Historians are finding it hard to carry out research. Museum exhibits have shuttered, presidential records have been discarded and public monuments cannot “contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
“What we’re seeing is the current administration pushing a narrative that’s really focused in on American exceptionalism,” says Sarah Weicksel, executive director of the American Historical Association, in a recent episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast. “It’s an old historical narrative that historians have pushed aside through deep research engagement, through historiography. But it’s being brought back.”
In addition to taking down signs at national parks and changing museum displays, the federal government is also limiting what kinds of historical research and teaching projects can receive federal funding, she noted.
We Have Never Taught Critical Thinking (opinion)
Duration-of-Status Rule Change Clears White House Review
