Providence

THURSDAY SESSIONS
PLENARY SESSIONS
Thursday, April 7, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Thursday
Worst. President. Ever.
#OAH_badpres
Chair: Claire Potter, The New School
Panelists:
• David Greenberg, Rutgers University
• Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University
• Sean Wilentz, Princeton University
Discussions of leadership frequently turn to the U.S. presidency,
and discussions of the presidency frequently turn to ratings. The
top presidents, and the reasons for their greatness, are familiar and
literally graven in stone. The worst presidents, though, are a more
nebulous group. We take the time and expertise of a variety of top
historians to talk about what makes for poor performance in the
White House, how we know it, and what it tells us about American
leadership more generally.
Thursday, April 7, 5:15 pm – 6:45 pm
Historian Presidents
#OAH_histlead
Chair: Jon Butler, Howard R. Lamar Professor Emeritus of American
Studies, History, and Religious Studies, Yale University; Adjunct
Research Professor of History, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Panelists:
• Drew Faust, Harvard University
• Ricardo Romo, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Edward Ayers, University of Richmond
This plenary session features four prominent historians who lead
or have lead universities, organizations, and foundations. OAH
president-elect Ed Ayers will lead a discussion that will take up the
challenges and rewards of leading complex institutions.
The panelists will consider several questions: As a productive,
working historian, why did you agree to take a job as a president
of a university or foundation or as a dean or director? What in your
scholarly life has made a difference in your administrative life?
Looking back, do you think scholars, and historians specifically,
should encourage graduate training in academic leadership? What
tools should we look to develop? What are the pleasures of academic
administration? What are the obstacles, pitfalls, problems? And
finally, we are snowed with accounts of the academy in crisis, of
the humanities pushed to the sidelines, of declining enrollments in
history. How have these stories looked from your office?
LEGEND
Public History
Teaching
Community College
Professional Development
RHODE ISLAND CONVENTION CENTER
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