Tuesday, May 01, 2012

In the News: Doing Recent History

On Thursday, May 3rd, the New School in New York will be hosting a launch event for the new book, DOING RECENT HISTORY. The event will begin at 6:00pm and feature a panel and book signing. Co-editor Claire Bond Potter will be joined by contributors Gail Drakes and David Greenberg, with David K. Rosner moderating the discussion. More information about the event can be found here.

DOING RECENT HISTORY is the definitive guide to the practice of recent history. It explores the challenges of writing histories of recent events where visibility is inherently imperfect, hindsight and perspective are lacking, and historiography is underdeveloped. DOING RECENT HISTORY offers guidance and insight to any researcher considering tackling the not-so-distant past.

Journalists, historians, and interdisciplinary scholars are constantly trying to write about recent history and end up struggling with the accompanying challenges. New technologies and new evidence present exciting new challenges and opportunities in the field of history. The recent past is also often a highly contested one, requiring interdisciplinary methods and an attention to ethical engagement of living subjects. With no other book out there exploring these methodological and ethical issues, DOING RECENT HISTORY is an important resource, particularly for those in higher education.

In this YouTube video, Renee C. Romano gives a good overview of the book.


"How I wish DOING RECENT HISTORY had been available when I began writing histories that were 'just over my shoulder.' Potter and Romano demonstrate that tackling recent history poses unique challenges, and they offer absolutely indispensable guidance in meeting them."—Alice Echols, author of HOT STUFF: DISCO AND THE REMAKING OF AMERICAN CULTURE