A Critical Discourse Analysis of Emotions and Affect in U.S. History Curriculum Frameworks

• In Event: Emotion, Justice, and Curriculum

Abstract

This study examines how fear, joy, anger, and related feelings function within secondary U.S. History curriculum frameworks. Using critical discourse approaches, I found three core functions of emotions and feelings in curriculum: as historical explanations, justification for oppression and resistance, and as moral civic tools. Grounded in Ahmed’s theory of affective economies, this research highlights the power of emotional and affective discourses in U.S. history curriculum and how these discourses can shape what students learn about how emotionality can be used to explain the past, justify harm, or inspire activism. This study offers implications for how educators might center critical analyzes of emotions in social studies and history instruction to deepen civic reasoning and illuminate affective dimensions of the past.

Author

• Brittany Jones, University at Buffalo - SUNY