In this article, we analyze and compare photographic images from some of the most widely circulated Japanese and American high school history textbooks regarding their treatment of the Pacific War. We focus on the visual component of war technology, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the visibility or invisibility of women,…

The primary purpose of this article is to analyze how the origin of the Cold War is represented in Turkish history textbooks for general secondary school education for the twelfth grade. The author examined three history textbooks, which are only approved by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) for teaching the course of Contemporary Turkish…

In his article in this journal just over a year ago, Steven Driver set out his vision for a less myopic range of topics in A-level coursework. In this edition, Driver demonstrates how he has built student enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, a topic which he had previously identified as neglected -- Nicaragua's place within late 19th- and early…

World history education as a type of cultural production has expanded globally in the past thirty years. This article surveys world history as a component of curricula in universities, colleges, and precollegiate schools in several parts of the world. The author argues that teachers and scholars in the United States pioneered this field and that…

The United States and Brazil were the two largest slave societies in the history of New World slavery, and the legacies of that history remain salient in both nations. Slavery and the slave trade are important topics to be taught in history courses, and future generations need to be given accurate information about the history and legacies of…

"International education" in the United States has been dominated by nationalism that advocates such understanding primarily for the purpose of improving economic and military competitiveness with other nations (Parker 2008). Nevertheless, although they represent a minority voice, there have been researchers and educators who argue that…

American and global history curriculum frameworks for high schools across the 50 states generally present the topic of the Cold War from the Western political perspective and contain material about the impact of the US-Soviet ideological rivalry on American society. This article argues that since the Cold War impacted the lives of people in the…

This "think-aloud" study examines how a group of American Jewish teenagers read historical documents that addressed what it has meant over time to be American and/or Jewish. It demonstrates that students use a variety of sense-making strategies as they read about the past, many of which fall beyond the boundaries of critical historical…

In this article, the authors explore the nature of film that is both "about" and now more often made "for/by" indigenous peoples and its potential as a medium for introducing and engaging students in the study of indigenous history and perspectives in secondary classrooms. As a framework for analysis, the authors examine to…

Based on his own teaching experiences and findings, the author discusses the experience gap between U.S. and Japanese students' knowledge of World War II. He compares and contrasts how the subject of World War II is taught in the United States versus Japan. While it takes teacher effort to enrich the history experiences of U.S. students, the…

This article describes how the author teaches 8th graders to imagine the experiences of people from another time in history and make connections to today. Through a role play, the author teaches the hidden story of Japanese Latin Americans during WWII. The role play engages students in exploration of a little-known piece of history--the…

This essay is based on the author's presentation at the Wachman Center's July 26-27, 2008 History Institute for Teachers, co-sponsored and hosted by the Cantigny First Division Foundation of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. In an effort to better comprehend what he designates "the greatest calamity in human history," the author presents…

Historians work in a discipline with few inherent concepts and are obliged to draw upon many fields in recreating the past. Yet authors of most school history texts, state and national standards and curriculum materials seldom incorporate economic analysis in their work. Just look at state standards that include Adam Smith and John Locke but draw…

This study examines the treatment of the three most practiced monotheistic religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, within the pages of High School World History Textbooks. The results find that within World History textbooks Christianity and Islam receive more coverage than Judaism in narrative content, word usage, illustrations, and…

On July 26-27, 2008, FPRI's Wachman Center hosted 37 teachers from across the country for a weekend of discussion on teaching U.S. Military history. Sessions included: (1) The Revolutionary War and Early American Military History (Kyle Zelner); (2) The Mexican-American War (Paul Springer); (3) The Civil War (Mark Grimsley); (4) The Frontier Years…