History Behind the Headlines
Spring 2013
History Behind the Headlines (HBH) gives students the unique opportunity to engage directly with the nationally known academic experts, journalists, and policy-makers who come through UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs each week.
Students will analyze some of our most pressing policy and public affairs issues from a historical perspective, utilizing the considerable resources of the Miller Center and its scholarly community. The research and writings of this spring’s Miller Center Colloquium and Forum guests will form the core of HBH’s readings. Weekly discussions will cover a diverse array of topics, including: the 2012 presidential election; competing visions of the proper role of the federal state; the politics of immigration, drug, and healthcare policy; the financial crisis; racial, social, and gender issues in American politics; the grand strategy of U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War era; and human rights and nation building. The heavy reading load (150-200 pages per week) will introduce students to some of the finest research in history, political science, international relations, sociology, and American Political Development. Assignments will include attendance at Miller Center colloquia, active participation in weekly discussion, two op-ed style pieces, and a long-term, substantial writing project (20-25 pages) on a topic of the student’s choice. All of the assignments will be geared toward articulating scholarship for a wider audience – a central mission of the Miller Center.
