Episode 19: Teaching History

This is Episode 19 of the State of the Theory Podcast. Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably. In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call. In this episode, we look at a few recent stories about the teaching of history in schools. Whose interests are served in the design of school history syllabi? Who gets to decide what narratives of history should be taught? What messages do such curriculum decisions send about the nation-state and its relationship to its past? You can read about the California story about Indian/South Asian Diaspora here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/us/california-to-revise-how-india-is-portrayed-in-textbooks.html You can read about the Queen's University of Belfast story here: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/editors-viewpoint/a-history-lesson-for-qub-vicechancellor-patrick-johnston-34763128.html You can read about Nigerian school history curriculum here: http://guardian.ng/features/focus/assault-on-the-teaching-of-history-in-nigerian-schools/ Our theme music is "The Face of God" by The Agrarians (freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agra…he_Face_of_God) State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick (@drhfitz) and Anindya Raychaudhuri (@DrAnindyaR) Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast) or Tweet us @TheoryDoctors