For #ScholarStrike, a short starter list to get you going on #decolonizing your syllabus for the US history classroom (please add!) #twitterstorians
Think about what periodization really means. Are you upholding notions of American exceptionalism by making that whole unit about the American Revolution or the Civil War? Do linear concepts of time uphold European epistemologies that devalue non-European people & cultures?
Why "Early America"? How "early" are you really getting? How much time do you spend on the 30000+ years of history on this continent before you get to the little blip called European colonization?
Like you would for any syllabus, re-think your objectives. Not just WHO you want the students to learn about, but WHAT and WHY. Why a focus on citizenship or freedom, for example? Who and What does that exclude? #AbolishICE #abolishprisons #AbolishThePolice
"Decolonizing" is not about replacing BIPOC authors on your list. Unless you are rethinking the time and scope of your teaching, you aren't doing a whole lot. And you are probably ignoring a lot of relevant work from other disciplines and scholars not trained as "historians."
Think about conceiving your syllabus around place, not time. Places are important to the Indigenous people who have stewarded this land and didn't give it to you when you got here. Read and understand what this means, and interrogate your syllabus in light of it.
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