Call for Papers

In recognition of the longstanding intersection of interests between the Society for Military History and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, and with the intention of deepening the relationship between the organizations, SMH extends a special invitation to SHAFR members to attend the 2025 George C. Marshall Lecture. Titled “To the Bitter End?: Germany, Japan, and Surrender, 1945,” and scheduled for January 4th at the AHA meeting in NYC, this annual lecture will be delivered by Richard Overy, Honorary Research Professor at the University of Exeter. Comparing the two endgames and assessing the long-term ramifications of each, Professor Overy’s presentation reflects the commonalities of the two organizations, and SMH looks forward to the attendance of many SHAFR members. It will provide further details and a link at a later date.

National Archives

Opportunity for Comment: Draft NARA Bulletin on Metadata Guidance for Transfer of Classified Electronic Records

By Arian D Ravanbakhsh, Wednesday, July 31, 2024 3:09 PM

History Coalition Warns of Critical Needs at National Archives

With 12-Year Backlogs, Declassification at NARA Reaching Crisis Point National Archives’ Budget Inadequate to the Task

Washington, D.C., July 23, 2024 - A major report on the current state of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently released by the National Coalition for History (NCH) includes a critical assessment of the state of declassification: “For the sake of accountability and a fuller historical record, NARA needs more funding so it can make steady progress in reviewing and declassifying classified historical records and fulfilling Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) requests.” Prepared by a working group whose members included representatives from the National Security Archive, the History Coalition report sets an agenda for supporting and strengthening the National Archives. It identifies acute institutional needs and proposes steps that Congress, the White House, federal agencies, and NARA’s leadership can take to ensure the agency is properly funded and supported so that it can fulfill its critical mission for the American people.

NCH NARA Working Group Report May 2024

SHAFR 2024 Proposed By-Law Amendments for review by the membership.

Dear NCH Member,

Call for Applications:
“Writing the History of U.S. Foreign Relations in an Age of Crisis”

2025 SHAFR Summer Institute, June 21-25, 2025, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Congratulations to the SHAFR 2024 Prize and Award winners!

SHAFR-Gale Digital Fellowship information session

Zoom information session with Gale about the SHAFR-Gale Digital Scholar Fellowships Wednesday, May 15th at 10AM (US Eastern) For an invitation to the Zoom session--or to get the recording after Wednesday--simply email James Stocker at [email protected]

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

SHAFR's Nominating Committee is soliciting nominations for elected positions. The 2024 elections will fill the following positions:

The Committee for Women in SHAFR welcomes applications for an online Second Book Workshop to be held on Friday 17 January 2025, 9:00 am-12:00 pm and 3:00-5:00 pm EST). This initiative is aimed at scholars who are researching/writing their second book and who would like to have a productive environment in which to receive feedback on their work. Twelve participants will be part of a group of peers; they will give comments to others and receive feedback themselves from experienced editors and scholars.  They would be asked to attend both sessions. Past participants gave enthusiastic feedback (“a masterclass in intellectual camaraderie,” one called it). You can read about in a piece by Nicole Anslover on the January 2023 issue of Passport (pp. 38–39).

Participants are asked to submit a curriculum vitae, a one-page project summary, and a one-page explanation of why this experience would be helpful/what they expect to achieve through it by 2 September 2024 to [email protected]. Acceptance notifications will go out on 2 October 2024. Full drafts of a polished chapter or book proposal will be due by 15 December 2024.

International Conference on the New World Information and Communication Order: Histories and Legacies
June 11-12, 2024 | University of Toronto | www.nanrep.org

Position Announcement: Passport Editor

The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) seeks to appoint a new editor for Passport: The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Review. This position will officially begin on September 1, 2024, with a 4-month transition period to follow, during which time the person appointed will work alongside the current editor until January 1, 2025. The term of appointment is five years with the possibility of renewal, and a stipend is provided as compensation. Additional information about Passport, including copies of previous issues, can be found at: https://www.shafr.org/passport.

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2024 —  A new state-of-the-art digitization center at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in College Park, Maryland, is allowing the agency to provide greater public access to the country’s most important historical federal government records faster than ever before. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, Representative Steny Hoyer, and Representative Glenn Ivey joined Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan today for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally celebrate the center’s launch.

PIDB Submits 2023 Annual Report to Congress By karas, Friday, March 8, 2024 2:58 PM On March 8, 2024, PIDB Chair Mary DeRosa submitted to Congress the PIDB’s Annual Report for 2023. The report reviews the appointments of members; public events including the public meeting held on January 26 in Austin, Texas; briefings from federal agency representatives on their initiatives in developing artificial intelligence and machine learning tools for declassification; … Continue reading PIDB Submits 2023 Annual Report to Congress

Dreams of Peace and Realities of War: The Friend-Enemy Polarization
Seminars – 27-29 May 2024 // Conference – 30 May-1 June 2024
(Dublin, Ireland)

For Kant, "perpetual peace" was a satirical inscription on a tavern sign accompanied by a drawing of a cemetery. Yet the theme of the desire for peace permeates all human traditions since the Axial Age. The event will explore the possibilities of building it by analyzing the roots of violence and for conflict resolution through reason and institutional structures, such as the Franco-German and U.S.-Japanese reconciliations after the wars, along with the development of supranational institutions such as the United Nations and the European Union. We will also focus on polarization at the level of national politics and possible democratic risks, as in the case of the United States. Finally, we will focus on the pursuit of peace in different traditions, including Chinese, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Christian views.

We are looking for academics, students and researchers to be involved in the event: the first part (May 27-29) is planned in the form of seminars, with lectures and workshops also held by the Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme in Paris, and the second part as a conference (May 30-June 1).

Participation is entirely free and there is an opportunity to apply for a grant.

For further information, please see the attached flyer and https://www.resetdoc.org/event/dublin-2024-dreams-peace-realities-war-friend-enemy-polarization/

Alternatively, you may email [email protected] or [email protected].

Organizing Partners
Reset Dialogues on Civilizations, the Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy at Boston College and Boston College – Ireland  

- Please post & circulate - 

The Smith Richardson Foundation is pleased to announce its annual Strategy and Policy Fellows grant competition to support young scholars and policy thinkers on American foreign policy, international relations, international security, military policy, and diplomatic and military history.  Applicants must have a Ph.D to apply. 

Hello NCH colleagues,

I wanted to share with all of you a recent update to CoSA's popular "Importance of State Archives" advocacy booklet. Our advocacy committee condensed this tool into a tri-fold brochure to encourage greater use and distribution for advocacy efforts: