The online version of the April 2012 issue of Perspectives on History is now available, and features articles on amateur historians’ love for history, the complexities of the History Tuning Project, using Wikipedia and blogs in the classroom, and much more.

Read on for a closer look at some of these articles, and check out the April 2012 issue online for yourself. Please note that some articles are available only to AHA members. To read these articles, you will need to log in to AHA online services.

Loving History
AHA President William Cronon begins the April issue by investigating the root of the word amateur and celebrating amateur historians’ love for history. Then, AHA Executive Director James Grossman explains the intricacies of the AHA’s new History Tuning Project in his article “Tuning in to the History Major.”

Technology and Teaching
History teachers are embracing new technologies to enhance and enrich learning in their classes. Read Jeremy Brown and Benedicte Melanie Olsen’s detailed account of using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in an undergraduate classroom and discover how “Blogging in the Classroom” can help instructors incorporate a rich variety of supplemental multimedia resources.

Movies
The 19th article in the Masters at the Movies series is a fascinating study by Poshek Fu on Cold War influences on Hong Kong films. Also, be sure to read Robert Brent Toplin’s informative introduction, which offers a broader background on actors Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

Lives in History
Learn the importance of oral history for policy historians’ research in “Oral History, Policy History, and Information Abundance and Scarcity” by Patrick Sharma.

Nellie Neilson was the AHA’s first female president back in 1943. Meet her and learn about the long road to her election in this article by Allen Mikaelian.

News
In recent AHA news, three AHA members have been awarded the 2012 Bancroft Prizes and the April 2012 American Historical Review is on its way. In this issue, we also get Lee White’s summary of history news from Washington (including history reform bills, reports, and grants); Marian Barber’s report that the National History Center is reviving its congressional briefings series; the Central European History Society announcement  it is seeking a new editor; and the Society for Military History news of its annual awards.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.