National History Center

This project is designed to promote and improve the history of science and technology on the Web. The project is co-sponsored by the National History Center, the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Through ECHO, 15 advanced graduate students, assistant professors, and public historians came to the Washington, DC, area in summer 2005 for “Doing Digital History,” a series of workshops dedicated to improving the collection and preservation of the past through the power of digital media.

The first lecture was on October 24, 2007 with Ernest R. May, Charles Warren Professor of History, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. May discussed some of the most infamous surprise attacks in history, including the fall of France in World War II, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the September 11th terrorist attacks. From a historical perspective, he reflected on their impact on U.S. foreign policy and the lessons we have learned from them.

The event began with introductions from Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, followed by Wm. Roger Louis, Founding Director of the National History Center.

The second lecture featured Fritz Stern discussing Hitler’s instant subversion of freedom.

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The National History Center is having a day-long conference on Reforming History Education on June 12, 2007 at the National Archives in Washington, DC beginning at 10 A.M.. The conference, co-sponsored by the American Historical Association, Newberry Library, National Council for the Social Studies, and Organization of American Historians, will address the current state of history education policy and future reforms in light of recent advances in student learning, teacher preparation, assessment, and curricular innovations in the discipline of history. The panelist include Robert Bain, Robert Harris, Robert Orrill, Diane Ravitch, Peter Stearns, Maris Vinovskis, and Suzanne Wilson.

This conference continues the conversation begun at the Newberry Library in October 2005. It convened researchers on history teaching and learning who discussed how students learn history, how teachers teach history, and evaluated related policy issues.

Download PDF of the full program.

Please contact the Center for copies of the full paper drafts that the briefings are based upon.

10:00 am–10:30 am

Welcome and Introduction
Introduction, by James Grossman, Newberry Library

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10:30 am–12:00 noon

Panel One: The Problem with History Education Policy
Chair: Diane Ravitch, New York University
Panel:  

• “Historians, Reformers, and the Science of Learning,” by Robert Orrill, National Council on Education and the Disciplines

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• “How can Historians Contribute to the Certification and Accreditation of History Teachers?” by Suzanne M. Wilson, Michigan State University
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12 noon–1:30 pm

Lunch
Speaker:“Putting the Pieces Together (Again?): History Teachers Education As A University-Wide Task,” by Robert B. Bain, University of Michigan
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Watch the video

 

1:30 pm–3:00 pm

Panel Two: Toward a New Future for History Education
Chair: Robert L. Harris, Jr., Cornell University

Panel:  

• “The Impacts of History Learning Research: Achievements, Gaps, and Implications,” by Peter N. Stearns, George Mason University
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  Watch the video

• “History Assessments and Elementary and Secondary Education,” by Maris A. Vinovskis, University of Michigan
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• “Across the Great Divide: American Historians and Their Publics,” by Jonathan Zimmerman, New York University
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• “What History Should be Taught and How Is History Taught?: Persistent Disconnects between Policymakers, Historians, and Teachers,” Larry Cuban, Stanford University
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3:00pm–3:15 pm

Closing Remarks: James Grossman

Sponsoring organizations

1. American Historical Association
2. National Council of Social Studies
3. Newberry Library
4. Organization of American Historians

2007 Decolonization Seminar Participants and Leaders

The second international seminar was be from July 9 through August 3, 2007. The fifteen participants and the leaders were:

• Yoav Alon (PhD 2001, St. Antony’s, Oxford), Lecturer, Tel Aviv Univ. Decolonization of Jordan
• Michael Anderson (PhD Candidate [2008], University of Texas, Austin), The U.S. Government and the Institute of Pacific Relations
• Meriam Belli (PhD 2005, Georgetown University), Lecturer, MIT, Geography and Demography of Decolonization in Port Said
• Laura Bier (PhD 2006, New York University), Assistant Professor, Georgia Tech, State Feminism and Decolonization: Egyptian Women and the Gender Politics of Nasserist Rule
• David Campion (PhD 2002, University of Virginia), Assistant Professor, Lewis & Clark College, Pattern of Decolonization in Malta
• Christopher Harding (PhD 2004, St. Antony’s, Oxford), Associate Lecturer, University of Edinburgh, The Emergence of Indian Psychotherapies, c. 1925 – 55
• Joe Hodge (PhD, 2002 Queen’s University, Canada), Assistant Professor, West Virginia University, Colonial Experts, Developmental Doctrines, and the Legacies of the Late British Colonialism
• Chinnaiah Jangam (PhD 2005, SOAS, London), Assistant Professor, Wagner College, Dalits and Decolonization in India
• Christopher Lee (PhD 2003, Stanford), Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, The 1955 Bandung Conference
• Mairi MacDonald (PhD Candidate [2007], University of Toronto), Decolonization in Guinea: The View from Paris
• Brandon Marsh (PhD Candidate [2007], University of Texas, Austin), The West and Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier, 1947–55
• Christopher O’Sullivan (PhD 1999, LSE, London), Lecturer, University of San Francisco, Decline of British Empire, Rise of American Hegemony, and the Middle East, 1935–50
• Berny Sèbe (PhD Candidate [2007], Keble, Oxford), Decolonization or Reinforcement of French Control: The U.S. and the Organisation des Regions Sahariennes, 1957–62
• Penny Sinanoglou (PhD Candidate [2008], Harvard), British Mandate in Palestine, 1922–1948
• Pingtjin Thum (DPhil Candidate [2008], Brasenose, Oxford), Trade Unions and Decolonization of Singapore

2007 Decolonization Seminar Leaders

• Wm. Roger Louis (University of Texas at Austin), Director
• Dane Kennedy (George Washington University)
• Philippa Levine (University of Southern California)
• Jason Parker (Texas A & M)
• Pillarisetti Sudhir (American Historical Association)
• Marilyn Young (New York University)

The briefing featured Professor James Rodger Fleming, Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Colby College, Maine. He currently holds the Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Environmental Stewardship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and is a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where he is completing a book on “Weather and Climate Engineers: Fantasies of Control.” Professor Fleming earned a B.S. in astronomy from Pennsylvania State University, an M.S. in atmospheric science from Colorado State University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Princeton University. His books include Meteorology in America, 1800–1870, Historical Perspectives on Climate Change, and The Callendar Effect: The Life and Work of Guy Stewart Callendar. This briefing was co-sponsored by the History of Science Society.

Further recommended readings on the history of Climate Change from Professor Fleming