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: Email from Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez circulating on the Internet
2-10-07
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) announced it is airing the new Ken Burns documentary series, THE WAR, in September 2007. The seven-part documentary series, directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the history and horror of the Second World War from an American perspective by following the fortunes of so-called ordinary men and women who get caught up in the greatest cataclysm in human history. It is a 14 hour documentary.
The documentary was previewed Novem
Source: Weekly Standard
2-5-07
[Joseph Loconte is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the host of the weekly television/Internet program "Britain and America."]
The chill wind and cheerless skies didn't discourage thousands of Londoners from trudging to the Queen Elizabeth II conference center on Saturday, January 20,
Source: Rabbi William Berkowitz in the Algemeiner Journal (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
2-8-07
In any field, distinction comes to very few. It is a rare gift, one that requires total service and dedication. This is especially true of the historian, for the study of the human journey upon earth is an unremitting struggle to exact the fullness of human experience from the voluminous records that have been left behind. To gain distinction as a historian one must have a deep and sympathetic understanding of humankind. Thus, the writer must be a full human being, for his greatness as a histori
Source: NYT
2-9-07
Harvard University is planning to name the first woman president in its 371-year history — Drew Gilpin Faust, a historian who runs a research institute at the university, according to university officials close to selection process. Dr. Faust’s ascension would come a year after Lawrence H. Summers, a former Treasury secretary, resigned from the post amid fierce faculty discontent. The opposition erupted in part over Dr. Summers suggestion that intrinsic aptitude could help e
Source: AlterNet
2-3-07
Courage is in short supply in Washington, D.C. The realities of the
Iraq War cry out for the overthrow of a government that is criminally
responsible for death, mutilation, torture, humiliation, chaos.
But all we hear in the nation's capital, which is the source of those
catastrophes, is a whimper from the Democratic Party, muttering and
nattering about"unity" and"bipartisanship," in a situation that
calls for bold action to immediately reverse the present course.
These are the
Source: NYT
2-9-07
Nelson W. Polsby, who marshaled intellectual rigor, lucid writing and a knack for drawing striking lessons from real-life observation in his enduring studies of Congress and the presidency, died on Tuesday at his home in Berkeley, Calif. He was 72.
The cause was complications of congestive heart failure, his daughter Emily Polsby said.
Mr. Polsby, a political scientist, wrote or edited at least 15 books and scores of articles and edited The American Political Science Re
Source: Telegraph
2-8-07
A Jewish academic has shocked Italy by claiming Jews murdered Christians for their blood in the Middle Ages so it could be used in rituals.
The details were revealed in the Italian newspaper, the Corriere della Sera, which published extracts of the book, Easter of Blood by Professor Ariel Toaff.
The claims were denied by leading Jewish figures including his father Elio, once the chief Rabbi of Rome.
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In the book, Prof Toaff alleges the
Source: The Hoya
2-6-07
Starting in the fall, students in the College seeking to fulfill their history requirement will be able to choose from a wider array of introductory courses focused on select regions of the globe.
The new history requirement will allow students to take classes in African, Latin American and Middle Eastern history. The history department presently allows students to fulfill the two-course minimum only through some combination of World History, European Civilization, History of the At
Source: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/release
2-7-07
The litany of woe has become familiar and seemingly overwhelming. The earth is running out of fossil fuel and facing chaotic weather due to global warming. Water will soon be scarce, and world population continues to explode, taxing diminishing resources.
All true to some extent. But despite the temptation for doom and gloom, all is not lost, says Paul Conkin, Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt University and author of the new book The State of the Earth: E
Source: http://www.venturacountystar.com
2-7-07
Politicians, present and future, only need to look to the past for lessons in leadership.
Standing on the stage in the Fred Kavli Theatre on Tuesday night, presidential historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin listed the qualities that made President Lincoln one of the country's great leaders.
"He had a kind of quiet self-confidence that allowed him to put these powerful people in his cadre," Goodwin told the audience gathered to hear her speak as part of the
Source: Perspectives, the newsmagazine of the AHA
2-1-07
J. Patrick White, professor emeritus of American constitutional law and political history at Northern Illinois University, died on July 12, 2006, at age 79 in Iron River, Michigan. Born in October 1926, in St. Louis, MO, he was raised in Iron River, graduating from Iron River High School in 1944. He enrolled in the University of Michigan in 1945 but entered the U.S. Army in 1946. Later he returned to Michigan, where he earned an AB (summa cum laude) in 1949, an MA in 1950, and in 1957, the PhD f
Source: Perspectives, the newsmagazine of the AHA
2-1-07
To the Editor:
The undersigned members of the AHA write in support of the "Resolution on Practices of the U.S. Government Inimical to the Values of the Historical Profession." The resolution was adopted by a large margin at the January 6, 2007, AHA business meeting, was accepted by the Council, and is now being sent out to the members for ratification.
We support the resolution as a fitting means of defending the values of the profession against attacks from t
Source: Perspectives, the newsmagazine of the AHA
2-1-07
Editor’s Note: The AHA Council decided to seek ratification of the “Resolution on United States Government Practices Inimical to the Values of the Historical Profession” that was adopted at the AHA business meeting on January 6, 2007. In this connection, we are publishing the text of an explanatory note by them on the procedures that are being adopted.
In its discussion on January 7, 2007, of the "Resolution on United States Government Practices Inimical to the Values of the Hi
Source: Perspectives, the newsmagazine of the AHA
2-1-07
[AHA] Editor's Note: The AHA Council decided to seek ratification of the "Resolution on United States Government Practices Inimical to the Values of the Historical Profession" that was adopted at the AHA business meeting on January 6, 2007. In this connection, we are publishing the text of a letter addressed to AHA President Barbara Weinstein and Executive Director Arnita A. Jones, and an explanatory note by them on the procedures that are being adopted.
Dear President Wei
Source: AHA Blog
2-8-07
The National Council for History Education (NCHE), an AHA affiliated society, just announced the winner of its first-ever Paul Gagnon Prize for a K-12 Teacher Exhibiting Exceptional Historical Scholarship. The 2007 award went to Philip Nicolosi, a history and social studies teacher at the West Morris Central High School in Chester, New Jersey.
Mr. Nicolosi has a BA and an MA in history from Villanova University and began teaching at West Morris Central in 1995. Selected from a pool
Source: Patrick T. Reardon in the Chicago Tribune
1-28-07
As a work of history, "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson is gaining traction.
Since being published in 2003, Larson's dual story of Daniel Burnham overseeing the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and serial killer H.H. Holmes preying on young women in the Chicago neighborhood near the fair site has sold more than 1 million copies.
Now, it's being cited as a source by academic scholars such as Carl Smith, who lists "The Devil in the White City
Source: Oliver Burkeman in the Guardian
2-3-07
If they were still on speaking terms, arch-neoconservative Charles Krauthammer and ex-neoconservative Francis Fukuyama might be able to thrash out exactly what happened on February 10 2004 at a dinner attended by rightwing thinkers at the Hilton hotel in Washington. Krauthammer remembers giving a "fairly theoretical" foreign policy address. Fukuyama, listening, seems to have experienced an epiphany. The speech "treated the war [in Iraq] as a virtually unqualified success", he
Source: Email from William Polk to HNN
2-7-07
I thought you would like to see how the initiative I helped to start is going. This is today's report from Congress. The original lists the 71 current signatories. They are from all over America and both parties. As you know, Chapter 5 of the book George McGovern and I wrote is now a bill before Congress.
Best regards, Bill
Congressional Progressive Caucus
“71 Strong and Growing”
[Note: 7 new Members added i
Source: Daniel Pipes website
2-7-07
[For a discussion of this event, see"My Disrupted Talk at the University of California-Irvine."](BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)DANIEL PIPES SPEAKING AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE: ... a war, of lots of despair.UNIDENTIFIED MALE DISRUPTER: Daniel Pipes! Daniel Pipes! [laughter, noises, shouts](END VIDEO CLIP)
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com
2-7-07
Historian Charnvit Kasetsiri has launched a fund-raising campaign to fight a defamation charge filed by former Thammasat University rector Khunying Nongyao Chaiseree for comments in a thesis on former prime minister Pridi Banomyong. Mr Charnvit likened the defamation charge as ''terror against intellectuals'' and called on academics to support a ''historical academic freedom fund'' to fight it.
The retired historian was speaking at a Chulalongkorn University seminar on academi
