Tag Archives: history

Commemorating MLK Day in Troubled Times

Posted on January 19, 2026 by briansandberg

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Historians across the United States are commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr., today (19 January 2026) in troubled times. Historians are reinterpreting the Civil Rights Movement and its significance, even as civil rights and human … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Cultural History, Education Policy, High School History Teaching, Higher Education, History of Race and Racism, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Museums and Historical Memory, Political History of the United States, Public History, The Past Alive: Teaching History, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reframing Treaties Now Out in Hardback

Posted on December 22, 2025 by briansandberg

I am happy to report that the hardback edition of Reframing Treaties in the Late Medieval and Early Modern West is now out and available for library adoptions. I contributed an essay to this collective volume and enjoyed working with … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, History of the Western World, Legal history, Peacemaking Processes, War, Culture, and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Effacing History at the Smithsonian

Posted on August 13, 2025 by briansandberg

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

Posted on August 12, 2025 by briansandberg

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

On Historical Advocacy and the Supreme Court

Posted on August 7, 2025 by briansandberg

“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

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

“Israel is Committing Genocide” – Historian Omar Bartov

Posted on July 15, 2025 by briansandberg

Historian Omar Bartov, one of the leading specialists on the history of genocides, demonstrates that Israel is indeed carrying out a genocidal military campaign against Palestinians in Gaza. “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” according to Bartov in … Continue reading →

Posted in Atrocities, Civil Rights Issues, Civilians and Refugees in War, Empires and Imperialism, Genocides, History of Race and Racism, History of Violence, Human Rights, international relations, Laws of War, Religious Violence, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“A Gross Usurpation of Power” by Trump Administration

Posted on May 20, 2025 by briansandberg

The Trump administration’s recent takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and firing of its leaders and staff members were unlawful acts. In March 2025, members of Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE team, with the assistance of armed officers of … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Higher Education, Human Rights, Peacemaking Processes, Political History of the United States, Strategy and International Politics, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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

Trump Admin Diverts NEH Funds to Sculpture Garden

Posted on April 28, 2025 by briansandberg

The Trump administration has gutted the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), laying off staff members and cancelling current grants awards to humanities researchers and institutions across the nation. I know many historians and humanities researchers who have had their … Continue reading →

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