Becky West

Another #AHAReads pick done! Despite the title of Charlie English’s “The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature,” the book really focuses on the Polish Solidarity movement, making it perfect for the “history of a resistance movement” task.

AHA Reads 2025: First Month Complete! Find out what AHA members, Council, and staff have been reading to fulfill the fourth annual AHA Summer Reading Challenge.

We’re almost halfway through this year’s AHA Summer Reading Challenge — but there’s still plenty of time to join in! Check out our roundup of what participants read in June for inspiration. #AHAReads 📚

#ScholarSunday Thread 232 Published on July 6, 2025

It’s appropriate that, on this especially fraught holiday weekend, my 232nd #ScholarSunday thread is my longest yet, full of so much public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy! 🗃️

americanstudier.substack.com/p/scholarsun...

Thanks for the shoutout, Ben!

I loved talking to the folks restoring and preserving some of the DC area's most iconic historic buildings for this piece. The Folklife Festival runs through July 7, make sure to go see these immensely talented craftspeople if you're attending! (And drink lots of water and wear sunscreen!)

LAURA IS SUCH A GREAT PERSON AND ALSO A CREDIT TO OUR PROFESSION AND ALSO AN AMAZING LEADER OF HISTORIANS AND ALSO HOORAY

The Glass Palace Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, The G…

I also squeezed in the historical fiction task with The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh! After reading his nonfiction for class a few years ago, it was fascinating to see how he approached imperialism, colonialism, culture, and climate through fiction #AHAReads www.goodreads.com/book/show/77...

For the material culture task I read Skirts by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell -- I loved learned about the "hemline wars" and the a lot of social and cultural forces behind what's in my closet! #AHAReads www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...

Happy #AHAReads season!! My first pick this summer is Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell for the "read a history that uses material culture" task 👗

Oh I read that this spring! Let me know what you think!!

What a beautiful May Day to launch the fight for the rights of our labor - #NEH staff and grantees alike - and for the #humanities.

Our work to preserve and make accessible #history and #culture for all people is NOT expendable. @paulakrebs.bsky.social @acls1919.bsky.social

#Skystorians, the best way you can support actions like this is to join @historians.org at historians.org/join.

You can also donate to the AHA’s advocacy fund to help support this lawsuit. historians.org/donate

American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association File Lawsuit Alleging Illegal Dismantling of National Endowment for the Humanities - AHA Lawsuit aims to reinstate NEH grant programs, divisions, and staff. For Immediate Release / May 1, 2025 (New York, NY) — The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the American Historical Assoc...

@acls1919.bsky.social, the AHA, & @modernlanguage.bsky.social filed a lawsuit in federal district court today, seeking to reverse the recent actions of the NEH to devastate the agency, including the elimination of grant programs, staff, and entire divisions and programs. 🗃️

AHA staff does Broadway before #AHA25 begins tomorrow!

A hand holding a small cup of chocolate ice cream with Reese's Pieces topping up in front of a bookshelf filled with colorful books

Thrilled to find that someone has created my dream store: combination ice cream shop and bookshop! Shoutout the the Fountain Bookshop in Washington Heights for the NYE treats 📚🍦

Photo taken from the stands of a hockey game between the New York Sirens and the Ottaw Charge of the PWHL as the teams take a faceoff at center ice.

Is it really an AHA annual meeting if I don't get into town early to catch some hockey? Got to NYC and immediately hopped a train down to New Jersey for the afternoon, super glad to finally get to a PWHL game!

Come see us in New York!!

oh good

can we go in december