Events
History in Action: Historical Thinking in Public Life
Friday, March 8, 2013 - 3:30pm - Saturday, March 9, 2013 - 6:30pm
Columbia University
Morningside Campus
East Gallery, Buell Hall
Keynote address, 8 March at 5:30PM by
Dr. John Lawrence, Ph.D., former Chief of Staff, Office of the Democratic Leader
Introduction by Prof. Alice Kessler-Harris, R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of History, Columbia University
The
historical profession is in the midst of important changes. The
traditional role of the research professor of history is evolving, as
universities cut funding for the liberal arts, graduate programs shrink,
and a new generation of scholars comfortable with innovative ways of
disseminating ideas comes of age. Meanwhile, there have never been more
opportunities for students with professional training in history to
pursue careers outside academia, as studies by the American Historical
Association suggest some one- to two-thirds of recent history Ph.D.s
already do. Although history departments are beginning to recognize the
new place of history in public life, they have been slow to adapt, in
part because outdated assumptions about public history continue to
obstruct their thinking.
This workshop will
seek to break through this impasse. Over the course of one-and-a-half
days, graduate students, professors, and non-academic professionals with
university training will join in conversation to take stock of the
place of historical thinking in public life and assess the roles and
responsibilities of the historian today. Through five panel
discussions, a keynote address, and a concluding small-group exercise,
we will explore the role history plays for non-university publics and
interrogate the character of the historian in todays society. Our
final plenary session will be an opportunity to build on what we learn
in our panel discussions through a group brainstorming exercise to
generate concrete initiatives to supplement historical training here at
Columbia.
A full description of the conference, including a detailed schedule with a list of panelists, is available at the conference website: http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/historyinaction/
A full description of the conference, including a detailed schedule with a list of panelists, is available at the conference website: http://blogs.cuit.
History in Action would not be possible without the generous support of:
Howard and Natalie Shawn and the History Department's Board of Visitors,Teachers College Center on History and EducationThe Maison FranaiseThe Herbert H. Lehman Center for American History,The Consortium for Intellectual and Cultural History,
Co-sponsored by the Columbia Maison Francaise and the Department of History
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