WHY SHOULD THE PUBLIC WANT TO HEAR FROM HISTORIANS?
Historians are not entitled to be heard from simply because they are scholars. They must have something to say. But neither can the fact that they are scholars deprive them of the right to weigh in on matters of vital public importance. Indeed, the fact that they bring to the public debate a special expertise and sensibility derived from their studies is all the more reason to give them a hearing. Leaving the public square to people who lack the scholar’s knowledge diminishes democracy. Responding to news events in a timely and wise manner is a great challenge, of course. Fortunately, none of our contributors fail at the task all of the time and most succeed at it at least some of the time. That they may fail on occasion is no reason to conclude they should therefore never be given the chance to succeed ever again. CAN I REPRINT ARTICLES POSTED ON HNN? HNN publishes original pieces on our homepage. Because HNN encourages the wide dissemination of information we allow other publications
