I subscribe to H-Net's H-Diplo which is a moderated list that focuses
on international relations, foreign policy and diplomacy. See
http://www.h-net.org/~diplo/ . You can click on the discussion logs
and read some of the recent postings. I mention that because you would
be surprised at what some of the academics are saying.
Coincidentally, there is an ongoing thread there on the purpose of
history. I didn't see what triggered it. Recently, the H-Diplo
historians have been debating there the interaction of the academic and
the political world, how history is and is not used, how it can be
corrupted, etc. Some have made good points, others seem to be living
in a bit of a bubble.
One scholar posited recently on HiDiplo that college professors should
focus on teaching students "how to decode propaganda." !!!! Here is
my reply, which points out that professors are only one of the factors
that may form a person's world view. And that many people live
successful lives without reading books. I happen to love history but,
as we've been debating here alos, not everyone does or will. See my
posting which also mentions records managers and archivists. I sent
this in yesterday, the moderator just posted it now:
From: H-Diplo <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 13:44:09 -0500
Subject: The Purpose of History [Krusten]
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:11:19 -0500
From: [log in to unmask]
(1) Clare Spark asks "that all students be taught how to decode
propaganda." Can historians present themselves as ultimate
authorities, people who will be accepted by all their listeners as
competent to teach how to "decode" propaganda? Can they define
propaganda in a way that the public would accept readily? Keep in mind
that there are no generally accepted standards of independence
(including declaration of impairments) for historians, of the type
codified for the protection of auditors and their work products. (See
auditors' independence and evidence standards at
http://shrinkster.com/coi and http://shrinkster.com/coh )
Talk to teachers at the K- 12 levels and you will hear a great deal of
concern about master plans that call for more daily hours spent
teaching math and science, less on social sciences. Some students in
your classrooms have been home schooled by parents who did not want to
expose their children to a perceived ideological slant in a public
school. Will it be easy for an historian to convince *all* these
students and their parents that s/he is truly impartial? And that his
or her own presentations do not constitute propaganda? Remember, we
live in a age of echo chamber Internet and cable "news" sources, some
of which present very differing views of what constitutes "propaganda."
Professors are only one source of influence in forming a person's world
view. For those who stop reading after college (an increasing number
of what are called "aliterate" Americans), your words likely will fade
quickly. Many Americans earn a living, raise families and vote for
public officials in elections while rarely listening to any news
broadcasts or reading any books after they finish their studies.
(2) The current thread does not acknowledge that there are a number of
related actions that affect history in a circular fashion. Government
officials create primary source materials (records) electronically or
in hard copy; records managers try to ensure that they are preserved;
archivists at the National Archives release the disclosable portions
over time; historians study them and write narratives that might help
future officials make better decisions. In the real world, all of
these actions are subject to being undermined, for political or
technological or budgetary reasons.
From my conversations with archivists and records managers, I can tell
you that many are mystified as to why scholars show so little interest
in the issues raised by government historians such as H-Diplo poster
Dr. Eduard Mark (see his comments in Fred Kaplan's "The End of History:
How e-mail is wrecking our national archive," Slate, June 4, 2003.
http://www.slate.com/id/2083920 ) Or in the public access issues
raised by Dr. Stanley Kutler.
Consider, then, the extent to which historians ignore so many parts of
the life cycle of records. Some probably would say the reasons are
benign. Perhaps some public officials ignore or misunderstand history
for similarly benign reasons. There must be factors that constrain
my fellow historians from learning about the records managers and
archivists whom they depend on and who need their support. Perhaps some
of the same factors keep busy, often-times insulated public officials
from turning to historians as they carry out their responsibilities.
Yes, history can be ignored or even misused in the public sphere. But
consider also that perhaps every profession, even ours, can be affected
sometimes by self absorption.
Maarja Krusten
GAO Historian and former National Archives' Nixon tapes archivist
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