The past is never dead. It's not even past
We are excited to announce the upcoming History Beyond Academia series, curated by Associate Editor Raquel Torua Padilla. This series explores how history reaches people outside universities, showing how it is transmitted, shared, and sustained through public projects, community initiatives, and oral traditions. Contributors will reflect on a range of projects and practices that reveal […]
This article is part of the series: History beyond Academia History is often considered a solitary and insular discipline. Popular conceptions of historians include people holed up in dusty archives, writing in academic jargon, and going on long tangents about a subject that only they care about. In other words, academic history is written by […]
This article is part of the series: History Beyond Academia Este artículo tiene una versión en español History, for whom? (Historia ¿para quién?) is the result of a conversation sustained over several years between young historians and a communicator interested in bringing historical reflection into everyday life. From the outset, the main question was how to translate complex topics—both […]
This article is part of the series: History Beyond Academia On June 7, 1990, hundreds of Austin citizens spoke before the Austin City Council in opposition to a proposed 4,000-acre real estate development upstream of Barton Springs, an iconic spring-fed swimming pool in the heart of Austin. The development, spearheaded by flamboyant businessman Jim Bob […]
This article is part of the series: History beyond Academia MACRI Executive Director Dr. Sarah Z. Gould will be at UT Austin on February 19th, 2026. You can find more information about her talk at the end of this article. Nestled in the heart of San Antonio, Texas, just west of downtown, lies the Mexican […]
This article is part of the series: History beyond Academia The term “public history” entered my vocabulary only after I moved to the United States, where it designates a well-defined professional field. In Latin America, by contrast, similar practices have long existed without requiring a defined institutional/formal designation. Communities have always engaged in the making and sharing […]
In his seminal work, A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn presents a compelling alternative perspective on American history. In an important article, Professor Aaron O’Connell, who teaches at UT, made a powerful case for using Zinn in the classroom: To take my students through the long history of violence in America, I […]
In 2018, I was on a research expedition in Caracas, Venezuela. My days were filled with scheduling visits to libraries and repositories to start research for my dissertation on foreign oil companies and their activities in twentieth-century Venezuela. One sunny afternoon, an old mentor from my undergraduate years invited me to his private club. We […]
by the Editor of Not Even Past, Adam Clulow As Not Even Past winds down for another academic year, we want to take a moment to celebrate the remarkable contribution of Dr. Joan Neuberger, our Founding Editor, who will be retiring from the University of Texas this summer. Joan guided the magazine for almost a […]
The History Faculty New Book Series presents: History and Collective Memory in South Asia, 1200–2000(University of Washington Press, 2019) A book talk and discussion withSUMIT GUHAProfessor of HistoryThe University of Texas at Austinhttps://liberalarts.utexas.edu/history/faculty/profile.php?eid=sg7967 With discussant:ANUPAMA RAOTOW Associate Professor of History,Barnard College and Columbia Universityhttps://history.barnard.edu/profiles/anupama-rao In this far-ranging and erudite exploration of the South Asian past, […]