Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Teaching History in TrumpWorld
https://dailyreview.com.au/teaching-history-trumpworld/56534/Historians like me will tell anyone who’ll listen that you need to know your history in order to understand the present. That’s why we do what we do: we want to understand, and help others understand, where we are, how we got here, and where we might be going. But the truth is, we’re still grappling with how exactly to interpret the Trump ascendancy.
Nobody who’s being honest really knows what any of it means, yet. The intensity of feeling surrounding the Trump administration makes it particularly difficult to cut through; in the deluge of information, it’s hard to work out what’s real and what actually matters. It’s entirely possible that this might be one of those rare occasions where history offers little or no guide to the present.
Still, those of us teaching American history must now confront the Trump presidency head on, whether we like it or not. In an academic environment where lecturers have learned to be wary of accusations of political bias, talking about Trump brings with it a certain level of professional risk. But if nothing else, we owe it to our students, who are desperate to understand this new world they live in.