{"id":1751,"date":"2016-12-29T10:51:53","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T16:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/?p=1751"},"modified":"2016-12-29T10:51:53","modified_gmt":"2016-12-29T16:51:53","slug":"george-washington-university-drops-u-s-history-requirement-history-majors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markmeckler\/2016\/12\/george-washington-university-drops-u-s-history-requirement-history-majors\/","title":{"rendered":"George Washington University drops U.S. History requirement for history majors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"george-washington-university-marvin-center-51\"<\/p>\n

History majors at George Washington University in our nation\u2019s capital are no longer required to study United States history. It has been made optional to give students more flexibility, according to administrators.<\/p>\n

Other reasons given for the drastic change are equally troubling. In the GWU student newspaper, faculty said the requirement was dropped to \u201crecruit students\u201d to the history department which has seen a drastic decrease in enrollment and \u201cto better reflect a globalizing world\u201d \u2014 a world which apparently sees America\u2019s role in history as irrelevant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main gain for students is that they have a great deal more flexibility than they had before, and they can adapt it to whatever their plans are for the future,\u201d department chair Karin Schultheiss said<\/a>. \u201cWhatever they want to do, there\u2019s a way to make the history department work for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even more alarming is how many other colleges are doing the same. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni has learned that more than two-thirds<\/a> of the country\u2019s colleges and universities don\u2019t require history majors to take a U.S. History course in order to graduate. ACTA President Dr. Michael Poliakoff released a statement on the disturbing trend:<\/p>\n

Historical illiteracy is the inevitable consequence of lax college requirements, and that ignorance leads to civic disempowerment. A democratic republic cannot thrive without well-informed citizens and leaders. Elite colleges and universities in particular let the nation down when the examples they set devalue the study of United States history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The great Edmund Burke quote comes to mind: \u201cThose who don\u2019t know history are doomed to repeat it.\u201d Besides, it\u2019s probably more interesting to today\u2019s millennial to enroll in classes like \u201cSoccer and History in Latin America,\u201d \u201cHip-Hop, Politics, and Youth Culture in America,\u201d or perhaps even \u201cLawn Boy Meets Valley Girl,\u201d as ACTA points out are real courses.<\/p>\n

I agree with ACTA\u2019s Eric Bledsoe, who said, \u201cIt is the obligation of higher education to ensure that all students, especially history majors, understand their own history.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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