Title: World History Connected | Vol. 7 No. 3 | Gleb Tsipursky: Western Civilization from the Margins: Teaching a Western Civilization Course from a World History Perspective
Headings: Western Civilization from the Margins: Teaching a Western Civilization Course from a World History Perspective
Western Civilization from the Margins: Teaching a Western Civilization Course from a World History Perspective
Gleb Tsipursky
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Content: In     recent decades, Western Civilization courses have been subject to intensifying     censure, in particular from the adherents of the world history approach. Some     critics have argued that such classes give students too exclusionary view of     western European history as central to the historical narrative and ignore the     history of other regions, even those that directly and extensively interacted     with western Europe. Those courses that do discuss peoples and regions outside     of western Europe generally do so from an exclusively western European     perspective, leaving the "outsiders" as faceless masses who either attacked or     were conquered by western Europeans. Others charge that Western Civilization courses     treat wealthy male elites drawn from mainstream western European religious     groups as Europe's sole historical actors, marginalizing the voices of even     those non-elites who have played a crucial role in Europe's history. Finally,     critics have lambasted the very term "Western Civilization" for constructing a     false dichotomy between the "West" and the "East." 1
Nonetheless,     though world history course offerings have multiplied over the last decade, Western     Civilization remains a fundamental component of the core undergraduate     curriculum in many universities and colleges. Undergraduates not majoring or     minoring in history often take only two basic history courses to fulfill     curricular requirements: one focusing on the United States and another, frequently     a Western Civilization class, on non-US history. Even for those students concentrating     in history, a Western Civ course serves as a gateway to the broad range of     history classes, influencing and constraining their subsequent choices. The     impact of Western Civ classes exercise an especially powerful influence on future     educators destined to teach in high schools and colleges.