The Past is the Present and Future

By Broadside Correspondent Kevin Loker

Students who have an interest in government and international politics, or current events in general, have another useful tool at their fingertips.

History News Network, which resides on George Mason University’s server, is a Web site that hosts articles about current events through the eyes of historians. Writers who contribute to the Web site use their knowledge of past events and apply them to similar or current ones to add to the discussion of how they may evolve or how they may be remembered. As the History News Network’s tagline states, they do this “Because the Past is the Present, and the Future too.”

The Web site, which has been online since June 2001, found its way onto Mason’s server by means of former faculty member, Rick Shenkman. who had been running the Web site out of his own pocket for about nine months without drawing a salary.

“I was down to $4,000 in my personal bank account,” Shenkman said. “It was do or die time.”

“I was very enthusiastic,” said Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Jack Censer, “[The Web site] is an important addition the History and New Media Center and a very useful periodical.”

Censer, an early supporter of the Web site, along with the late Roy Rosenweig, incorporated the Web site right away. Now, more than 11,000 readers subscribe to History News Network’s weekly newsletter. The site attracts 340,000 unique visitors a month and receives nearly 8,000,000 hits.

Though on Mason’s server, students do not largely fit into those numbers.

“It’s a neat site,” said Jill Brown, sophomore English and pre-med major, “I don't really know anything about it though.”

“I hadn’t heard of it before either,” said freshman government and international politics major, Andrew DeCelle, “But after looking through it, it does seem to have some interesting articles.”

Leading up to Election Day, the top articles’ headlines included “1920+1932 = 2008” “2008 Is a Long Ways Away from 1908, But Still . . . ” and “Will Obama be FDR to McCain’s Hoover?”

Beyond a historical perspective on current events, the Web site offers other tools and opportunities that Mason students see as useful.

“I went straight to the page about this day in history,” said freshman conflict analysis and resolution major Stephanie Ballard.

“The ‘student shortcuts’ part of the Web site is something I could see being extremely helpful as well,” DeCelle said. On the Student Shortcuts page, one link lets a student chat with a professional librarian from the Library of Congress. Another goes to a comprehensive list of online dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference works.

Other opportunities may go beyond looking at the Web site online.

“I strongly encourage Mason students to consider joining our intern program. It's a fantastic opportunity for students who share an interest in both history and journalism,” said Shenkman, “It’s not a make-work job. You'll do real work. Nothing Mickey Mouse.”