Category Archives: Authoritarianism

George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Modern America

Posted on July 28, 2025 by briansandberg

Charlie English has published an essay in The New York Times on the role that George Orwell’s 1984 played in the Cold War, drawing comparisons to the book being banned in the United States in the twenty-first century. English is … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Academic Publishing, Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Studies, High School History Teaching, History in the Media, History of the Book, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Information Management, Intellectual History, international relations, Political Culture, Political History of the United States, Political Theory, Public History, The Past Alive: Teaching History, United States History and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Coercing Universities and Building a Mafia State

Posted on April 21, 2025 by briansandberg

The Trump administration is blatantly coercing universities, especially targeting elite private universities such as Columbia University, Harvard University, and Yale University, and threatening to withhold federal funds for active research grants. Broader coercive attacks by the Trump administration and its … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Grants and Fellowships, Higher Education, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Political History of the United States, Political Theory, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Whistleblower Exposes DOGE’s Unlawful Hacking

Posted on April 16, 2025 by briansandberg

A federal worker who works in Information Technology (IT) at the National Labor Relations Board has made a whistleblower complaint to the U.S. Congress, exposing unlawful hacking and data exfiltration by Elon Musk’s DOGE team. “In the first days of … Continue reading →

Posted in Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Digital Humanities, Human Rights, Information Management, Legal history, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Many International Students’ Visas Revoked in Illinois

Posted on April 14, 2025 by briansandberg

International students at state universities in Illinois and across the nation are being improperly and unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration for visa revocation. Last week, the Trump administration revoked the visas of five international students at Northern Illinois University, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Globalization, Higher Education, Human Rights, Illinois History and Society, Legal history, Political Culture, Political History of the United States, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society | Leave a comment

International Students at NIU are Stripped of Visas

Posted on April 11, 2025 by briansandberg

I am dismayed to report that the Trump administration is now attacking international students at Northern Illinois University. The Northern Star reports that “Five international students have had their visas revoked according to NIU officials.” I send my compassion and … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Higher Education, Human Rights, international relations, Northern Illinois University, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Leave a comment

National Endowment for the Humanities Dismantled

Posted on April 7, 2025 by briansandberg

On Thursday night, the Trump administration placed 80 percent of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) staff members on administrative leave and blocked its grants to state humanities councils. The entire NEH is effectively being dismantled. I deplore these actions … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Grants and Fellowships, 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 Administration Erases Data, Alters Historical Record

Posted on April 7, 2025 by briansandberg

“Soon after the new administration arrived, things began to go missing from the White House website,” according to The New York Times. “They weren’t just the partisan policy platforms that typically disappear during a presidential transition. Informational pages about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Archival Research, Authoritarianism, Education Policy, Higher Education, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Information Management, Museums and Historical Memory, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Leave a comment

Historians Address the Attacks on Education in the U.S.

Posted on April 5, 2025 by briansandberg

The Organization of American Historians (OAH) is meeting in Chicago this week and many historians have been addressing the Trump administration’s attacks on education in the United States. The OAH is the premier academic association of historians who work on … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Democracy, Higher Education, History in the Media, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Legal history, Political History of the United States, Public History, The Past Alive: Teaching History, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The U.S. Secretary of Defense Bans Books

Posted on April 5, 2025 by briansandberg

The Trump administration’s war on knowledge and education continues to widen, as attacks on academic freedom extend to libraries, museums, and universities across the nation. Trump administration members are attempting to control library and museum content and dictate what types … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Higher Education, History of Race and Racism, Human Rights, Humanities Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the Technocratic and Fascist Ideology of Elon Musk

Posted on April 4, 2025 by briansandberg

Elon Musk may exhibit highly erratic and volatile behavior, but he espouses a coherent Technocratic and Fascist ideology that was articulated in the 1930s. Jill Lepore, Professor of History and Law (Harvard University), traces the history of Elon Musk’s grandfather, … Continue reading →

Posted in Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Cultural History, Higher Education, Historiography and Social Theory, History in the Media, History of Race and Racism, History of the Western World, History of Violence, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Information Management, Information Revolutions, Intellectual History, Italian History, Museums and Historical Memory, Political Culture, Political History of the United States, Political Theory, United States History and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment