The online version of the May 2011 issue of Perspectives on History is now available to AHA members (sign in to member services to gain full access).

From the President & Executive Director
In a joint article this month, AHA President Anthony Grafton and AHA Executive Director Jim Grossman discuss the role of historians in public life in light of the recent William Cronon affair. Cronon’s situation demonstrated some of the hazards of public engagement, but also demonstrated that historians who participate in public debate can expect their communities to rally around them.

News
The news this month includes Robert B. Townsend’s report on history faculty salaries falling behind inflation and academia, the announcement of Eric Foner’s Pulitzer Prize in History, and Lee White’s coverage of the recent decision to not allow a casino near Gettysburg, as well as a look at the fiscal 2011 budget’s impact on the history and archives communities. And the “In Memoriam” column marks the passing of John Philip Dawson, Nora Faires, Elisabeth Glaser, Paul Kenneth Longmore, Donald George Quataert, and Harry Rosenberg.

Political History Today
The bulk of the May issue is comprised of a series of 18 articles on political history today, considering political history through a variety of different lenses:

• Topics and Changes
  Julian E. Zelizer examines the interdisiplinarity of political history, Steven Pincus and William Novak look at the social-cultural turn, Karen Offen links in feminism, Kellie Carter Jackson takes on violence, David Paull Nickles notes the diplomatic history and political science wars, Jason Parker takes a look at the intersections of the domestic and the international dimensions in U.S. foreign policy, Christopher R. W. Dietrich tackles domestic poltics, and Darren Dochuk examines the sacred in political history.
• Digital
  Gretchen Adams assesses how the digital revolution changed the way political history is taught, E. Thomas Ewing details some digital resources that can be used to teach U.S. Policy in the Middle East, and Rosemarie Zagarri highlights the New Nation Votes database, which is now coming online.
• Resources
  Other resources, beyond just the digital, are offered as well, including assessments of materials for diplomatic history from Carl Ashley, political resources from Donald A. Ritchie, and images from Rachel Burstein.
• Place and Time
  Durba Ghosh looks to India, Vinayak Chaturvedi considers South Asia, and Sean T. Perrone goes to Early Modern Europe.

Nonmembers can preview a portion of each article during the first month of the issue’s release. After one month, the content will be freely available to all. Nonmembers can now access the April issue of Perspectives on History.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.