History Matters

The UCLA Department of History believes that history is more than the study of the past. It is also an indispensable tool for understanding the present. The Department is committed to bringing historical knowledge into conversation with issues of contemporary relevance and import through public programs and opinion writing. We are also pleased and proud to support the National Center for History in the Schools.

• Publication Catalog

Faculty Projects

Faculty Video Commentary on Contemporary Events

Ellen DuBois - New Video Commentary on Women’s History and the 2012 Election

Brenda Stevenson - A Perspective on the Death of Rodney King

Ivan Berend - An Insight and Explanation of the European Economic Crisis

Scot Brown - Manning Marable on Malcolm X

Sanjay Subrahmanyam - The Politics of Cricket

Ellen Dubois - Assesses Geraldine Ferraro

Eric Avila - Demographic Reconquest of California: Historical Perspective on Demographic Shifts in the State

Faculty Opinions

• Gary Nash - "We Can’t Just Wait for Bias to Disappear", The New York Times, June 13, 2013

• David Myers - "Cut from the top to save UC", Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2013
• David Myers - "History matters: 
Garcetti and the history of Jewish politics", Jewish Journal, May 29, 2013

• Robin Derby - "Remembering Hugo Chávez: Reflections from the Caribbean", UCLA Latin American Institute E-Newsletter, April 2013
• Albion Urdank - "Thatcher an empiricist and a Burkean", Financial Times, April 15, 2013

• Ellen DuBois - "Lessons from the Women's Suffrage Movement", The New York Times , March 26, 2013
• Peter Baldwin - "Open Democracy article", Open Democracy, March, 2013

• Geoffrey Robinson - "Film series builds human rights community at UCLA", UCLA Today, February 7, 2013

• Scot Brown - "Paying Tribute To Funk's 'Sugarfoot' Bonner", NPR, January 31, 2013
• Chris Bray "UCLA Ph.D in History" - "What a 'Militia' Meant in Revolutionary America", The Wall Street Journal, January 25, 2013
• David Myers - "Abbas Alleges Link Between Zionists And Nazis", The Daily Beast, January 23, 2013
• Joyce Appleby - "Disarm the filibuster", Los Angeles Times, January 2, 2013

• David Myers - "Revisionist History", Letters to the Editor, The New York Times, December 20, 2012
• Albion Urdank - "Flaws in Norquist debt-ceiling plan", Financial Times, December 12, 2012
• David Myers - "1947's Zionists, Today's Palestinians", The Daily Beast, December 7, 2012

• Albion Urdank - Polish Patriot in U.S. Sought to End Slavery, Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2012
• Ellen Dubois - Candidates campaigning hard to win womens' votes, France 24, November 2, 2012

• Michael Meranze - The American Origins of Prison w/ Michael Meranze, Blogspot, October 29, 2012
• David Myers - In defense of academic freedom, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2012

• Albion Urdank - Letters: Emancipation Proclamation and US Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2012
• Craig Yirush - Letters: Before and after the Constitution, Los Angeles Times, September 20, 2012
• Albion Urdank - "Obamacare was based on Republican policy from the 1990s", Financial Times, September 12, 2012

• Albion Urdank - "Consider Joe Biden's Strong Points", The Wall Street Journal, August 29, 2012
• David Myers - "The Jews of Kaifeng", Jewish Journal, August 15, 2012
• David Myers - "Jewish Studies Flourish in China", Jewish Journal, August 15, 2012

• David Myers - "'Law, politics, and the settlements", Jewish Journal, July 18, 2012
• Albion Urdank - "'United States of Europe is on track", Financial Times, July 16, 2012
• Robin Kelley - "My American Dream Sounds Like Rubén Blades", NPR, July 10, 2012