Historians in the News

Tony Judt: Notes the downside to multicultural studies

The historian Tony Judt, a self-described “old leftist” and the director of the Remarque Institute at N.Y.U., which examines Europe and European-American relations, said undergraduates often arrive unprepared from high school and seeking courses “in what we might have thought of as the old-fashioned approach” — broad surveys. But many young professors aren’t interested in teaching outside their narrow specialties, nor are they generally prepared to do so. And colleges are loath to reinstate the

John Crook: Professor of Ancient History at Cambridge University (Obit.)

John Anthony Crook, ancient historian: born London 5 November 1921; Assistant Lecturer in Classics, Reading University 1948-49, Lecturer 1949-51; Fellow, St John's College, Cambridge 1951-2007, Tutor 1956-64, President 1971-75; Assistant Lecturer in Classics, Cambridge University 1953-55, Lecturer 1955-71, Reader in Roman History and Law 1971-79, Brereton Reader 1974-79, Professor of Ancient History 1979-84 (Emeritus); FBA 1970-80; died Cambridge 7 September 2007. Though he would ce

John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt: Vilified by colleagues

James L. Kugel: Exploring Irreconcilable Differences in Bible's Interpretations

“How to Read the Bible” is a most unusual how-to book. For one thing, it is more than 800 pages long and has 971 endnotes. It is true that all the familiar figures and events of the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament are here: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets. But the book, written by James L. Kugel and just published by the Free Press, also propounds a stark and challenging thesis, namely that contemporary Bible readers are confronted with t

James Belich: Acclaimed New Zealand historian to join new faculty

Award-winning historian James Belich to return to Victoria Renowned New Zealand historian and prize-winning author James Belich is to join Victoria University's Stout Research Centre as a Professor of History. Victoria Vice-Chancellor Professor Pat Walsh says Professor Belich's appointment will further strengthen the University's history programme – ranked the highest among New Zealand universities in the most recent Performance-Based Research Funding (PBRF) exercise.

Paul Johnson: He has a new big book out--on Art

One of the many interesting components of historian Paul Johnson’s comprehensive history volumes “Modern Times” and “A History of the American People” is that he did not skimp on the impact of art on a people and a culture. Amidst his thick, detailed and often riveting accounts of wars, elections, economic upheavals, and the people in the middle of the constantly moving eye of history’s storms, Johnson included narratives on how music, art, theatre, etc., also shaped their times and subsequent c

Victor Davis Hanson: Decries the decline of military history classes

For the last three decades, colleges and universities have shied away from the study of war, leaving most Americans without a "basic understanding of military matters," says Victor Davis Hanson, an emeritus professor of classics at California State University at Fresno and a contributing editor to the journal. "This state of affairs," he writes, "is profoundly troubling, for democratic citizenship requires knowledge of war -- and now, in the age of weapons of mass

Haleh Esfandiari: Her incarceration highlights the dilemmas facing researchers

[Daniel Byman directs the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University, is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, and is the author of The Five Front War: The Better Way to Fight Global Jihad (Wiley & Sons, 2007).] Haleh Esfandiari's recent incarceration in Iran's notorious Evin prison highlights the dilemmas facing researchers who study the society and politics of repressive regimes. Esfandiari, an

Nadia Abu El-Haj: Whatever her opinions her methods are not shoddy, as alleged, says scholar

[Daniel Martin Varisco is Chair, Anthropology Department at Hofstra University.] As an individual in Academe who has already achieved the career-defining rite of pedagogical passage known as “tenure,” the issue of a fellow scholar potentially being denied tenure in a highly politicized media campaign becomes an issue of concern. I am not so puffed up to think that tenure status is ipso facto a mark of praiseworthy expertise. There are far too many examples out the

Kevin Gover: Named new head of Smithsonian American Indian Museum

On September 11, 2007, Kevin Gover was named director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, effective Dec. 2. He is currently a professor of law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in Tempe, an affiliate professor in its American Indian Studies Program and co-executive director of the university’s American Indian Policy Institute....

Frederick Kagan: Interviewed about Petraeus's testimony

Frederick Kagan, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a former professor of military history at the U.S. Military Academy At West Point, is regarded as the chief intellectual architect of the military "surge" in Iraq. In January 2007, Kagan published a report entitled "Choosing Victory: A Plan For Success In Iraq," which advocated many of the steps later adopted by President George W. Bush. RFE/RL correspondent Heather Maher asked Kagan for

Yitzhak Arad: Lithuania wants to grill top Israeli historian over war crimes

Lithuania wants to grill leading Israeli Holocaust historian Yitzhak Arad over his alleged role in war crimes against civilians and prisoners during World War II, a prosecutor said Tuesday. "We have despatched a request to Israeli prosecutors for legal help," prosecutor Rimvydas Valentukevicius told AFP. "We want to send Mr Arad a notice on our suspicions and to interrogate him in the framework of a preliminary probe on his possible participatio

Havana Historian Receives UN-Habitat Award

Havana Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler has been granted the UN-Habitat international award in recognition to the Cuban efforts in the recovery and preservation works in Old Havana. The Scroll of Honor of UN-Habitat 2007 was granted by an international committee that chose Leal among a long list of candidates and praised his work and leadership ahead of the Old Havana Restoration and Preservation Office. In an interview granted to the Opus Habana magazine, the Historian

Michigan Resumes Distribution of Anti-Israel Book

The University of Michigan announced late Tuesday that the University of Michigan Press would resume distribution of Overcoming Zionism, a book that calls the creation of Israel a mistake and that prompted several pro-Israel groups to complain to the university about its role in making the available a book they characterized as “hate speech.” The University of Michigan Press stopped distribution last month, following those complaints, and setting off complaints of censorship by others. Michigan

Simon Schama: His book about slaves turned into a play

The acknowledgements begin with a rare profession of ignorance. Simon Schama was having lunch one day in Columbia University. Across the table, he says, Britain's consul-general in New York mentioned that "of course" Schama would know all about "the thousands of free blacks in New York at the end of the Revolutionary War and what became of them. In fact, I had no clue what he was talking about." Schama began reading, and soon he began writing. Being

Donald Kagan: Dems protest his selection as 9/11 speaker at Yale

The choice of history professor Donald Kagan to give the keynote address at today’s Sept. 11 memorial service provoked the Yale College Democrats to withdraw its sponsorship of the event. The College Democrats, who had co-sponsored the event last year alongside the College Republicans, declined to participate in the service after Kagan, a noted conservative, was invited to speak by the event organizers, Laura Marcus ’10 and Luke Palder ’09. The Dems said Kagan was too partisan a fig

Iain Boal: Says "we are living in a Malthusian world"

Iain Boal is an Irish social historian of science and technics, associated with Retort, a group of antinomian writers, artisans and artists based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is one of the authors of Retort's Afflicted Powers: Capital and Spectacle in a New Age of War (2nd edn, Verso, 2006). This chapter is based on a conversation prompted by David Martinez, a San Francisco-based filmmaker and journalist, in late 2005. It also draws on material from a forthcoming book by Iain Bo

Tim Weiner: His CIA book has been overpraised says scholar

[Jeffrey T. Richelson is a senior fellow with the National Security Archive in Washington, DC. He is the author of several books on U.S. intelligence, including, most recently, Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea (W.W. Norton, 2006), and The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology (Westview Press, 2001).] Every author hopes for a news event that will draw attention to the subject matter of his

Australian teachers: We're 'shut out' of school history debate

History teachers claim the Federal Government has shut them out of the development of a national Australian history curriculum for high schools, alleging the politically sensitive document is being "drafted in backrooms". The History Teachers Association of Australia has written to federal Education Minister Julie Bishop and Opposition education spokesman Stephen Smith, claiming it was "increasingly concerned" about what was happening with the proposed national c

Frederick Kagan: Blasts plans of "triangulators" who want to withdraw some troops but not all

[Frederick W. Kagan is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of Finding the Target: The Transformation of the American Military (Encounter).] The case for cutting and running from Iraq has become untenable in recent months not just substantively but politically as well. Polls show that Americans increasingly believe not only that the surge is working, but also that permanent success in Iraq is possible. So the more intelligent opponents of the war have s