Discussions

Your Name and Title: Rylan Sekiguchi, Curriculum Specialist

School or Organization Name: SPICE, Stanford University

Co-Presenter Name(s): N/A

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Honolulu, HI, USA

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): Anyone interested in learning/teaching about historical memory, media literacy, theory of knowledge, or bias using an international comparative method

Short Session Description (one line): Today’s globally connected world needs citizens who can consume information critically, empathically, and with sophistication. Use historical and current events to help students consider diverse international perspectives and recognize their own biases.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
We study history, many say, to learn from history’s mistakes. Our decisions today are informed by the lessons of yesterday. But what happens when our memories of yesterday are divided—that is, when our interpretations of history differ?

The “Divided Memories” project was begun at Stanford University in 2007 to compare prevalent history textbooks from five Pacific Rim societies: China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. How do these textbooks treat sensitive episodes in world history? Do they present similar or dissimilar interpretations of history? Is there wide agreement on historical facts, or are there many contradictory claims? Scholars from Stanford and abroad examined about 20 different textbooks in an effort to address these questions.

As a final part of the project, extensive curricular materials were developed to engage high school students as proto-scholars, empowering them to analyze the various textbooks for themselves. In the process, students acquire basic tools for identifying bias and perspective, participate in critical historical inquiry, and develop an understanding of the processes of interpreting, constructing, and transmitting history.

I will introduce Stanford’s “Divided Memories” project and demonstrate its associated curricular materials and classroom activities, all of which will be accessible to participants online. At the end of the session, we will discuss ideas for adapting and incorporating these materials and methods into participants’ own classrooms.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:
SPICE website: http://spice.stanford.edu/
Prezi version of presentation: http://tiny.cc/p72o5x