Emails, James Grossman, executive director, American Historical Association, Jan. 19 and 26, 2017
9:15 p.m.
Jan. 19, 2017
What's mainly missing are data on what courses students actually take, and on whether the university requires US History for all students. If all students are required to take US History, then there's no reason to have a requirement for the major.
I agree on the importance of an understanding of US History for active citizenship. Have the sponsors of the study commented on the Governor of Maine thinking a president could oppose Jim Crow laws even though that individual was president before Jim Crow laws were passed? Are the sponsors of the study concerned that the president-elect showed little knowledge of both the US Constitution and the structure of US government during the campaign? That the nominee for Secretary of Education apparently is not aware of major legislation central to the operation of her agency?
I am also disappointed in the US history knowledge of America's college graduates. But it's hard to tell students that it is essential to learn material that the national leadership doesn't know. How do we convince students that US history is important if the president himself makes it clear he doesn't read books, and shows willful ignorance of that history?
I also agree that it is important that history "departments articulate with far greater clarity what students should know." The AHA has not only advocated for this, but we have actually done something about it through our "Tuning" initiative. The program starts with what is called the "discipline core," which each participating department adapts from the AHA's reference points.
You can find that document here:
https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/tuning-the-history-discipline . "The American Historical Association is coordinating a nationwide, faculty-led project to articulate the disciplinary core of historical study and to define what a student should understand and be able to do at the completion of a history degree program."
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Jim Grossman
James Grossman
Executive Director
American Historical Association
9:36 p.m.
I left off the link for the governor of Maine thinking presidents Grant and Hayes could fight Jim Crow laws that weren't enacted until after they had left the White House:
“John Lewis ought to look at history,” said LePage, whose office did not respond to questions from the Bangor Daily News about his statements. “It was Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves. It was Rutherford B. Hayes and Ulysses S. Grant who fought the Jim Crow laws. A simple thank you would suffice.”
James Grossman
Executive Director
American Historical Association
On Fri, Jan 20, 2017 at 12:30 PM, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) wrote:
Thanks for this.
Are you aware of research on what courses students actually take and whether institutions require US history classes of students regardless of major? I know Texas has just such a law.
G.
12:45 p.m.
Jan. 20, 2017
I wish I had such data, and AHA will probably try to gather it as part of a new three-year initiative focusing on enrollments. But I've never seen it.
I was thinking about Texas when I sent that portion of my response.
Jim
James Grossman
Executive Director
American Historical Association
10:56 p.m.
Jan. 26, 2017
I think you'll find what you need with the following three articles, all of them short:
As Jackie has indicated, most institutions don't have a "major in American History." A student majors in history, and in the best programs that major includes a wide variety of courses, enabling a student to develop the skills and habits of thought that a history major provides, but from a wide variety of angles. Interview college graduates 3 years after graduation and ask them what specifically they remember from a particular course. In most cases, not much. But ask what their major taught them, and they should be able to say something ways of thinking, ways of understanding and solving problems. The third link above will explain that for history, and you can find more detail here . A person who has successfully completed a history major is ready to undertake the responsibilities of citizenship, whether of the nation or the community, because that person has learned a certain way of understanding people, institutions, culture, power, and change.
At the risk of inundating you with reading (a bad habit of historians), I'd offer one more. It's important because I think that at bottom this is an argument about patriotism and the role of a college education in shaping responsible citizens of the republic. This particular short essay focuses on high school history education, but I think the point is the same.
Jim
James Grossman
Executive Director
American Historical Association