Contested Narratives: U.S. Imperialism in the Official Curriculum in the United States and Its Territories

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching Truth, Navigating Ideology: Key Issues in Social Studies Standards and Curriculum (Table 34)

Abstract

Although the United States has a history of being and currently is an imperialist country, there is not a sustained, national drive to grant independence or statehood to its current territories. Postcolonial theorists argue that history is often rewritten by the oppressor to justify imperialism and that the colonized must write their own narrative in order to be free. In an effort to understand the lack of national interest in condemning continued US imperialism, this research examines the official social studies curriculum in the United States and its territories.

Author

• Annaly Rebeccah Babb-Guerra, New York University