Ever since I was young, I’ve always been fascinated with the world. Obviously, my childhood interests have led me to believe that my peers would also strive to become aware of global history, geography, and political events. Turns out, I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

My epiphany moment came when I found out that my friend couldn’t even locate France on a map (he directed me to Germany) despite receiving an A in World History Intensified the previous year. Then, I had another friend tell me that Croatia was located in Africa, and I thought she was joking—she wasn’t. The following experiences had me question: Do people actually remember what they learned in World Geography and World History?

When talking about courses dealing with world affairs, I’ve lumped geography, world history, and current international affairs together due to the fact that the three subjects are inextricably linked. Our knowledge of history undoubtedly contributes to our understanding of the world today, and many historical conflicts are caused by geographic circumstance. Therefore, I will consider all three subjects under a single category of ‘global literacy.’

Additionally, it is inevitable that America is mentioned, even in a world history class, due to the immense role played by the nation in its relatively short lifespan. On the other hand, American history is entangled with the rest of the world, meaning that it’s impossible to fully teach American history without mentioning at least one of over 194 additional countries. While I am not against the teaching of American or European history, I believe that ACC must enforce lessons detailing other geographical regions, especially the Global South.

Though World History is mandatory for freshmen, we only examine the past through a (primarily) Caucasian lens. However, there are many more non-Eurocentric events that could be covered in World History, such as the Haitō Edict of Japan, the Kashmir Conflict, or the Mongol conquests—which are hardly mentioned in our current curriculum. Additionally, we have over six years of American history and government classes (2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 11th, and 12th) dedicated to repeatedly teaching the same 250 years of geographical history and government structure, with little variation between years. By contrast, only two years (8th and 9th) are dedicated to teaching ‘global literacy.’ When we consider that 9th grade world history primarily covers Europe and their wars overseas, that gives students only their 8th grade year to study history, geography, and culture surrounding the rest of the world, including the Global South. Due to the fact that both courses are taught in consecutive years, students would forget the curriculum due to a lack of refresher courses. How will students have the ability to understand and contribute to the discussion on global political events without a thorough and continuous education on the world around us?

The Data

In order to confirm our global illiteracy problem within ACC, I surveyed a focus group of ten non-freshman students, which would make polling data fair, as participants must have taken the World History class. Unsurprisingly, the data obtained reflected earlier observations.

First, I chose five topics from different times during American history to set as my control group: the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Jamestown Settlement, Salem Witch Trials, and the Great Depression. When asking students which topics they could explain to a stranger, none could claim that they lacked proficiency in all topics. Additionally,  all 100% of students surveyed claimed that they had a strong understanding of the Civil War, with around 90% of students claiming expertise in the Revolutionary War, Salem Witch Trials, and the Great Depression.

Then, I chose five world history topics from different time periods and countries: the Cold War, Arab Spring, Tienanmen Square protests, Rwanda Genocide, and the rise of Spanish Imperialism. Of the five topics selected, only knowledge of the Cold War (with 80% proficiency) could compare to the number of students proficient on American Historical topics. When considering that the Cold War was taught during World History, it makes sense why the general understanding of the subject is much higher than the norm for this category.

What I found most interesting is that 90% of students believed that the Arlington Career Center could do a better job of enforcing knowledge of the world in their curriculum. Students care about becoming educated on the world, but the Arlington Career Center lacks the opportunities and coursework to cover such subjects.

Proposal

Besides World History in 9th grade, comprehensive schools such as Washington Liberty add more variation to their history curriculum. Regular and Intensified Ancient World History, Human Geography, and Social and Cultural Anthropology are all history courses that cover more than just Europe and the Americas. If these classes are considered history credits rather than electives, then students would be encouraged to become more educated on global affairs. However, if ACC has the inability to add such history courses, then I propose that students should be able to travel if needed.

Many students already have a fascination with geography and world history, so why should we stop them from nurturing their passions?