History Buzz February 28, 2012: David McCullough, Gordon Wood: Students need more uniform teaching of US Constitution, Historians say at panel “The Teaching of Constitutional History in the 21st Century University”

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP Students need more uniform teaching of Constitution, historians say Source: The Oklahoma U Daily 2-28-12 Instructors need to teach the U.S. Constitution to all students in a stimulating way to create well-educated citizens who are aware of their responsibilities, according to seven panelists in a [...]

History Buzz February 20, 2012: Presidents’ Day: Take the presidential history quiz!

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP Presidents’ Day: The quiz Source: WaPo, 2-20-12 It’s Presidents’ Day Monday, but whom the holiday is meant to honor depends on whom you ask. Even the placement of the apostrophe is open to question!… The most recent results of students’ performance on civics exams on [...]

History Buzz February 19, 2012: New Museums; the National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Center for Civil and Human Rights & International African American Museum to Shine a Spotlight on Civil Rights Era

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP New Museums to Shine a Spotlight on Civil Rights Era Source: NYT, 2-19-12 Andrew Councill for The New York Times The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington plans to display the lunch counter from an important civil rights protest in [...]

Full Text February 9, 2012: President Barack Obama’s Speech on Education Reform & No Child Left Behind Flexibility Waivers

POLITICAL SPEECHES & DOCUMENTS OBAMA PRESIDENCY & THE 112TH CONGRESS: Everything You Need to Know: Waivers, Flexibility, and Reforming No Child Left Behind Source: WH, 2-9-12 President Barack Obama, with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, delivers remarks on education reform and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind, [...]

Full Text January 27, 2012: President Barack Obama’s Speech on Rising Costs of College / University Tuition — Calls for Overhaul of Higher Education Financial Aid System

POLITICAL SPEECHES & DOCUMENTS OBAMA PRESIDENCY & THE 112TH CONGRESS: POLITICAL QUOTES & SPEECHES Remarks by the President on College Affordability, Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 10:00 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Michigan!  (Applause.)  Oh, it is good to be back in Ann Arbor.  (Applause.) Thank you, Christina, for that introduction.  [...]

History Buzz November 21, 2011: David Cannadine: Leave UK history curriculum alone but teach it for longer, says U.S. historian

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY EDUCATION NEWS Source: Guardian (UK), 11-21-11 Towards the end of a typically barnstorming performance at the Hay Festival in May last year, during which Niall Ferguson had rubbished the way history was taught in this country, the spotlight was turned towards the audience to [...]

History Buzz November 17, 2011: Steven Volk: Oberlin College history professor named one of country’s top professors

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP Steven Volk: Oberlin College history professor named one of country’s top professors Source: Cleveland Plain-Dealer, 11-17-11 View full size Tanya Rosen-Jones Steven Volk, a history professor at Oberlin College, is one of the U.S. Professors of the Year. Steven Volk, a history professor and chair [...]

History News September 30, 2011: Our Virginia: Past and Present: Faulty Virginia History Textbook Restored by State to Classrooms

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP One historian had identified more than 50 errors in original version Source: Fairfax Times, 9-30-11 After criticism in regard to factual errors removed it from classrooms last school year, a fourth-grade Virginia history textbook gained reapproval by the State Board of Education on Sept. 22. [...]

History Buzz September 28, 2011: Cornell History Dept. Creates Minor to Engage Students

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP UNIVERSITY NEWS Source: Cornell Daily Sun, 9-28-11 Following a noticeable decline in the number of students enrolled in history courses, the University’s Department of History has taken measures to boost its enrollment and attract students from a variety of disciplines. This fall, the department added [...]

History Buzz September 27, 2011: Julian Bond: Students’ Knowledge of Civil Rights History Has Deteriorated, Study Finds

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP HISTORY EDUCATION Source: NYT 9-27-11 When Julian Bond, the former Georgia lawmaker and civil rights activist, turned to teaching two decades ago, he often quizzed his college students to gauge their awareness of the civil rights movement. He did not want to underestimate their grasp [...]

Ron Nief and Tom McBride: Beloit College’s The Mindset List — Born in 1993, Class of 2015

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY FEATURES Ron Nief and Tom McBride: The Mindset List Source: Beloit College Mindset List The Mindset List was created at Beloit College in 1998 to reflect the world view of entering first year students. It started with the members of the class of 2002, born in 1980. What started as a witty [...]

Gil Troy: Our Moral Conversation With Students

Featured Historian: Gil Troy By Gil Troy, Chronicle for Higher Education, 7-17-11 Enlarge Image Dave Plunkert for The Chronicle Most Americans have not noticed, but Canadians are still reeling from the June 15 riots in Vancouver following the Canucks’ loss to the Boston Bruins for the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup. Thousands of drunken fans [...]

Lisa Norling: History classes might be taking a back seat in Minnesota

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP Source: Star Tribune, 7-4-11 Do Minnesota students know their U.S. history? Despite a recent report showing a limited grasp of U.S. history by the nation’s students, Minnesota educators generally give fair marks to the students here. Young people often have a pretty good sense of dates, places, names and basic [...]

David McCullough: Textbooks “so politically correct as to be comic”

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP Source: WSJ, 6-18-11 ‘We’re raising young people who are, by and large, historically illiterate,” David McCullough tells me on a recent afternoon in a quiet meeting room at the Boston Public Library. Having lectured at more than 100 colleges and universities over the past 25 years, he says, “I know [...]

New Report: U.S. History Majors Highest Earners in Humanities

HISTORY BUZZ: HISTORY NEWS RECAP Source: Robert Townsend at the AHA Blog, 6-6-11 A new report, from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, on median salaries for undergraduate majors finds that history majors go on to earn fairly respectable salaries. Looking at the median salary for everyone aged 18 to 64 [...]