Historians in the News

Historians dominate Yale committee reviewing racist names on campus

The group will try to contextualize why and how buildings were first named.

Professor: Why Jewish historians should stand behind Zionism

by Guy Alroey

Hasia Diner’s op ed declaring her hostility to Zionism is challenged by another Jewish scholar.

Edwin Black holds an international conference call to answer questions about his investigation of the German massacre of Herero blacks

by Martin Barillas

The call was precipitated by an article published on HNN: "Before Germans Slaughtered Jews They Slaughtered Africans."

Evan Thomas and David McCullough discuss Trump, Nixon, Ike, and Truman

"Harry Truman said the only new thing about the world is the history you don’t know. And when you have a presidential aspirant who doesn’t know any history, and everything is new to him, he doesn’t know how to handle it.” — McCullough

Niall Ferguson and Graham Allison say the president needs a permanent White House Council of Historical Advisors

by Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson

"It isn’t enough for a commander in chief to invite friendly academics to dinner. The U.S. could avoid future disaster if policy makers started looking more to the past."

Are Any Historians Supporting Donald Trump?

by Rick Shenkman and Sharon Arana

 We Found Just 5.  Oh, and then there's Newt Gingrich. 

Historian calls Kent State shooter’s guilt into question

John Fitzgerald O’Hara argues that never-before-seen evidence clears Myron Pryor.

French Historian Accuses Khmer Rouge Defense Lawyers of "Cold Torture"

Henri Locard, retired academic from the Université Lumière - Lyon, is testifying about the brutality of the regime at a trial in Phnom Penh.

Hasia Diner, former Fulbright Professor at the University of Haifa, says Zionism is a “naive delusion”

She stopped being a Zionist in 2010.

The Scholars Who Look at American History Through Beer-Tinted Glasses

Scholars seceded to lose interest in the history of beer after Prohibition ended. Now they’re taking a second look.

Gerald Posner calls on Pope Francis to open the Vatican archives on the Holocaust

Pope Francis’s visit to Auschwitz is the perfect moment to change policy.

Max Boot says the “Stupid Party” created Donald Trump

by Max Boot

Anti-intellectualism started as a Republican posture. It has ended with a dangerous ignoramus leading the party.

History chairs dismiss concerns over not requiring U.S. history course

“Almost all of our history majors love US history and take courses in it, so having a requirement would be a bit like requiring them to eat.” — Harvard’s Daniel Smail

In an interview Daniel Pipes explains what’s wrong with Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations argument

"The battle against Islamism has not yet started. I cannot predict how long it will take. It's still pre-1945 in communist terms and the 1930s in fascist terms."

Doris Kearns Goodwin talks politics with Stephen Colbert

She danced her way onto the set as she began the interview.

Annette Gordon-Reed says it was easier for Obama to win than it will be for Hillary

“Black men got the vote before women, which caused great dissension. Feminists supported abolition, but didn’t get the vote.”

Historian James Harris says Russian archives show we’ve misunderstood Stalin

by James Harris

If you think of Stalin as a bloodthirsty, paranoid, political opportunist determined to secure total power over all other considerations, you’re wrong.

The Invisible Labor of Women’s Studies

by Noël Duan

Many elite universities relegate the degree program to second-class status.

Lincoln University historian mourns decision to abolish the history major

by J. Mark Leslie

J. Mark Leslie says it’s myopic.

Hamilton College conservative historian questions diversity requirement

Robert Maquette says the faculty never bothered to define diversity.