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Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Aha!

Back in 1989 when I was a fresh History MA, I did what anyone would do: I joined the American Historical Association.

I even went to the 1991 national meeting in Chicago, eager to see what my peers could show me.

I was disappointed. The AHA had nothing for me, a mere history major interested in military history.

Over time, I noticed that the flagship journal of the AHA really offered me nothing.

So, twenty years ago, or so, I let my membership lapse.

The association has gotten worse over time, it seems (tip to Instapundit):

If you doubt that leftist activists now dominate the study and teaching of U.S. history, take a look at the program for the 2013 American Historical Association conference in New Orleans. The pattern is similar to the University of Michigan’s history department, discussed here yesterday—a heavy emphasis on race, class, and gender, with more “traditional” topics frequently reconfigured to conform to the dominant paradigm.

I hate to see what they've done to Michigan. It was fairly bad at the time. My political science courses were a bit better.

I still remember my introduction to US history my first term in college. I eagerly looked forward to what my professor would cover about World War II. Oh, the insights I'd learn! He said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "We won World War II, the readings cover that. Now on to the post-war ..."

My history professors at Eastern Michigan University where I got my master's degree were much better. I even had an actual military history class. The professor sadly passed away some years ago. He was very good.

How the AHA is different from MoveOn.org escapes me.