Monday, April 12, 2010

Book Chat and Policy History from the National History Center

I recently learned of two programs of the National History Center of potential interest to legal historians. The first is New Books in History, a podcast of "discussions with historians about their work, and particularly their new books." Recent posts include Hilary Earl, “The Nuremberg SS-Einsatzgruppen Trial, 1945-1958: Atrocity, Law, and History”; Nicholas Thompson, “The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War”; Ben Kiernan, “Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur”; Brian Balogh, “A Government Out of Sight: The Mystery of National Authority in 19th-Century America” ; and Julian E. Zelizer, “Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security From WWII to the War on Terrorism."

The National History Center has also, in conjunction with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, started a weekly history seminar that takes place in at Wilson Center. According to the announcement "The seminar aims to facilitate the understanding of contemporary national and international affairs in light of historical knowledge of all times and places, and from multiple perspectives. It takes place on Monday afternoons at 4 p.m., January-May and September-December. The National History Center's founding director Wm. Roger Louis and the Wilson Center's Director of the History and Public Policy Program Christian Ostermann are the co-hosts of the seminar. The seminar is at its half way point and is a great success, with visiting scholars discussing a wide range of historical topics. "

Videos of the already conducted sessions are available here; these include Stanley Katz on international human rights, John Milton Cooper on Wilson v. Wilsonianism–with advice to Obama, Devin Fergus on rising inequality and the return of Jim Crow.

Upcoming are James J. Sheehan on states, nations, and the problem of the nation-state; David Bell on the French and American Revolutions and modern democracy; Marilyn B. Young on the eternal return of counter-insurgency; Sheldon Hackney on C. Vann Woodward and the Civil Rights Movement; and Luisa Passerini on changing concepts of love since the 18th Century.

Hat tip.