Roundtable Proposal: "Teaching about Empire and War in World History Survey Courses"

High school and college faculty who teach World History can be overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of our courses. The challenges we face in teaching and learning about controversial problems and issues are intense. Pressures to adhere to test-driven local, state, and national exams and standards make it increasingly difficult to engage our students and empower them inside and outside the classroom.

The goal of the roundtable is to develop a deeper understanding and heightened awareness of the impact which reconstruction of the past has on thought and action in the present. Our hope is to share strategies that make it possible to overcome external and self-imposed constraints in teaching World History. Here are some questions that could be considered:

-- How do we integrate new knowledge about empire and war into World History Surveys?
-- How do we clarify the dynamics of continuity and change in the history of empire and globalization?
-- What are our strategies for energizing students and stimulating critical thinking about the past?
-- Are there texts and materials that we find more -- or less -- valuable in our effort to infuse World History with a challenging and thought-provoking content?
-- What are the best sources and ways to foreground gender and race?

-- Is it possible to challenge national (U.S. of A.) exceptionalism while foregrounding the pivotal role of the "Pax Americana"?
-- Are there appropriate and necessary boundaries between our work as historians inside and outside of the classroom?
-- Is it possible to sustain hope in the context of skepticism, pessimism, cynicism, and passivity that frequently accompany the presentation of critical historical perspectives?