Humanities and Social Sciences under Fire in Florida

William A. Link

In the coming days Florida Governor Rick Scott’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform will submit its final report. At its center are recommendations that state-determined “accountability” metrics shall determine university funding and that Florida adopt a new funding model of differential tuition rates that favor “strategic programs” (mostly science, technology, engineering, and math, STEM disciplines) also to be determined by the state legislature. Students will potentially pay much higher tuition rates for "non-strategic programs" (mostly humanities and social sciences).

A group of concerned faculty from the Department of History at the University of Florida has drafted a letter to Governor Rick Scott opposing the task force’s recommendations and calling on him to incorporate faculty input into reforms to the state university system.  (See the petition here.)

For more, see:

Jordan Weissmann, "Should Science Majors Pay Less for College Than Art Majors?" Atlantic, November 5, 2012

Elizabeth Popp Berman, "More STEM Majors Won’t Solve Higher Education’s Problems," Chronicle, November 1, 2012

William A. Link, Richard J. Milbauer Professor, History Department, University of Florida

Archives and History: Notes from the New England Archivists Conference

Dana Goblaskas

Archives and history have always been fields that are closely intertwined; without archives, historians would suffer a loss of many valuable primary sources, and without a sense of history, archivists would have no context in which to place their collections. Without history, frankly, archivists would be out of a job.

Or would they?

The idea of a divide between the disciplines of archives and history may seem unimaginable to many involved in those fields, but according to James O’Toole, the Charles I. Clough Millennium Chair in History at Boston College, a split may already be forming.

This “archival divide” was mentioned a few times during the recent spring conference of the New England Archivists, held at Brown University, April 1-2. One of Saturday morning’s first sessions, titled “Is Archival Education Preparing Tomorrow’s Archivists?” featured a lively discussion (as lively as a room full of archivists can be at 9 am, anyway) about how the field is changing and how education is changing in response. To sum up: as records shift from paper to electronic formats, archival education is beginning to stress competence in digital preservation, database management, and knowledge of web architecture and social media. Some members of the profession are concerned that a rift is growing between students interested in the digital realm of archives and those more attracted to the “analog” side of things—the manuscripts, photographs, and other ephemera that spring to mind when one thinks about an archive.

After an hour’s worth of conversation about how to bridge that gap between digital and analog spheres, O’Toole—formerly a professor of archival studies at UMass Boston—broached the question: Where does history fit into all of this? Based on what had been covered in the session so far, it seemed like the whole idea of history was taking a backseat to the new technical aspects of the profession. O’Toole expressed concern that archival educators may be growing so obsessed with teaching new technologies that they’re no longer placing emphasis on understanding historical context.

Silence filled the room as veteran and fledgling archivists alike reflected on what this observation could mean for the future of the profession. Maybe it was just me, but there seemed to be a very faint sense of panic in the air, especially when another session attendee wondered aloud what would happen in twenty years when many “classically trained” archivists retire, leaving the young technical turks in charge.

Before any lurking sense of doom could take over, a voice from the back of the room spoke up, identifying herself as a student enrolled in the library science and history dual-degree Master’s program at Simmons College. With several fellow students beside her nodding in agreement, she explained that there’s no need to panic quite yet; there are still some archivists-in-training who feel that history is hugely important, not only in order to have an understanding of context, but also to know how to conduct historical research, which has the added bonus of helping archivists better understand and assist researchers.

Though this enthusiastic Simmons student helped to quell the panic a little bit, O’Toole’s point is still a distressing one. Later that day, at the conference’s closing plenary session, he discussed how some archival neighbors, such as historians, aren’t “in the neighborhood” anymore, and how the profession needs to hold on to its roots as it explores new and exciting technologies. I certainly hope the educators in the crowd—and the mentors, students, and others working in the field—heard his message. The digital vs. analog divide may be more popular in archival discussions these days, but the sneakier split growing between archives and history may be the one that proves deadly to the profession if left unchecked.

London Calling Librarians

This guest post comes from Dana Goblaskas a former student of mine who works at the MIT library. Dana stuck out to me from the start because of her intellectual curiosity and because she was into pop music history, punk, and indie rock. Pluses in my book. Here she tells of her two-week trip across the water as a participant in University College London’s Librarianship Summer School.

Dana Goblaskas

As a self-proclaimed history nerd and an Anglophile, it’s hard for me to be giddier than when I’m immersed in the tangible history of England. And if I can earn credits toward my degree for that immersion, well, let’s just say the happy dances abound.

Last month, I took part in the inaugural session of University College London’s Librarianship Summer School, co-sponsored by the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Studies. The two-week seminar examined the past, present, and future of Britain’s libraries and the field of librarianship, and featured daily field trips to museums, libraries, and archives throughout the city and beyond. Lectures by librarians, historians, and UCL faculty provided background for what my classmates and I saw during tours, and behind-the-scenes peeks into the workings of such places as the British Library and Bodleian Library at Oxford set our future-librarians’ hearts a-racing.

For the history nerd in me, there was plenty of “past” to learn about and see firsthand. Lectures about medieval manuscripts and eccentric pioneers of cataloging were coupled with glimpses inside Wren’s Library at Trinity College Cambridge (built in 1695), the Natural History Museum, and viewings of treasures like the Domesday Book at the National Archives.

Perhaps even more exciting than getting to drink all that in was seeing how much effort these institutions are presently putting into making their historical collections available to the world. With help from foundations like JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), many of the places I visited were in the midst of massive digitization, indexing, or retrospective cataloging projects. Inspired by the popularity of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? TV program, several libraries and archives were focusing on increasing public accessibility to the parts of their collections that could be used for genealogical research.

As for the future of Britain’s libraries, I think they’re heading in the right direction. Facing questions about libraries’ continuing relevance to society head-on, they are adapting to the communities around them and showing that they’re in it for the long run. A new “chain” of libraries called Idea Store is springing up around London, abandoning confusing catalog classifications and offering a wide variety of classes to support continuing education in their neighborhoods. The libraries in the London borough of Haringey recently won a grant that placed free medical clinics and wellness centers alongside their book stacks.

And in addition to focusing on expanding digital content and accessibility, some institutions are appealing to the public to help develop their collections. Projects such as Transcribe Bentham at UCL and Oxford’s First World War Poetry Archive rely on crowd-sourcing to create and identify materials, as well as on social networking tools like Twitter and Flickr to get the word out to wider circles of volunteers.

Coming back down to reality after two weeks spent doing not much more than hanging around inside and gawking at cool old libraries—or cool new libraries—was a little difficult. But coming back with great experiences, thousands of pictures, and a head full of ideas lessened the blow of the transition. And I’m excited by the prospect of so much more incredible content being made widely available. Now I just have to finish my research paper to earn those credits, and I think the happy dances will abound once again.

Blogging from the Historical Society Conference: "Historical Inquiry in the New Century"

Randall Stephens

The 2010 Historical Society conference, "Historical Inquiry in the New Century," runs this week from Thursday to Saturday. I'll be posting updates from George Washington University.

A number of the panels will deal with the state of the field and offer some insight on where things are going. I will be selecting some panels and plenary sessions to highlight here. I'll have my Flip camera with me, so I'll be posting some short videos on this blog as well. Stay tuned.

Historical Society Conference, June 3-5, 2010

Randall Stephens

The program for the 2010 History Society conference--"Historical Inquiry in the New Century"
June 3-5, 2010, Marvin Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC--is now on-line. Participants will address a wide range of questions and issues, including: Where do particular fields now stand? What are the truly “big questions” historians face, and are we adequately grappling with them? How do we think historical inquiry will change in the 21st century?

The three-day meeting includes the following plenaries:

Thursday, 7:30-9:00pm
Peter Coclanis, University of North Carolina, “Lee’s Lieutenants: The American South in Global Context”

Friday, 7:30-9:00pm
Christopher Lasch Lecture: Adam Hochschild, “How History Looks Different Over Time: The Case of the First World War”

Saturday, 7:30-9:00pm
Michael Barone, American Enterprise Institute, “The Enduring Character of America’s Political Parties in Times of Continual Change”

Comment: Sean Wilentz, Princeton University

Comment: Leo Ribuffo, George Washington University

A sampling of sessions:

Thursday, 2:45-4:15pm

Session IID: DOES IT TAKE A SMALL WINDOW TO SEE THE BIG PICTURE?

Chair: Melvin Patrick Ely, College of William and Mary

Melvin Patrick Ely
"What Reviewers Should Have Criticized about Israel on the Appomattox, But Didn't"

Nancy A. Hillman, College of William and Mary, "Drawn Together, Drawn Apart: Biracial Fellowship and Black Leadership in Virginia Baptist Churches Before and After Nat Turner"

Jennifer R. Loux, Library of Virginia, "How Proslavery Southerners Became Emancipationists: Slavery and Regional Identity in Frederick County, Maryland"

Ted Maris-Wolf, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture
"Self-Enslavement in Virginia, 1856-1864: How Two Free Black Men Shaped a Law That Fueled the National Debate Over Slavery"

Comment: Melvin Patrick Ely

Friday, 10:15-11:45am

Session IID: THE WESTERN ASCENDANCY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: NEW INTERPRETATIONS

Chair: TBA

George Huppert, University of Illinois at Chicago, "What Can Be Learned from the Diary of a 17th-Century Merchant?"

John M. Headley, University of North Carolina, “On Constructing a Global Context for American History”

Ricardo Duchesne, University of New Brunswick,"On the Primordial Origins of Europe's Unique Restlessness: A Preliminary Discussion"

Friday, 1:00-2:30pm

Session IIIA: STATE OF THE FIELD: AMERICAN LABOR HISTORY

Chair: Grace Palladino, The Samuel Gompers Papers, University of Maryland

Leon Fink, University of Illinois at Chicago, "The Great Escape: How LABOR Has Met the Challenge of Hard Times"

Donna T. Haverty-Stacke, Hunter College, CUNY, "Rethinking U.S. Labor History: Thoughts on the Recent Past and Future of the Field"

Melvyn Dubofsky, Binghamton University, "The Ugly Secret of U.S. History"

Ronald Schatz, Wesleyan University, "What's Wrong with U.S. Labor History"

Friday, 2:45-4:15pm

Session IVA: STATE OF THE FIELD: TWENTIETH-CENTURY AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY

Chair: TBA

Daniel Letwin, Pennsylvania State University, "Black Political Thought in the Age of the New Negro"

Carol Anderson, Emory University, "Freedom Fighters on the Cold War Plantation: The Histories of African Americans' Anticolonialism"

Mary Ellen Curtin, University of Essex, "Race, Gender, and American Politics since 1965"

Friday, 2:45-4:15pm

Session IVC: COMPARATIVE WAYS OF WAR

Chair: James Carafano, Heritage Institute

Robert Citino, University of North Texas, “The German Way of War Revisited”

Brian McAllister Linn, Texas A&M University, “Reflections on the American Way of War”

Peter Lorge, Vanderbilt University, “The Many Ways of Chinese Warfare”

Ralph R. Menning, Kent State University-Stark Campus, “Recent Trends in the Historiography of the Origins of World War I”

Comment: James Carafano

Saturday, 10:15-11:45am

Session IIE: INVESTING IN HISTORY’S VALUE: THE EVOLUTION OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Chair: Mark M. Smith, University of South Carolina

Wilfred McClay, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Pamela Edwards, Jack Miller Center

Tad Brown, Watson Brown Foundation

Jack Womack, Harvard University

Heather Cox Richardson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Saturday, 2:45-4:15pm

Session IVA: RETHINKING THE COLD WAR AT HOME

Chair: Eric Arnesen, George Washington University

Richard Fried, University of Illinois at Chicago, “McCarthy and ‘the 50s’: Friends or Foes”

Jennifer Delton, Skidmore College, “The Cold War as the Triumph of New Deal Liberalism”

Eric Arnesen, George Washington University, “The ‘Opportunites Lost’ Thesis Reconsidered: What, Precisely, Did the Demise of the Communist Left Mean for Civil Rights in America?”

Saturday, 4:30-6:00pm

Session VB: HISTORY DEPARTMENTS AND THE PROBLEM OF HISTORICAL GENERATIONS

Chair: Katrin Schultheiss, George Washington University

William Palmer, Marshall University
“Historical Generations and Changes in History Departments”

James M. Banner, Jr., National History Center
"My Generation of Historians"

John Harvey, St. Cloud State University
"The Rise of Modern Europe and the American Idealization of European Civilization, 1928 to 1986"

Comment: Howard Segal, University of Maine

Early registration and hotel information is available here.