Representation, Race, and Empire: A Postcolonial Analysis of the New York Global History Regents Exam

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Reimagining Curricular Futures (Table 40)

Abstract

Abstract: Postcolonial studies have long identified curriculum to be a site of empire building. However, more and more, it is state standardized testing, and not the teacher, that acts as a curriculum mediator. High stakes exams like the Global History Regents Exam in New York (NYGHR) undoubtedly impact curriculum but have yet to be examined through a postcolonial lens. This study evaluates to what extent, if at all, the NYGHR perpetuates eurocentrism as defined by four concepts from the literature: numerical representation, replacement, tokenism, and narrative erasure. The study, through a summative numerical analysis as well as a qualitative constant comparative method, finds the exam to be eurocentric and posits implications and next steps for students, practitioners, and future research.

Author

• Shreya Sunderram, Graduate Center - CUNY