom doesn't account for the present precarity of most university teachers, and doesn't rest on a positive concept of what professors should do with students and the public. |
The Problem with a U.S.-Centric Understanding of Pride and LGBTQ Rightsby Samuel HunekeThe histories of gay liberation politics in divided Germany offer surprising insight into what it means for LGBTQ people to live freely in a society. |
‘Lady of Guadalupe’ Avoids Tough Truths About the Catholic Church and Indigenous Genocideby Rebecca Janzen"Although it portrays the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe for a broad audience, ultimately this film sanitizes the real-life brutality of the Church toward Indigenous peoples in the 16th century." |
The Last Time There Was a Craze About UFOs and Aliensby Daniel N. GullottaA recent resurgence of interest in UFOs in respectable public discourse recalls the 1990s, when the X Files reflected a similar moment of distrust in authority and conspiratorial thinking. |