Job Announcement: Associate Manager of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at The Ohio State University

The Mershon Center for International Security Studies at The Ohio State University is searching for an Associate Manager. The Associate Manager supports the Center's mission by coordinating and overseeing the non-fiscal components of Center operations. The Associate Manager will coordinate the center's research, programming, and training portfolio. This will include overseeing the Center’s grants portfolio, with semi-annual RFPs, application, and review process, and developing more rigorous reporting and consultation routines.  They will advise the director on balancing the scope of activities, programming, and administrative work by keeping track of faculty and student affiliate research and emerging research directions in order to build networks and create new programming opportunities and supervise affiliate research reporting. The Associate Manager supervises the staff in promoting and producing Center programming and oversees the logistics and hosting of major programs such as large conferences or summer institutes and in developing process templates. They will develop and oversee the framework for the Center's public, intranet, and back-office institutional memory, a complete current overview, and traceable records of Center activities. The Associate Manager will also lead and manage the staff responsible for documentation, archiving, and maintaining and updating Center affiliate records. The Associate Manager serves as project manager for complex special programs such as the biennial National Security Simulation and the Diplomacy Summer Institute. They will assess and arrange support as needed for new Center projects (such as database and archive hosting) and collaborate with faculty and staff on project design and implementation. The Associate Manager is encouraged to envision and develop new program opportunities for the Center.  They may represent the Center Director in planning conversations with university and external partners and advise the Director on decisions and opportunities. They will advise and support faculty to develop the research outputs from the National Security Simulation, the Diplomacy Summer Institute, the Transitioning from Violence consortium and similar events, which involve both training and new research initiatives.

 

 

Call for Papers: Diplomatic History
“1776 In Global Context”

To mark the 2026 Semiquincentennial of the American Revolution, the journal Diplomatic History seeks article proposals that engage with any aspect related to the international, transnational, transimperial, continental, or global dimensions of the American Revolution, including its origins or aftermath. The articles will be published in a special forum in 2026.

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.

Call for Papers

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!

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

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

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]

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