Teaching History In A-Historical Times

A Side Stage Approach

Abstract

A paradox confronts professional historians in the United States today-although there is intense interest on the part of the public in matters historical, there is yawning apathy toward history in the college classroom among traditional-aged students. Nationally there has been a series of recent controversies including how to portray the events surrounding the ending of World War II at the Smithsonian Institution and what to teach our children in the wake of the publication of the national history standards by the Gary Nash group at UCLA. In contrast, teaching historians walk into classrooms every day and encounter students who seem largely apathetic to anything that happened longer ago than last weekend. Although frequently willing to offer opinions about past events and actors, these students often seem incapable of analyzing documents, drawing conclusions based on evidence, or constructing a coherent narrative.