February 12, 2013 by Angela Sutton
Dr. Moses Ochonu, courtesy of Vanderbilt University History Department, 2013
Revisiting major debates on the impact of colonialism on Africa’s economy is a big task. So big, that History Compass allowed African historian Dr. Moses Ochonu of Vanderbilt University the space of two articles to re-open the conversation.
As we’re all aware, issues of poverty and economic marginality on the African continent have assumed more urgency in the world. Now, more than ever, people are asking: how did it come to this?
Historians are in the unique position of returning to historical questions in order to answer the economic questions of the present. The future of Africa’s economy will be determined by the forces of globalization, the international market, as well as domestic innovation, investments in infrastructure, and trade. In light of this future, which is becoming increasingly clear and urgent, Ochonu wanted to revisit the debates over the history of African economies.
In his History Compass articles (available here and here), Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Africa, African history, Black History, Colonialism, Development, domestic trade, economic development, economic history, gender, globalization, international trade, post-colonialism, Poverty, trade, women
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
October 31, 2012 by Angela Sutton
We at History Compass Exchanges wish everyone a Happy Halloween! To celebrate, I drew a comic about how sometimes, it’s incredibly apparent which child is going to grow up to become a historian. I’m sure my parents knew I would before I did based on the uncanny historical accuracy of some of my childhood costumes.
Spot the Future Historian, by Angela Sutton, 2012
If you have a funny/poignant/thought-provoking/etc. idea for a history cartoon, please send it to Angela.C.Sutton[at]Vanderbilt[dot]edu. If I use your idea I will give you credit here.
Tags: costumes, Halloween, historians, holidays, humor
Posted in General, HCE Comics | Leave a Comment »
October 8, 2012 by Angela Sutton
This Columbus Day, I challenge historians everywhere to complicate the issues surrounding Columbus.
The “Discovery” of the New World, by Angela Sutton
Christopher Columbus, and the holiday (or holidays, as the US isn’t the only country who celebrates him) named after him are fantastic opportunities for teachable moments in virtually any history classroom.
In the past, I’ve asked students to read passages of Christopher Columbus’s journal or his letters to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Together, we’ve reflected on what they have learned in the past about Columbus, and discussed all the things you do when teaching with primary sources: we talked about the reasons sources are generated, and their historical context, and how and why the source came to be preserved in the present.
Then I’ve show them blogs and opinion articles by historians who discuss the less palatable facts about Columbus, by historians like Howard Zinn who highlight how dangerous he was for the Americas, and by Native American activists who denounce Columbus for what he has done to their Amerindian ancestors.
I’ve asked students to find more information on the controversy surrounding Columbus Day, and they came back in full force with news of protests, and more opinion articles.
I then asked students why I’ve asked them to find these things.
“Because Columbus was bad?” asked one.
Before I could answer, another student chimed in. “No, because he’s still important now. What he did is still affecting populations in our country.”
Bingo.
Then I asked what our honoring this man each year says about how America values its native populations. Then the class moved into a discussion of how the US perceived of itself and why we use this day to celebrate Columbus instead of the contributions of Native Americans.
By this time the class was fired up. I didn’t have to ask any more questions, and instead focused on moderating the discussion between students. The class touched on many important points related to imperialism, racism, colonialism, colonial legacies, hegemony, and power – all the things a good history class should uncover.
In this way, Columbus Day has become a valuable teachable moment to show students that history is living, and that something that happened in the 1400s can still affect the way we perceive of ourselves as a nation today.
Tags: activism, American History, Amerindians, Columbus, Native Americans, New World, slave trade, slavery, teaching, teaching methods
Posted in Europe, HCE Comics, Latin America and Caribbean, North America | 1 Comment »
August 28, 2012 by Justin Bengry
Recent furor over Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s funding of organizations explicitly opposed to same-sex marriage has made consumers across the political and social spectrum evaluate how their spending habits are in fact political decisions.
Opponents of marriage equality and some free market supporters have asked what gay men and lesbians hope to achieve by calling for boycotts against Chick-fil-A. Many see economic action against Cathy and Chick-fil-A as anti-Capitalist, even un-American, arguing incorrectly that it violates his freedom of speech. The history of queer economic activism, however, demonstrates just what is at stake, and what boycotting can achieve.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: boycott, change, consumer history, consumer identity, consumption, consumption practices, economic action, economics, history, History Compass, History Compass Exchanges, history of consuption, human rights, money, politics, Popular Culture, purchasing power, queer history, social change
Posted in General, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
June 3, 2012 by Isabel Barratt
In 2012, the UK will host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and will celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. To mark these historic events, Historical Research is pleased to present a selection of previously published papers and recent IHR podcasts on the theme of ‘Sports and Celebrations’:
Rules for the Observance of Feast-Days in Medieval England
Volume 34, Issue 90, November 1961
The Book of the Disguisings for the Coming of the Ambassadors of Flanders, December 1508
A. R. Myers
Volume 54, Issue 129, May 1981
‘For refreshment and preservinge health’: the definition and function of recreation in early modern England
Elaine McKay
Volume 81, Issue 211, February 2008
Sports and celebrations in English market towns, 1660–1750
Emma Griffin
Volume 75, Issue 188, May 2002
The Cult of the Centenary, c.1784–1914
Roland Quinault
Volume 71, Issue 176, October 1998
Bonfire Night in Mid Victorian Northants: the Politics of a Popular Revel
D. G. Paz
Volume 63, Issue 152, October 1990
Queen Victoria opens Parliament: the Disinvention of Tradition
Walter L. Arnstein
Volume 63, Issue 151, June 1990
Reynolds’s Newspaper, Opposition to Monarchy and the Radical Anti-Jubilee:Britain’s Anti-Monarchist Tradition Reconsidered
Antony Taylor
Volume 68, Issue 167, October 1995
The ‘Last Night of the Proms’ in historical perspective
David Cannadine
Volume 81, Issue 212, May 2008
Exhibiting a new Japan: the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 and Expo ’70 in Osaka
Sandra Wilson
Volume 85, Issue 227, February 2012
The Olympics, documentation strategy and the Minnesota Method 
Cathy Williams
IHR Archives and Society podcast, February 2012
Read the HistorySPOT blog post for this podcast
‘A Man Cannot See His Own Faults’: British Professional Trainers and the 1912 Olympics
David Day
IHR Sport and Leisure History seminar series, February 2012
Sport’s Role in 1951′s Festival of Britain 
Iain Wilton
IHR Sport and Leisure History seminar series, March 2012
Tags: Bonfire Night, British History, centenary, early modern, Eighteenth Century, European History, feasts, historical research, history of sport, Jubilee, medieval, modern history, monarchy, music, Olympics, parliamentary history, Popular Culture, Queen Victoria, recreation, sports, twentieth century, victorian, World History
Posted in General, Online Resources, Special Issues | Leave a Comment »
May 30, 2012 by Isabel Barratt
Part of Interior of the Comédie-Française (A.Meunier, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies is pleased to present a Special Virtual Issue on Eighteenth-Century French Studies, comprising previously published papers and an original Introduction by David McCallam.
Introduction
David McCallam
Voltaire and War
Haydn Mason
Volume 4, Issue 2, September 1981
Illegal Gambling in Eighteenth-Century France: Incidence, Detection and Penalties
John Dunkley
Volume 8, Issue 2, September 1985
Images of Islam in Some French Writings of the First Half of the Eighteenth Century
Ahmad Gunny
Volume 14, Issue 2, September 1991
Sexual/Textual Politics in the Enlightenment: Diderot and d’Épinay Respond to Thomas’s “Essay on Women”
Mary Trouille
Volume 19, Issue 1, March 1996
“Vous avés achevé mes tableaux”: Michel-Jean Sedaine and Jacques-Louis David
Mark Ledbury
Volume 23, Issue 1, March 2000
Candide and La Nouvelle Héloïse
Robin Howells
Volume 29, Issue 1, March 2006
Rehearsals at the Comédie-Française in the Late Eighteenth Century
John Golder
Volume 30, Issue 3, September 2007
“La différence de couleur n’en fait point dans l’âme”: Behn’s Oroonoko and the French Anti-Slavery Debate
Ursula Haskins Gonthier
Volume 31, Issue 2, June 2008
Tags: Aphra Behn, art history, British History, Eighteenth Century, European History, france, French Studies, gender, historical research, history, Islam, Oroonoko, Rousseau, slave trade, slavery, theatre, Voltaire, women, World History
Posted in General, Online Resources, Special Issues | Leave a Comment »
May 29, 2012 by Isabel Barratt
Part of Frontispiece, Mary Wollstonecraft’s Original Stories (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies is pleased to present a Special Virtual Issue on Education in the Eighteenth Century, comprising previously published papers and an original Introduction by Michèle Cohen.
Read it exclusively online:
Introduction
Michèle Cohen
The Treatment of Education in the Encyclopédie
D S Wilson
Volume 11, Issue 1, March 1988
Berquin’s L’Ami des Enfants and the Hidden Curriculum of Class Relations
John Dunkley
Volume 16, Issue 2, September 1993
Capturing (and captivating) childhood: The Role of Illustrations in Eighteenth- Century Children’s Books in Britain and France
Penny Brown
Volume 31, Issue 3, September 2008
“The Proper education of a Female …is still to seek”: Childhood and Girls’ Education in Fanny Burney’s Camilla; or, a picture of Youth
Coral Ann Howells
Volume 7, Issue 2, September 1984
London’s Charity School Children: The “Scum of the Parish”?
Dianne Payne
Volume 29, Issue 3, September 2006
“A Little Learning”? The Curriculum and the Construction of Gender Difference in the Long Eighteenth Century
Michèle Cohen
Volume 29, Issue 3, September 2006
“Leisure to be Wise”: Edgeworthian education and the possibilities of Domesticity
Richard De Ritter
Volume 33, Issue 3, September 2010
History Teaching in Late Eighteenth-Century Russia
David Saunders
Volume 10, Issue 2, September 1987
The British Reception of Madame de Genlis’s Writing for Children: Plays and Tales of Instruction and Delight
Gillian Dow
Volume 29, Issue 3, September 2006
Educating Christian Men in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries: Public School and Oxbridge Ideals
William Van Reyk
Volume 32, Issue 3, September 2009
Autonomy and Perfectibility: The Educational Theory of Godwin’s The Enquirer
K. E Smith
Volume 5, Issue 2, September 1982
Tags: arts, British History, children, class, classroom, education, Eighteenth Century, European History, fanny burney, gender, historical research, history, literature, madame de genlis, pedagogy, politics, teaching, university
Posted in General, Online Resources, Special Issues | Leave a Comment »
April 20, 2012 by khmarcus
LATINO LOS ANGELES, SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012
Dear colleagues and friends:
You are invited to a conference on “Latino Los Angeles,” to take place on Saturday, April 21st at The Autry National Center of the American West. Organized by the Historical Society of Southern California (HSSC), this interdisciplinary conference looks at how Latinos are shaping and restructuring three main themes in Los Angeles: community, the arts, and education. What major challenges face Latino communities today? How do artists address key issues and themes among Angelenos? How effective are educational institutions in meeting the needs and concerns of the Latino community? Scholars, filmmakers, journalists, and artists will address the contemporary Latino experience in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, and film clips and music form part of the program. Tickets, which include continental breakfast, a boxed lunch, and refreshments, are $50 for members of the HSSC and the Autry, $65 for non-members, and $25 for students. To RSVP, email hssc@socalhistory.org, call (323) 460 5632, or visit http://socalhistory.org/events/latino-los-angeles.html
Keynote Speaker: George Sánchez (USC)
Participants:
Denise Blasor (Bilingual Foundation of the Arts)
The Gene Corral Trio
William Deverell (USC)
Jerry Gonzalez (University of Texas, San Antonio)
Yolanda Gonzalez (Los Angeles artist/curator)
Jeff Gottlieb (Los Angeles Times)
Josh Kun (USC)
Anthony Macías (UC Riverside)
Kenneth Marcus (University of La Verne)
Adonay Montes (University of La Verne)
Lilia D. Monzó (Chapman University)
Enrique Murillo (Cal State San Bernardino)
Gilda L. Ochoa (Pomona College)
José Luis Valenzuela (UCLA)
Antonio Gonzalez Vasquez (Inland Mexican Heritage)
Ruben Vives (Los Angeles Times)
Jon Wilkman (Wilkman Productions)
Sponsors: Historical Society of Southern California; International Studies Institute, University of La Verne; Autry National Center of the American West
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December 5, 2011 by Angela Sutton
On November 13, 2011, a group of Afro-Caribbean Dutch protestors were arrested in the city of Dordrecht, Netherlands for protesting figures associated with the Dutch holiday tradition of Sinterklaas. (You can see a play-by-play of the protests and arrests here) These figures, deemed Santa’s helpers, are called Zwarte Pieten (or Black Petes), and they arrive on a steamboat alongside Sinterklaas (or St. Nicholas, the Dutch Santa) dressed in Shakespearean clothing and wearing wooly black afro, braided, or dreadlock wigs, bright red lipstick, golden earrings, and blackface. The Zwarte Pieten are the comedians of Sinterklaas who cheerfully play brass instruments, throw sweets, play tricks, and often end up as the butt of practical jokes throughout the holiday season.
Two Zwarte Pieten, courtesy of Wiki Commons
People from outside of the Netherlands are often shocked when confronted with the Zwarte Pieten. They associate these figures with the American tradition of blackface minstrel-shows which contributed to the proliferation of racist stereotypes, attitudes, and perceptions within a racially divided society. The Dutch are aware of this issue, and how it looks to outsiders. This year, Vancouver’s cancellation of the Sinterklaas celebration due to Zwarte Piet made it into the Dutch news. The organizer of the festival said “We will have to teach the Canadians and the entire North-American population what Zwarte Piet really is.” This attracted much commentary and criticism from the Netherlands. But foriegn outrage and rejection to the Zwarte Piet isn’t new to the Dutch: In 2008, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, made the decision to remove Zwarte Piet from its holiday lineup in response to tourist and layover flyers’ protest. Yet despite criticism from the outside world, Zwarte Piet remains a popular figure whom the vast majority of Dutch people want to keep at the center of Sinterklaas festivities. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: afro-caribbean, anthropology, anti-immigration, blackface, Canada, Dordrecht, Dutch tradition, Holland, Netherlands, Paramaribo, post-colonialism, protest, PVV, race, racism, right-wing politics, Sinterklaas, slave trade, slavery, Suriname, UNESCO, Vancouver, Zwarte Piet
Posted in Europe, General, Latin America and Caribbean, North America | 6 Comments »
October 20, 2011 by John Cunningham
Anybody seeking an answer to the question posed above could do worse than to check out the podcasts now available from the Tudor-Stuart Ireland Conference held last month at University College Dublin.
They are available here.
- Map of Ireland from 1592 by Abraham Ortelius (Wikimedia Commons)
This two-day event brought together a large number of Irish history scholars, from the postgraduate to the professor. Judging from the number of speakers and the attendance levels, the organisers were right to assume that there was a need for such a conference, and plans are already afoot for a further instalment next year.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Academic Conference, British History, Early modern Ireland, European History, History Compass Exchanges, Ireland, Natives and newcomers, Tudor-Stuart Ireland
Posted in Britain and Ireland, Conferences, Europe, Podcast | Leave a Comment »
October 20, 2011 by Isabel Barratt
Tags: America, astrology, Christianity, colonial, divination, england, Europe, history, History Compass, Islam, kabbalah, magic, medieval, middle ages, middle east, missionary, occult, prophecy, religion, religious history, Scotland, South Africa, Special Issue, transvaal, west africa, witch, witchcraft, World History
Posted in Special Issues, World | Leave a Comment »
September 19, 2011 by Jana
Last night there was informal junior faculty mixer at a local restaurant in the old train depot that’s near our campus. Since I do love me some trains, I was thrilled with the venue. And at one point in the evening when my social veneer had dropped a bit, I began to reveal just how fascinated I am by railroads (for those of you who don’t know me, let’s just say that when I bought my kids a toy wooden train set it was probably more for me than for them–and I won’t reveal here how much I enjoyed setting up elaborate railway systems around our living room)…
In the midst of my railroad enthusiasm a colleague mentioned to me that I should construct a ‘travel course’ around the theme of 19th-century American railways (my university offers many very popular travel courses during the interterm and summer) with Chicago as the ‘hub’ of the course. In that vein, here’s my idea: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in General | 3 Comments »
September 15, 2011 by Justin Bengry
A McArts degree? NO! (Wikimedia Commons)
Throughout the fall term last year, every time I entered the Arts Building of my campus I had to walk over the words “McArts Degree.” In the first week of term someone had painted them in two-foot-high, whitewashed letters at the entrance to the building. They were impossible to miss. It dominated the small outdoor plaza. These words remained there, confronting me and everyone else who entered the building, until they were finally obliterated by the snow and cold.
This message affected me every day that I went to the university.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: arts, arts & humanities, education, history, History Compass, History Compass Exchanges, humanities, society, universities
Posted in General | Leave a Comment »
June 27, 2011 by Angela Sutton
If you have a funny/poignant/thought-provoking/etc. idea for a history cartoon, please send it to Angela.C.Sutton[at]Vanderbilt[dot]edu. If I use your idea I will give you credit here.
Tags: archives, libraries, opening hours, research, summer research
Posted in General, HCE Comics | 3 Comments »
