In its annual meeting 2017, the American Historical Association discussed a wide spread of subjects, regarding many topics from different angles and times. We asked the Association’s President, Prof. James Grossman, about the impression the annual meeting left on him. He also told us about the situation of the humanities in general and the role of historians in particular under the current political circumstances in the United States of America.
"The biggest losers would be millions of Americans"
L.I.S.A.: Professor Grossman, a few weeks ago the American Historical Association (AHA) held their annual meeting in Denver. What was the theme of the meeting? Which questions were discussed on the agenda?
Prof Grossman: The theme of our meeting was "Historical Scale: Linking Levels of Experience". The agenda was wide ranging, as befits an organization whose membership's areas of expertise and interest span the whole world and all periods of history. Hence one can think of "scale" in terms of time and space as historical frames that facilitate linkages of all sorts, both traditional and creative.
L.I.S.A.: After being elected, Donald Trump announced the reduction of subsidies for the humanities. Which consequences do you expect for humanities on the whole and especially for the historical sciences? Did President Trump’s announcement have any bearing on the discussions at the Congress?
Prof Grossman: Trump's proposal to reduce federal funding in humanities areas did not come "after being elected." His proposed budget was released in mid-March, and it is not at all clear that the reductions that he has proposed will in fact be enacted by Congress. If the reductions do occur, we could see a substantial decline in funds available to individual historians to obtain leave time for scholarly research. Libraries and museums that preserve and make accessible the sources essential to that research would have far fewer resources for such activity. Public programming would take an even bigger hit. Millions of Americans have access to history programs in public libraries, museums, and other venues through National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funding. NEH supports film and radio as well.
So the biggest losers would be the millions of Americans who are neither students nor professional historians, but have an interest in history and historical thinking. Other funding that could be at risk specifically provides resources for museums and libraries. Also, funding for study of foreign languages and cultures. But again, at this point we are looking at proposals. The National Endowment for the Humanities has strong support in Congress.
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Very thnaks