Category Archives: Historiography and Social Theory

Interviewing War Criminals

Posted on July 6, 2013 by briansandberg

What is it like to confront evil in a face-to-face encounter? This is a question that James Dawes poses to himself frequently as he interviews war criminals. Dawes, a professor of English and director of the Program in Human Rights … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, Civilians and Refugees in War, Historiography and Social Theory, History in the Media, History of Violence, Human Rights, Laws of War, Museums and Historical Memory, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Historians’ Role in DOMA Decision

Posted on July 2, 2013 by briansandberg

Historians played a role in the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Organizations of academic and public historians intervened directly in U.S. v. Windsor as it reached the Supreme Court. Steven Mintz points … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Historiography and Social Theory, History in the Media, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Political Culture, Reformation History, Religious History, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

Naming Wars

Posted on May 30, 2013 by briansandberg

Historians often face difficulties in naming events, including wars. Although many people assume that events simply occur, historians are acutely aware that “events” are socially and culturally constructed. Historians have to grapple with the difficulties of arbitrarily determining when an … Continue reading →

Posted in Historiography and Social Theory, History of Violence, Political Culture, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | 1 Comment

Early Modern Historian’s Memoir

Posted on May 18, 2013 by briansandberg

John H. Elliott, a noted historian of early modern Spain and its empire, has published a memoir of his career as a historian. His memoir is entitled History in the Making (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012). Eliott is … Continue reading →

Posted in Careers in History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Wars of Religion, Historiography and Social Theory | Leave a comment

Graduate Student Research Revises Economic Advice

Posted on April 20, 2013 by briansandberg

Graduate student research ideally develops new analysis and criticism by employing new evidence and/or new methods. Thomas Herndon, a graduate student in Economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, recently made a finding that has major significance for economic policies worldwide. … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Publishing, European History, European Union, Globalization, Graduate Work in History, Historiography and Social Theory, Information Management, Political Culture | Leave a comment

Anglocentric History in the United Kingdom

Posted on February 20, 2013 by briansandberg

A controversy has erupted in the United Kingdom over new History curriculum proposals. Conservative politicians are pushing for new national curriculum that would emphasize certain aspects of British history. Many historians have criticized the new proposals as politically motivated attempts … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Education Policy, European History, European Union, Historiography and Social Theory, Humanities Education, Political Culture | 2 Comments

Plagiarism and Patriotism

Posted on January 12, 2013 by briansandberg

This weekend, a new exhibit is opening at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The opening prompts a reflection on one of the founders of that museum and its former President, historian Stephen E. Ambrose. Ambrose was … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Publishing, Education Policy, Historical Film, Historiography and Social Theory, Humanities Education, Museums and Historical Memory, Political Culture, Strategy and International Politics, Uncategorized, War in Film, War, Culture, and Society, Writing Methods | 1 Comment

Women as Academic Authors

Posted on December 11, 2012 by briansandberg

Female professors are increasingly active in academic research at American universities. In some disciplines, women are approaching parity with male counterparts, but in many others a gender gap remains. A new article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reports on … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Publishing, Careers in History, Historiography and Social Theory, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

The Cultural History of Warfare

Posted on November 18, 2012 by briansandberg

“The cultural history of war, then, is here to stay.”  So concluded Rob Citino in an impressive historiographical essay, which can be considered the first major article of military history to be published in a generation by the American Historical … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Historiography and Social Theory, History of Violence, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Kuhn’s Paradigm Shift at 50

Posted on April 23, 2012 by briansandberg

This year is the 50th anniversary of Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, with its influential concept of the “paradigm shift.” The book has reportedly sold over 1.4 million copies and is still on science and history of science … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Publishing, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Historiography and Social Theory, History of Medicine, History of Science | Leave a comment