Category Archives: Public History

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

Summer Interns Lose Positions in Trump Cuts

Posted on July 15, 2025 by briansandberg

The massive layoffs and disruptions in federal agencies carried out by Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE team and the broader Trump administration have eliminated thousands of summer internships positions for young Americans. “The Trump administration’s sweeping cuts have pushed many lifetime … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Careers in History, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Graduate Work in History, Grants and Fellowships, Humanities Education, Jobs and Positions, Political History of the United States, Public History, The Past Alive: Teaching History, United States History and Society | Leave a comment

Mellon Foundation Assists Humanities Councils

Posted on April 30, 2025 by briansandberg

The Mellon Foundation has thrown a lifeline to state humanities councils, which were stripped of their federal grant funding by the Trump administration recently as part of its dismantling of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). “The Mellon Foundation … Continue reading →

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

Harvard University Resists Trump Administration

Posted on April 14, 2025 by briansandberg

Universities are beginning to push back on the Trump administration’s war on research and higher education. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and other scholarly associations have filed a … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Grants and Fellowships, Higher Education, History of Race and Racism, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Legal history, Political History of the United States, Public History, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump Officials Remove Books from Libraries

Posted on April 14, 2025 by briansandberg

The Trump administration continues its war on knowledge by removing books from the U.S. Naval Academy’s Nimitz Library. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered staff to remove 381 books from the Nimitz Library. The books removed include novels by Maya … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Civil-Military Relations, Education Policy, Higher Education, History of Race and Racism, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Information Management, Legal history, Museums and Historical Memory, Political Culture, Political History of the United States, Public History, United States History and Society, Women and Gender History | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Misreading the History of Tariffs

Posted on April 7, 2025 by briansandberg

The Trump administration has clearly made a massive mistake in calculating its so-called “reciprocal” tariff rates, seriously damaging global economic systems in the process. President Trump has blundered into a major trade war that is reckless and based on gross … Continue reading →

Posted in European History, European Studies, European Union, Political History of the United States, Public History, State Development Theory, Strategy and International Politics, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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

Wilson Center is Dismantled by Musk and Trump

Posted on April 4, 2025 by briansandberg

Elon Musk and his so-called DOGE team are attacking another federal institution, this time it is the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., that is being illegally dismantled. The Wilson Center explains its mission on its website: “The Wilson Center occupies … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Globalization, Human Rights, Peacemaking Processes, Political Culture, Political History of the United States, Political Theory, Public History, State Development Theory, Strategy and International Politics, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society, War, Culture, and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NEH Grants Terminated in Illegal Maneuver

Posted on April 4, 2025 by briansandberg

The Trump administration and the so-called DOGE team is now attacking the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and cancelling existing grants unlawfully. They are also illegally halting payments to the grant recipients. The New York Times reports that “Cultural … Continue reading →

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

National Endowment for the Humanities Under Attack

Posted on April 2, 2025 by briansandberg

Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE team is now targeting the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for dismantling. DOGE is reportedly seeking to cut 80 percent of the NEH staff and curtail its grant programs. The New York Times reports that … Continue reading →

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