Teaching American History at Universities

Its all bad

My friend, Prof. Don Critchlow, is one of only a very few conservatives at ASU. He has had more than his fair share of harassment by liberal professors. He recently directed a study of how American History is taught at the top 150 universities in the country. In many States, the legislator or university governing body will require classes on American History. The idea is that students need to know the many remarkable things that have been accomplished and the many challenges that have been overcome.

But what happens is much different than what is intended. The professors who teach these classes overwhelmingly focus only on the negatives of American History. Identity politics of the 21st century is used as a lens to understand all of American History. Time was spent on anti-market spin by emphasizing exploitation and inequality without teaching actual data. Prof. Critchlow says:

"Only two class periods on average were being given to the study of the Constitution or its ratification. But that doesn't necessarily mean that those class periods were painting the Constitution in the formation of our exceptional nation in a positive way," Critchlow, who directs ASU’s Center of American Institutions, said. "Indeed, many of these courses spent an inordinate amount of time on the Constitution as an exclusionary document. So they pointed to the exclusion of women and Blacks."

What does he conclude? It is worse than we think.

"I think the report will shock many people just how extensive and distorted American history is being taught today to our college students. And we know why this is important for our nation and for creation of a nation with shared values," Critchlow said. "The more important, the equally important question, what is to be done about it?… So we need a reformation at our universities."

Parents, pastors, students, legislators, donors, you can make a change. You don’t have to settle for this lackluster course content. Reach out to ABOR and respectfully ask for this to be addressed. Vote with your feet by choosing universities that have real historians trained to teach actual history rather than merely propagandists using these courses to impose their opinions on a captive audience.