The author argues that in order to create space for authentic multicultural engagement in the face of Eurocentric norms, teachers should form discussion groups that follow five basic guidelines: engage, don't enrage; be comfortable with negative emotion; watch for and change unproductive language; talk about everything; and engage in classroom…

In this historical study, the author argues that the impact of the 1916 Committee on Social Studies report on the disciplinary integrity of the U.S. history curriculum in secondary schools has been greatly exaggerated. Although the history curriculum was refashioned during the 1920s and 1930s as a result of the 1916 report, many of these changes…

Just as people focused on education in the United States call for more content-rich curriculums, elementary schools in many areas have squeezed history and social studies out of their school day. When social studies is taught, it's often characterized by overreliance on a textbook and "covering" isolated facts; extended, engaged reading…

Criticisms of Howard Zinn's work on U.S. History are examined in the context of increasing emphasis on the idea of "American exceptionalism" in contemporary political and cultural discourse, and particularly the insertion of American exceptionalism into revised social studies standards for the state of Texas. Analysis focusing on the…

Geography faces stiff curricular competition from the continuing emphasis of policy makers on the three R's and science. In many places, this competition seems to have squeezed out any systematic attention to geography or the other social studies, particularly in elementary school. What's more, it doesn't look like things are going to turn around…

The author considers the treatment of women's rights as human rights in the social studies curriculum. She discusses the role of the United Nations in promoting women's rights since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. She also reviews the treatment of women's rights within social studies curriculum today through a…

Elementary teachers frequently face the challenge of teaching about their state with limited time and resources. Teaching state or regional history is a longstanding tradition in fourth grade and has been part of the social studies curriculum since the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, national and state standards include attention to…

History matters. It matters not only because people can learn from the past, but because the present and the future are connected to the past by the continuity of a society's institutions. Today and tomorrow's choices are shaped by the past. And the past can be made intelligible only as a story of institutional evolution. This story focuses on the…

Few scholars have achieved the level of recognition and respect among the wider public as Howard Zinn. This should not come as a surprise, given the "unconventional" ways that Zinn embodied and enacted his scholarship. He often took his teaching and writing into those seemingly restricted spaces of popular protest, converting words into…

This paper presents a discussion of Howard Zinn's intellectual and political ideas. Through the analysis of selections from his immense body of work, several interrelated themes emerge. Drawing more attention to these notions of dissent and democracy is crucial to revitalizing education at all levels and vital to advancing the public discourse…

In this article, the authors build upon the use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in U.S. history and in current demographic studies, using examples from co-author Herschel Sarnoff's classroom in the Watts section of Los Angeles. They discuss theoretical and conceptual approaches that support student learning with GIS and provide resources…

Discusses the need to revise New York State's social studies curriculum to reflect the nation's diversity in a fair way, presenting a less biased, more realistic view of history. The curriculum should cultivate multiple perspectives, teach about common traditions, include examples of many peoples, and tell the whole story. (SM)

This essay argues that a sustained form can be located in the complicated history of populist rhetoric. Despite its chameleonic qualities, the advancement of populism is constituted by alterations in the focus and content, not the structure, of populist activism. This structure, or what I term its argumentative frame, positions a virtuous people…

The purpose of this article is to: (1) Examine the historical development of the Federal Reserve System; (2) Provide background on Ben Bernanke, the new Fed chairman; (3) Explain the basic tools of monetary policy used by the Fed; (4) Examine the causes of the Great Depression, a topic of special interest to Bernanke; and (5) Provide some key…

This paper explores Samuel Adam's role as perhaps the most important propagandist of the American Revolution and his efforts to exploit Great Britain's mistakes and to engender in the American colonists a love of liberty and a fear that Great Britain, if not resisted, would replace that liberty with tyranny. Suggesting that the Revolutionary War…