文档介绍：Including India
Perspectives on India’s Place in the World History Classroom
David M. Hildebrand
Western High School
Baltimore, Maryland
Johns Hopkins University
School Immersion Master of Arts in Teaching
May 8, 2004
2.
Abstract
World History textbooks have gotten better at including more
balanced materials representing a wider range of cultures such as
those from China or India. Following World War II and the start of
the Cold War, most . public schools were fixated on presenting
accounts of history to justify American actions within the world,
and followed the “Western Civilization” model with it’s Eurocentric
approach. While the story of the unique set of historical accidents
that allowed Europeans to dominate the world between 1500 and
1900 does have a tremendous centrality to any world history
classroom, many other cultural voices are blotted out in the
Western Civilization program. The history of the world from the
twentieth century onwards is, if anything, increasingly the story of
both global interconnectedness as well as a host of “developing
world” cultures stepping onto the stage and challenging western
political and economic dominance.
India presents a unique set of topics and themes within its history.
Not only is it an ancient civilization plex anthropological
exchanges within the larger Eurasian region, contributing many
facets of its language, religion, culture and the economic produce of
its flora and fauna, but the “subcontinent” itself is a fascinating mix
of factors that historically demonstrate larger themes of continuity
and change. Indeed, there are pockets of Indian culture that are
virtually unchanged since the Stone Age, allowing for sampling and
analysis of “living artifacts.”
The broadening of world history curriculums to include other
civilizations like India, either within the K-12