If you are a high school history teacher or a citizen concerned about constraints on accurate history, read this:
Conference call for papers
“Teaching Uncomfortable Truths in Contested Spaces”
September 28th-30th, 2023
Flagler College
St. Augustine, Florida
The teaching of difficult historical topics, particularly those related to slavery and race, has become a flashpoint in the growing cultural divide over the role of education in contemporary America. For those who teach in contested spaces, the issue is especially challenging. This interdisciplinary conference seeks to bring classroom teachers together with scholars, journalists, and independent researchers to explore the context behind these conflicts, why K-12 classrooms have become contested spaces, and how affected teachers can best serve their students in such polarized times.
Conference organizers welcome individual papers or panel submissions from scholars who can provide context to the present crisis and share their research in the fields of educational history, the rise of political extremism, censorship movements, textbook development, white resistance, and moral panics, among other topics.
The conference will also host sessions that feature teachers and educational specialists to highlight their experiences teaching uncomfortable truths in contested spaces. We welcome individual and panel proposals that share strategies for teaching difficult history, the problems educators encounter, and the importance of their work.
Dr. Nancy MacLean, the William H. Chafe Distinguished Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University, will deliver the Conference Keynote Address. Dr. MacLean is an award-winning scholar of the twentieth-century U.S., whose most recent book, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, provides context to the current attacks on American freedoms, including the war on uncomfortable historical truths in our public schools.
Submission guidelines:
Individual paper submissions should consist of a 200-word abstract (maximum) and one-page vita, sent to mbutler1@flagler.edu in PDF or Word format by March 10, 2023.
Panel proposals on a common theme, especially from History teachers in our secondary schools, are particularly welcomed. Panel submissions should include a title and 200-word description of the theme, a 200-word abstract for each paper, and a one-page vita for each presenter. All potential panelists will be notified of their proposal’s status by or before March 27.
Conference Location: Flagler College, a private institution grounded in the Liberal Arts, will host “Teaching Uncomfortable Truths in Contested Spaces.” The College occupies the former Hotel Ponce de Leon and is located in scenic St. Augustine, the “Nation’s Oldest City.” In addition to its beautiful location on the Atlantic Coast location, St. Augustine was once home to writers Zora Neal Hurston, Stetson Kennedy, and Majorie Kinnan Rawlings, and played a crucial role in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The city is forty miles south of Jacksonville International Airport via I-95, and local accommodations feature a range of price options near Flagler College. More specific information regarding accommodations for conference participants will be provided in the coming weeks.
For more information on the event, please contact Dr. J. Michael Butler, Kenan Distinguished Professor of History at Flagler College (mbutler1@flagler.edu)
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane I used to think that the powers-that-be were slowly squeezing history out of the K-12 curriculum because administrators and politicians didn’t understand it’s importance.
NOW, they are squeezing even harder, but it’s because they don’t like the political implications of verifiable history on the dogma of their own and some parents’ racial bias and their correlate ingrained sense of white privilege, which they have turned into some pretty powerful propaganda.
It’s the same diversionary tactic that the state’s rights advocates use. “We don’t love slavery and we aren’t racist. NOOOOOO. We just love states’ rights, and don’t want to be controlled by the Federal Government.” Blah blah blah. CBK
Dr. MacLean is a co-author of an excellent article in the current issue of ‘The Progressive’ about how the Koch network is actively working to upend a civil society and democracy. https://progressive.org/magazine/billionaire-kingmaker-still-dividing-the-nation-maclean-graves/
Anyone that is interested should know that Hulu is presenting a six part mini-series on the 1619 Project later in January. https://press.hulu.com/shows/the-1619-project/
Anyone who is interested in serious history should know that the most esteemed scholars of that era in American history regard the 1619 Project as deeply flawed. The author as much as admitted that her intent was political activism, not dispassionate scholarship. No wonder that junk history appeals so much to the far Left partisans who spend most of their days commenting on this blog.
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/174140
Jill Borkowski,
When the 1619 Project appeared, I posted the controversial essay by Nikole Hannah-Jones AND the historians’ critique of it.
Have you read it? You can disagree with Nikole Hannah-Jones’ interpretations, but nonetheless it is a powerful essay.
Every work of history is an interpretation. None of us was there to know exactly what happened and why.
Hannah-Jones has a responsibility to check facts but she has every right to make her own interpretation about the meaning of facts.
I thought her essay was brilliant. Plenty of distinguished historians nitpicked her views, but she has the right to have her own views. As a black woman, she sees the past differently from a white man.
I appreciate her views and her facts. Why don’t you read her book?
Jill: surely the widespread acceptance of historical truth as represented by Gone with the Wind makes your rather critical view of the “left” questionable.
Beautifully said, Roy.
Whatever happened to the idea of letting competing ideas compete? Of inviting our students to witness and join the debate on those questions?
America was founded by racists, for racists; America was founded on a principle of equality that it struggled to live up to.
Lincoln was a racist who believed that blacks and whites could not live side by side on terms of equality. Lincoln was the Great Emancipator who personally detested slavery and died fighting it.
“Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?” John Milton, Areopagitica
I’ll take the way of Milton, in the true spirit of liberty, over the way of the Repugnican Thought Police ANY DAY. The former way, everywhere, including in our schools.
I’m wondering, Ms. Borkowski, whether you would agree with the statement that nations and their national institutions tend to mythologize their own histories and the biographies and beliefs of their heroes?
Do you think, Ms. Borkowski, that the textbooks in Greece and Turkey say the same things about Cyprus? Do you think that the authors of those textbooks have a responsibility to take something more than a mythological, nationalist view of the question?
I agree: let ideas compete in the intellectual arena. Let the 1619 Project and CRT be presented as ONE way to interpret history. But that’s not what the 1619 advocates want, including Diane Ravitch. That’s not what’s happening on almost all college campuses, where few people are willing to face ostracism for disagreeing with the latest left-wing fad.
Jill Borkowski,
You cite five distinguished historians whose works are commonly taught in college campuses, then say that campuses teach only left wing history.
Contradiction much?
Why are you so frightened by the 1619 Project? Have you read it?
I have a Ph.D. In Anerican history from Columbia University. I have read the works of the five distinguished historians. I have read the 1619 Project. I think students of history should read both.
Why are you so afraid of The 1619 Project?
Took the bait and looked up Jill’s provided link. These are definitely academics, but hardly “the most esteemed scholars of that era”. Learned? Yes. But decidedly conservative. A perusal of the signatories will be have things like Hillsdale, Hoover Institution, Civil Rights Commission appointed by Reagan/Bush. These are folks with an agenda that is just different from the one they claim and misrepresent about the authors of the 1619 Project.
GregB’s ad hominem attack fails, like all the usual ones on this blog do. Here are five historians who are beyond all question the most esteemed scholars of that era; I suspect few of this blog’s readers and none of the regular commenters have ever read them or even heard of them. Naturally, the author of the 1619 Project responded to their criticism by invoking identity issues rather than with substantive thoughts.
That letter from the five historians was posted on this blog.
As I wrote before, they have a right to their views.
Nicole Hannah-Jones has a right to her views.
It seems to me that much of the brouhaha was the pain of white historians (mostly male) feeling challenged by a black woman.
They didn’t question her facts.
They had a different interpretation.
Ms. Borkowski, I mentioned that the show may be of interest to some, and the solution is quite simple. You don’t have to watch it!
Jill Borkowski
The problem is not whether Hanna Jones was absolutely correct. There have been concessions made by the Times and Jones on some of the assertions those Historians had issue with.
The real problem is that her harshest critics on the right in many states would not only ban the teaching of history . They would be fine bringing chattel slavery back
. Fortunately for them with a National minimum wage of $7.25 and a disproportionate amount of National income going to the top . They have discovered a better system of economic repression. Teaching “The Real History of The United States ” threatens that system.
Thank you, Joel. The attack on the 1619 Project was fascist. Several states banned the book and banned any teaching about the history of racism—our country’s deepest scar—and banned teaching about racism today. Teachers are forbidden from saying that racism exists. That’s a lie.
That’s 17. The Project 1619 book has 18 contributors. You lose by 1. It is interesting how those who fear the truth want US History lessons to skip over 1876-2016 and race. Something about the accurate depictions of how people were actually treated, had their wealth plundered, and the legacy of that time scares the hell out them. Ad hominem enough for you?
Greg, great video! Thanks for posting it here.
That video is great, Greg!
Ms. Ravitch,
You wrote these words about the five eminent historians who refuted several of the 1619 Project conclusions:
“It seems to me that much of the brouhaha was the pain of white historians (mostly male) feeling challenged by a black woman.”
That sentence is far beneath the dignity of anyone who is actually a serious scholar. You reduce those five historians’ sincere disagreements to a matter of sex and race. You have abandoned whatever attributes you once had as an historian to be a far Left polemicist. Ideology ruins history, but that’s what you now favor. Sad.
Sorry you feel that way. My scholarly publications have secured my role as a historian.
Have you read The 1619 Project?
I sense you have not since you have not registered an original comment about it.
You have renounced almost all of the positions you took in your scholarly publications. How does that secure your reputation? Outside of the public school establishment, people shake their heads over how fanatical and polemical you have become.
I’ve read the 1619 Project. It’s a collection of journalists’ essays with numerous facts that are worth knowing, but that don’t by themselves validate the CRT dogma. And no one at this point can write any completely original comments about the 1619 Project. Gordon Wood is vastly your superior regarding the merits/demerits of the 1619 Project, and he sees things differently than you do – NOT because he is a white man, but because he is a serious scholar, not a political polemicist. You are Wood’s superior regarding the history of American education.
My scholarly reputation was unaffected by my moving from the conservative views I embraced at the Hoover Institution to the liberal views I hold now and have held for more than a decade. My books do not reflect conservative views:
The Great Schools Wars is a history of the New York City public schools (1805-1973). It was published in 1975. It is neither liberal nor conservative. It is a history.
The Revisionists Revised (1977) is a defense of public schools against radical critics. It might be considered a liberal book. It’s based scrupulously on evidence.
The Troubled Crusade (1983) is a history of American education from 1945-1980. It is neither conservative nor liberal. It is history, carefully documented.
My book National Standards in American Education (1995) was published by the Brookings Institution, where I was a senior Fellow.
Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform (2000) is neither conservative nor liberal.
The Language Police (2006) is neither conservative nor liberal. It is a critique of language censorship by both left and right.
The Death and Life of the Great American School System ((2010) is an unabashed critique of privatization. You can call it “liberal,” but I consider it a valuable resource to understand the well-funded effort to undermine public schools and promote vouchers and charters. It was a national bestseller.
Reign of Error (2013) is a careful, well-documented critique of the attack on public schools, demonstrating that the “reformers’” attacks on public schools are demonstrably false and offering a list of what is needed to improve the lives of children and families, which will improve the outcomes of schooling. It was a national bestseller.
My last book Slaying Goliath was a celebration of the brave individuals and groups who have stood up to the billionaires trying to destroy public schools and won.
No, my reputation as a scholar did not suffer when I became an active supporter of public schools. I was honored by the American Academy of Social and Political Sciences with its Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for careful use of social science to advance the common good.
Over the course of my career, I was elected a member of the National Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, PEN International, and the Society of American Historians.
Historians disagree with one another. It happens all the time. They disagree with ideas and interpretations, without descending to ad hominem attack. You clearly are not a historian.
What are your credentials?
But I thought DeSantus said that Florida is “where woke goes to die”
Must be Saint Augustine is not part of Florida.
Either that or they did not get the memo.
Expect that DeSantis’s Thought Police will start delivering that memo soon.
Saint Augustine will soon get the memo, from a SWAT team with the ammo
A SWAT team with the ammo
Delivering the memo
That says “The woke will die”
“By edict of The Guy”
The Guy , aka TFG That Future Guy (unfortunately)
Every RED state has BLUE urban islands, just like BLUE stated have rural RED islands, even California has rural counties dominated by elected conservatives. Modoc County (in the northeast corner of the state), California voted overwhelming for Trump, more than 70%, 3,170 votes for Trump vs 1,150 for Biden. Small rural population.
https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/california/
The next link lead to a CNN analysis about how RED states are forcing their BLUE islands to conform or get crushed, what’s happening in Florida with Deranged DeSantis.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/08/politics/red-states-blue-cities-counties/index.html
The more extreme-right conservatives accuse Democrats of being socialists (and the Democratic Party is not a socialist party by any measure), the more autocratic and ruthless the conservatives are becoming as they crack down in the areas the control.
I’m reading The Locksmith’s Daughter set in England during Queen Elizabeth the 1st reign, and the theme focuses on the “war” being waged between Catholics and Protestants. The main character’s mother is a Catholic and she and her father are Protestants.
What’s happening in the United States in our time between extreme-right, lying lunatics, and more thoughtful Democrats seems the same as that religious war.
If the Democrats don’t get their act together, they will be crushed and eliminated by the violent extreme right. History repeating.
Sounds like a private college to me. DeSadist can’t touch them if that is the case. Ironic.
“Teaching,” as a skill, a science, a study, an art is–or some of us think should be–more than just “telling.” But there are two basic approaches to teaching, both deriving from two basic views of life–the religious point of view and the agnostic or scientific point of view. Those who feel most certain about life, death, the universe, and eternity–religious folk–typically want teachers to “tell” the students what happened (history) and what it means in “God’s plan.” Those more agnostic about things–more scientific–tend to believe students should be helped to learn, but left to make their own judgments and decisions. So the former folks tend to rely on lectures, limited readings, and “objective” tests to see if students have learned the truth about things. If, instead, a teacher is helping students learn, that can best be done by helping students discover answers that work for them. Or discover methods that help them learn the most. So agnostic, or progressive, teachers will have classrooms characterized by activities and participations of various kinds. In my life as a student and as a teacher I saw many methods of teaching. Lectures have their place, but so do debates, panel discussions, mock trials and legislatures, and so on. Just as playing football or any sport, for instance, could not be taught purely by lecture, or tested by a multiple-choice test, democracy can’t either. It has to be practiced. So does any art. In this history teacher’s assessment, our country is going backwards now in part because we’re abandoning the 1st Amendment, as the powers that be attempt turn this into a religious nation–all the while our population–or perhaps because our population–is becoming less rigidly religious.
Democracy isn’t an ideology. It’s a practice.
Well formulated, Jack.
Thanks for the interesting discourse. I would agree with most of your observations. I do not, however, think that there are only two forks at the historical road, one leading to seeing history and a God Plan and the other seeing history from a scientific point of view. Rather, I see history as attainable through many paths, all taking us to different points along the way to view past in different perspectives. There are almost as many paths as there are historians. The more paths, the better perspective on truth.
Yes, some things can be seen in different ways or with different emphasis. “Who was our best President” can have several answers, but who was President during WWII can have only two. My point was that if I, as a teacher, just tell the students the answer they might internalize it less than if they find the answer for themselves. And, while fact answers can be important, sometimes value answers can be even more so.
Agree completely. I would have agreed with you on your conclusion up until a few years ago, but I think this is both the wrong conclusion and wrong way of looking at it. I believe it is going backwards because younger people generally have no interest in politics and governing–which leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is very much the point of Diane’s writings and this blog, in my opinion. The history of public education in the past two decades has contributed to this more than anything.
And those on the political right have never had an interest in the 1st amendment in the first place. They are opposed to every part of it, but it’s easier to misinterpret into law than it is to be openly opposed to part of the Bill of Rights. That’s too easy a target. Claiming that you think a bastardized version of it is non-negotiable makes it sound legitimate in polite company. It’s the accurate interpretations that scare them to death. Religiosity is a tactic, it never was a goal. Textbook fascism.
I’m wondering, Ms. Borkowski, whether you would agree with the statement that nations and their national institutions tend to mythologize their own histories and the biographies and beliefs of their heroes?
Oh, come now Bob.
We don’t mythologize Thomas Jefferson and other Fondling Fathers.
We tell it like it was: TJ had a consisting sexual relationship with a “woman” who just happened to be his housekeeper and whom he tipped very well.and for whom he provided free room and board for decades (not just for her, but also for her kids)
Consenting
It was ever thus, from the champion of liberty raping his slaves to Grover the Groper to Camelot Johnny to serial rapist Jabba the Trump.