Author Archives: briansandberg

Climate Change and Religious Conflicts

I am looking forward to the first session of a new research seminar on Climate Change and Religious Conflicts (Changements Climatiques et Conflits Religieux)! This is a seminar that my colleague Jérémie Foa (Aix-Marseille Université and TELEMMe) and I are … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Conflict, Civilians and Refugees in War, Climate Change, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, Environmental History, European History, European Wars of Religion, French Wars of Religion, Globalization, Lectures and Seminars, Little Ice Age, Mediterranean World, Reformation History, Religious History, Religious Violence, Renaissance Art and History, Social History, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

A Nation-Wide Assault on Higher Education

Every university and college in the United States is facing a direct, multi-pronged assault from the Trump administration. Todd Wolfson, President of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP): “This is obviously the most intense assault on higher education by … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Education Policy, Higher Education, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Information Management, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Decline in International Students to U.S. Universities

The Trump administration’s limits on visa programs, suspension of student visas, and harassment of international students have already significantly reduced the number of international students applying to attend universities in the United States. “Major international education search platforms, including IDP … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Education Policy, Higher Education, international relations, Migration History, Political History of the United States, Strategy and International Politics, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Effacing History at the Smithsonian

President Trump has launched a coordinated effort to efface the historical record of the United States in the national museums of the Smithsonian Institution. “The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would begin a wide-ranging review of current and … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Higher Education, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Museums and Historical Memory, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump Orders a Politicized Rewriting of History

President Trump has ordered a politicized rewriting of history at the national museums of the Smithsonian Institution. Trump’s order initiates a new offensive in the ongoing War on History, which represents one front in a broader set of Culture Wars. … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Education Policy, Higher Education, Humanities Education, Museums and Historical Memory, Political Activism and Protest Culture, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Constructing European Historical Narratives

Constructing European Historical Narratives in the Early Modern World, edited by Hilary J. Bernstein, Fabien Montcher, and Megan Armstrong, is being published by Iter Press and will be released in paperback in December 2025. I enjoyed contributing an essay on … Continue reading

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, French History, French Wars of Religion, History of the Book, Mediterranean World, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History | Leave a comment

On Historical Advocacy and the Supreme Court

“As the Supreme Court’s decisions increasingly turn on their understanding of the distant past, the number of supporting briefs from historians has exploded and their influence has grown,” according to Adam Liptak, who has published an article in The New … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, History in the Media, Legal history, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump Aims to Decrease International Students in U.S.

The Trump administration’s war on higher education is targeting the entire American research university model of excellence, which is based on open recruitment and democratic access to higher education. One key part of Trump’s attack aims to decrease the number … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Higher Education, Human Rights, international relations, Political History of the United States, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump’s War on Education Hits Community Colleges

The Trump administration’s war on higher education is hitting state universities and community colleges across the nation. On the impacts of the Trump administration’s attacks on community colleges: “Since January, the Trump administration has waged war on the nation’s wealthiest … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Empires and Imperialism, Higher Education, Human Rights, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reframing Treaties Published

Reframing Treaties in the Late Medieval and Early Modern West, edited by Isabella Lazzarini, Luciano Piffanelli, and Diego Pirillo (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2025) has been published. I contributed an essay on “Peacemaking in the Context of Religious Violence: The … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Conflict, Current Research, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, European History, European Wars of Religion, French History, French Wars of Religion, History of the Western World, international relations, Italian History, Mediterranean World, Political Culture, Reformation History, Religious Politics, Religious Violence, Renaissance Art and History, Strategy and International Politics, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment