AHA Executive Director interviewed on Democracy, Misinformation, and the Future of Historical Research
May 15, 2026
GHI Washington Deputy Director Axel Jansen and Sarah Beringer, Head of Strategy & Communications, recently interviewed Sarah Weicksel, Executive Director of the American Historical Association, on the state of archives and historical scholarship in the United States.
Weicksel described a paradox of expanding digitization alongside chronic underfunding, and raised concerns about records compliance — including federal officials' use of apps like Signal — that could leave significant gaps in the historical record for future researchers.
Weicksel also addressed the role of archives as democratic institutions essential to transparency and public accountability, the growing challenge of AI-generated misinformation, and increasing anxiety among international scholars about research mobility to and from the U.S. She called on organizations like the AHA and GHI to serve as anchors of support for the scholarly community navigating these uncertainties.
Read the full interview in English in Gab_log: Geisteswissenschaften als Beruf and in German in the Max Weber Stiftung's magazine Weltweit vor Ort.