Here’s a quick preview of the newest issue of The American Historian:
The February 2017 issue of The American Historian features four compelling essays on “History and Education.” Bryan C. Rindfleisch argues that our words as instructors have power and what we say to our students matters, especially in the context of Native American History. David Arnold, in part II of his two-part series (part I appeared in our November 2016 issue), discusses the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and believes that while not without potential problems, professors should, at the very least, consider adopting aspects of SoTL into their classrooms. Sonya Ramsey traces the history of public schools following the seminal Brown v. Board decision and shows how Brown’s legacy is complicated and ongoing. Finally, Frank H. Wu details how American higher education is headed towards a potential crisis as institutions, by offering discounted tuition rates to compete in a highly competitive market, are struggling to balance their budgets.
The issue also includes pieces by Mark R. Cheathem, who argues that Donald Trump is decidedly not a twenty-first century Andrew Jackson, and Glen Jeansonne, who shows that Herbert Hoover’s vast accomplishments are overlooked due to the unfair blamed placed on him for the Great Depression. Finally, Rose Holz argues that while teaching polemical subjects such as abortion can seem daunting and stressful, welcoming different viewpoints into the classroom can lead to fruitful discussion and a greater understanding of the issues. We also have an essay from OAH president Nancy F. Cott on the increased prevalence of “fake news,” news from the OAH, and interesting historical facts and tidbits in our Ante and Post sections.
As always, we welcome your comments on both our print and online materials. Please send comments to theamericanhistorian@oah.org or tweet at us at @TheAmHistorian. Also, please feel to send us any content or ideas for content to the e-mail address above.
