The History Blog

Don’t Know Much about History

October 2, 2009 at 6:12 pm by wcsuhistory

Bad news: about a third of the students in my introductory American history course don’t know who was president during the Civil War. An equal number don’t know who Warren G. Harding was, either, which is easier to overlook. But the absence of historical knowledge raises serious questions for those of us who love history. Are history teachers failing to make history relevant?

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The History Blog is the shared effort of faculty members of the History Department at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury. We are Burton Peretti, Michael Nolan, Katherine Allocco, Abubaker Saad, Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox, Leslie Lindenauer, Kevin Gutzman, Joshua M. Rosenthal, Jennifer Nugent Duffy, and Marcy May. We range in ages, backgrounds, families, religions, and interests, but we share a commitment to exploring the past as it connects to the present. For specifics about any one of us, you can check us out at the WCSU History Department webpage at http://www.wcsu.edu. Our blog examines history in our community, politics, and education; we welcome comment and discussion.

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Posted in General | 2 Comments

1. So I’m curious: how do you propose to teach your course?
   what can you assume this one third possesses as a knowledge base upon which you can build? Do they see any relevance in studying Am. hist?

   Assuming these kids went through the CT school system, how did they pass 8th grade and 10th grade American history?

   Does the other two thirds “know” considerably more? Do they understand the “causes” and outcomes of the Civil War?

   No wonder so few people understand the health care debate…..or what’s going on in Afghanistan, or with the American economy, God rest its soul.

   Comment by ches — October 5th, 2009 @ 8:26 pm

2. Thanks for the comment. I suppose we have to take folks as we find them, and if students don’t know who Woodrow Wilson is when they start class, they will when they finish. The Connecticut school system seems to do a good job of teaching students to write, but history education is haphazard. My son, for example, never studied the Civil War, despite taking AP U.S. history at a very good high school. But I think it speaks to a larger issue — that we’re growing less educated as a nation. And that leads to an inability to analyze problems such as the current health care debate!

   Comment by wcsuhistory — October 6th, 2009 @ 8:32 pm

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