Category Archives: United States History and Society

Unlawful Detentions of International Students in the U.S.

The Trump administration is deliberately targeting international students at universities across the country on the basis of their political speech. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have already unlawfully detained several international students who were legally in the United States … Continue reading

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

Secretary of Defense Texted Detailed Attack Plans

Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence) and John Ratcliffe (Director of the Central Intelligence Agency) testified yesterday to the Senate Intelligence Committee that there were no classified details in the text communications in the Signal group formed by Michael Waltz … Continue reading

Posted in Civil-Military Relations, History of News, Information Management, Maritime History, Political History of the United States, Security Studies, Strategy and International Politics, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society, War, Culture, and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Elite Universities Should Resist

“President Trump has declared that this country’s leading universities are sites of ‘anti-American insanity.’ He has tried to cut their funding for scientific research. His administration has announced investigations into diversity programs and floated new taxes on university endowments. Brown … Continue reading

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

Trump Officials Breached National Security Protocols

High-ranking Trump administration officials seem to have committed a severe breach of U.S. national security protocols by sharing United States military plans over an internet app. In doing so, they have potentially violated the Espionage Act. Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor of … Continue reading

Posted in Civil-Military Relations, Information Management, Legal history, Political Culture, Security Studies, Strategy and International Politics, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society, War, Culture, and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the Occupation of the U.S. Institute of Peace

Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE unit has occupied the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent research institute established by the United States Congress. The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) is one of the leading non-profit research institutes for peace studies in … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Higher Education, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Peacemaking Processes, Political History of the United States, Public History, Security Studies, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AFT and AAUP Defend the Department of Education

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and two public school districts in the state of Massachusetts have filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education. The … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Education Policy, Higher Education, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Legal history, Political Culture, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Attack on U.S. Research and Education: French Views

I participated in a workshop on Guerres de Religion et Changement Climatique (Religious Wars and Climate Change) at the IMéRA (Institute for Advanced Study) in Marseille, France, on 11 March 2025. This was a workshop that I co-organized with Jérémie … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Freedom, Climate Change, Contemporary France, Current Research, Education Policy, Environmental History, European History, European Studies, European Union, French History, French Wars of Religion, History of Science, History of Violence, Little Ice Age, Mediterranean World, Religious Violence, Revolts and Revolutions, United States History and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World, Women and Gender History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On Trump’s Berating of President Zelensky

“As Mr. Trump admonished President Volodymyr Zelensky and warned him that ‘you don’t have the cards’ to deal with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and as Vice President JD Vance dressed down the Ukrainian leader as being ‘disrespectful’ and … Continue reading

Posted in European History, European Studies, European Union, Security Studies, State Development Theory, Strategy and International Politics, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society, War and Society, War, Culture, and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Challenging Trump’s Use of Unitary Executive Theory

“In his opening weeks back in office, President Trump is asserting power in a way that pushes hard on, and sometimes past, the boundaries of executive authority,” according to Cass R. Sunstein, Professor of Law (Harvard University). “One of the … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Rights Issues, Democracy, Human Rights, Legal history, Political History of the United States, Political Theory, Republicanism, State Development Theory, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Legal Opinion on Department of Education Letter

Sonja B. Starr, Professor of Law (University of Chicago) offers a legal opinion on the incendiary “Dear Colleague” letter issued recently by an Acting Assistant Secretary at the Department of Education. Starr assesses the “Dear Colleague” letter: “The Department of … Continue reading

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