Great Caesar’s Ghost! Are Traditional History Courses Vanishing?

New York Times ^ | June 10, 2009 | Patricia Cohen

[reaganaut1]

Much of academia outside engineering and the natural sciences is obsessed with race, class, and gender. I think students at 4-year liberal arts colleges ought to take survey courses in U.S. and European history, but the history faculty may not want to teach such courses, or even be qualified to teach them.

[counterpunch]

Traditional history courses have long since vanished, which is why so few people recognize 0bama’s Treasury Department enacting Fascist economics.

[hinckley buzzard]

History as a profession is dead. It has been deconstructed, post-modernized and politically corrected out of existence. The vestiges of scholarship survive on the fringes, starved for financial and faculty support.

Even worse is the decrepit state of history education in the secondary schools, where it is usually taught by some idiot athletic coach and/or lumped into the amorphous glop known as "social studies." Thank the NEA for that one.

[devane617]

A year or so ago, I decided to attend a few classes at my local community college. So far, I have attended core classes in several subjects, including history, and political science. As an old guy, I am astounded at how the college classroom has changed. It is nothing more than an indoctrination room, and the kids have NO clue that there is another side to the propaganda they are hearing, thus going along with every word as gospel.

I challenge any parent of college age kids to attend classes just to see what is happening to their kids.

[FreeSouthernAmerican]

I agree with the article. Having graduated from university in 2005, all of my knowledge of history beyond “Honest Abe and George and the Cherry Tree” all comes fom my own reading outside the classroom.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

Every reader on the Free Republic should peruse “ A Diplomatic History of the United States” by Samuel Flagg Bemis If memory doesn't fail me, the 5th edition is the classic. Enjoy. In it you will find out what the US has stood for since the Treaty of Paris.

[Jeff Chandler]

My son-in-law took a world history class at college a few years ago. The teacher was a moslem who didn’t know the difference between Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr.

[ruiner]

I graduated from college in 2001 and saw this transition occur from elementary, middle, high school and then in college. Everything gradually moved toward the ‘bottom-up approach’.

US History in college was essentially broken into chapters like “History of Women in America”, “History of Africans in America”, “History of Chinese in America”, “History of Hispanics in America” and all essentially outlined the challenges (racism of course) they faced here.

Of course the Italians, Germans, Irish and other “white people” were lumped together into a two page chapter on “mass immigration”. Nothing was said of the challenges they faced.

[JasonC]

The article is horsefeathers. Foucaultean crap has demolished the discipline and history graduates do not know a damn thing. My 12 year old nephew knows more history. All the university types know is grievance rhetoric and slander as an art form.

[ikka]

Our own Freeper, LS, author of “A Patriot’s History of the United States” might have an opinion to share about this article.

[Kenny Bunk]

I consider it very unpatriotic of you to criticize Obamalini's Economic Directives. Get with the Duce's program or prepare to get with a dose of Castor Oil.

And while you're contemplating this, ask your local hiscrool history teacher to explain the Diet of Worms and the Peace of Augsburg, or even what team we were on in WWII.

Also please note that Cousin Odinga, the Christian-Massacring, Marxist Jihadist, who holds a special place in his black heart for Obamalini, is conducting talks with Achmedananutjob in Iran. No doubt but that he is opening back channel communications between Cousin Barack and the 12th Imam's chief nuclear engineer.

Got any spare foil?

[popdonnelly]

Objectivity in historical studies went out the window a long time ago. History departments of universities are one of the few remaining places where Marxism is considered relevant. That’s because many of the professors learned Marxism on their way up to their present positions.

[pepperdog]

Patricia is late to the dance isn’t she?

[pepperdog]

Recently experienced the same thing via a grandchild. What is really distressing is when I try to tell my friends about it they act as if I’m a little nutty. I’ve just about come to the conclusion most people won’t/don’t learn until it happens to them personally. Sad for them and even sadder for our country.

[nmh]

Speaking of Martin Luther, my daughter had to do a porject on Martin Luther. All she could find were oodles and oodles of stuff on Martin Luther King and Martin Luther King Jr. at her local library. It was as though Martin Luther, the German Reformer didn’t exist. I had to use the internet to get material on him.

[nmh]

Thank you!

We will order that -

A Diplomatic History of the United States”
by Samuel Flagg Bemis

[newheart]

[erman]

I found these books and have read them.. They are fascinating in their depth and content as well as the conclusions. They have lesson plans and are actually great commentary on how far we've dumbed down history.

The Ancient World: From the Earliest Times to 800 A.D. (Allyn and Bacon's Series of School Histories) (Hardcover_)

I got them at Amazon and recommend any home schooled or history buff to get them.

It's almost enough to make you take it to the schools and show them what was expected of an educated person and what drivel is pushed out by the "education" industry. pfft...

I've told my 4 children and pounded into their heads everyday that the people in charge WANT you to be stupid. That's the whole point of the "group" projects, dioramas (make work bullsh#t) in high school and the whole gender/race/politics studies programs... Stupid people are lazy and easy to dominate.

As Freepers we should try to get a home school list of books from K-college that are in order by subject and have great lesson plans as well as content. I can vouch for this series of books. They are by Willis Mason West... look them up and be amazed.

I have NO financial benefit from this book only the knowledge that I'd be helping those that want a great series of history books.

[devane617]

I believe--in a generation--American history will be completely cleansed of the truth, and replaced with a note of how oppressive white men were, and that diversity saved the world. That will be the extent of American history as mentioned as a blurb in future textbooks. Kids in today's college classroom are being systematically prepared for the change by a willing group of so-called educators.

For our America to survive as a great nation, we must take back the education system, and the media, to once again spread the truth.

[SuziQ]

Thanks for that book suggestion. I put it on my ‘Wish List’ at my library online account.