Duke Is Abandoning American History. Broad historical instruction has given way to boutique narratives.

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | August 18, 2025 | Sherman Criner

[karpov]

Imagine, for a moment, the year is 2500. Human civilization is gone, lost to disaster, time, or neglect. One day, an alien research team lands in what was once North Carolina and begins to study the ruins of a place once known as Duke University. Buried beneath centuries of sediment, they find a course directory from the Department of History, dated 2025. What would these visitors conclude about American history? Would they know about the Revolutionary War and its heroes, Washington crossing the Delaware, the debates at Valley Forge, the intellectual courage of the Founding Fathers? Would they learn about the immigrants who built the railroads, the entrepreneurs who transformed an agricultural society, or the soldiers who fought fascism across two oceans?

Almost certainly not. They would come away knowing far less about the broad sweep of American history—its political transformations, economic changes, diplomatic turning points, and cultural achievements—than about a narrow range of faculty preoccupations, many of them rooted in identity politics or highly specialized subfields. The result would be a picture of the past that is partial, fragmented, and skewed toward present-day concerns, leaving much of the nation’s history unexplored. But why do I, a Duke history major now in my fourth year, say this?

For starters, there are far too few American History professors who specialize in non-identitarian fields. Of the 16 professors listed under “United States & North America,” only four are credited with teaching the nation’s history through a lens not primarily shaped by identity. More striking still, over 51 percent of the department’s American History offerings, 46 to be exact, are explicitly devoted to themes of racial- and social-justice movements. It’s worth asking whether such a concentrated emphasis risks narrowing the intellectual scope of historical inquiry at the expense of students and faculty.

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TOPICS: Education; History
KEYWORDS: college; duke

[ansel12]

I remember when Yale turned down that 25 million dollars to pay them to teach Western Civ history, and 25 mil was a lot back then.

[hinckley buzzard]

This is not just Duke. Academic history has long since been subordinated to leftist ideology. In any university department, you are hard pressed to find an honest historian of any stature. Maybe a few aged ones who are protected by tenure but approaching retirement and generally no longer that active.

[Segovia]

Quite true. Now, consider that your children and grandchildren are being taught American history by the students of these idiots. This is why the socialist/communist movement in the US started out by occupying academia..... {More striking still, over 51 percent of the department’s American History offerings, 46 to be exact, are explicitly devoted to themes of racial- and social-justice movements. It’s worth asking whether such a concentrated emphasis risks narrowing the intellectual scope of historical inquiry at the expense of students and faculty.}

[ClearCase_guy]

It’s been true for a long time —

The American Revolution won us our Independence ... but from whom? Russia? Japan? Mexico?

The big ocean off our east coast? Does it have a name? Anybody know?

WWII ... who were we fighting? The Native Americans? China? Britain?

The only things most students know today is that white people are bad and homosexuals are super cool.

[packrat35]

American history now is mostly slavery was bad and American is evil for having it.

Basically, American is racist all the time.

[larrytown]

This is not just Duke. Academic history has long since been subordinated to leftist ideology. In any university department, you are hard pressed to find an honest historian of any stature. Maybe a few aged ones who are protected by tenure but approaching retirement and generally no longer that active.

Oh good lord yes - academic history is exactly where this leftist infection got it's foothold. The history departments of many great universities in the US were starting this even before 1900. And from the great universities, propagandized graduates spread into the lesser academies and land grant colleges, and so forth as time went on - with the explosion of post-WW2 colleges and other state universities soaking in GI Bill money, the die was cast.

There is no redemption for this condition, other than the rational reduction of the number of universities and striking down the insane obsession of current society with the idea that a 'degree' is mandatory to success, or even entry into the workforce.

[Pajamajan]

bttt

[Maine Mariner]

And of course conservatives need not apply to Ph.D. programs in history.

[Don@VB]

They forgot one important course! lesbian Dance Theory