Education Commons^™

Book Review: Sara Ahmed's Complaint!, Alaina Walberg, Meggie Mapes

Feminist Pedagogy

Aptly named, Sara Ahmed’s (2021) Complaint! exposes the institutional processes through which feminist complaints and allegations of racism and sexism, among other forms of oppression, are silenced, redirected, and displaced. Drawing from her own experience as a woman of color who resigned from her university post “in protest about the failure of the institution to hear complaints” as well as narratives from others who have complained, Ahmed seamlessly interweaves testimonials and lived experience with theory (p. 8). This poetic and nuanced interplay of theory and praxis constructs a vision of institutions as simultaneously complaint graveyards and complaint collectives. In the …

Making Patriots Of Pupils: Colonial Education In Micronesia From 1944-1980, Julia Taylor

The Forum: Journal of History

This article explores American colonial education in Micronesia from the final months of World War Two to the late 1970s. The primary research question concerns American usage of education to pursue political and military goals, and how this affected multiple dimensions of Indigenous life. Although the dominant narrative at the time blamed Indigenous people for difficulties in implementing American education, the Western values permeating the American consciousness significantly inhibited the possibility of success as Americans defined it. This article details American motivations and efforts to implement an educational system as part of a larger goal of “economic development” and analyzes …

Stigma On Campus: The Precarious Situation Of Iranian Students At Cal Poly, November 1979, Chance Coates

The Forum: Journal of History

Exploring the ways in which the seizure of the American embassy and subsequent hostage situation of American nationals within Tehran in 1979 transcended international boundaries, this paper discusses the backlash that Iranian students at Cal Poly faced during this pivotal geopolitical crisis. In doing so, I review various protests and public statements that gave rise to a distinct social discourse that stigmatized Iranian students, effectively transforming this group into an “Other.” Further, I explore the ways in which the university as an institution contributed to this stigmatization. The paper overall concludes that the Iranian students on campus were, like the …

Full Issue

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

A Battle Over 20th Century Textbooks: How The Civil War Is Still Fought In American Classrooms, Katie Court

History

This paper analyzed the emergence of Lost Cause history textbooks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the Civil War, Confederate societies such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy and United Confederate Veterans had a vested interest in positively portraying the South. From 1890-1930, Confederate societies attempted to expel textbooks that spoke unfavorably of the Confederacy, and instead encouraged states all around the country to follow stringent rules of how to discuss historical events. This research was led by material written by these societies and the textbooks they endorsed or expelled, in order to analyze the origins …

Development Of Cal Poly’S School Of Architecture And Environmental Design, Robert Chomicz

The Forum: Journal of History

In the turbulent decade of the 1960s, Cal Poly consciously diverged from a Master Plan created by the state Department of Education in order to create one of the best architecture schools in the nation, which highlighted the university’s unique position as the only polytechnic in the CSU system. This article details Cal Polys commitment to the development of the program through the examination of the expansion of the Architectural Engineering department into a full-fledged College of Architecture in the years 1948 to 1972. Three landmark academic years are examined in order to highlight the growth of the Architecture program. …

What Didn’T Happen: Analyzing Cal Poly’S Proposed Educational Assistance Program Following The Korean War, Sam Mcclintock

The Forum: Journal of History

Following the Korean War, Cal Poly was approached to take part in a program to provide technical education assistance to vocational schools in the Republic of Korea by the newly formed United States Foreign Operations Administration. This paper seeks to analyze that program in the context of Cal Poly’s history, especially in comparison to other international education programs and other dealings between the University and the United States Government. Although Cal Poly ultimately never took part in the Korea Program, the negotiation process still provides insight into the priorities of the college and its place in the context of US …

The History Of High School Ethnic Studies Courses In California: A Case Study Of Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, Brian Gounod

History

Ethnic studies in California's high schools has a 51-year history, beginning in 1968. The growth of ethnic studies has occurred through this period and can be separated into four key time periods. The growth of ethnic studies across these time periods have been issues of ethnic segregation, ethnic self-determination, educational inequalities and immigration issues The greatest period of expansion for ethnic studies has been the 5-year period from 2014-2018, when numerous high school districts adopted new courses and requirements for ethnic studies.

One such high school district to expand its ethnic studies department was Santa Maria Joint Union High School …

The Necessity Of A Revolution: The 21st Century Battle For Equality In The Classroom: An Examination Of The History, Critiques And Effectiveness Of Teach For America, Wyatt D. Oroke

History

This paper sets out to explore the controversy surrounding the program Teach For America. The paper sets out to argue whether or not Teach For America has been effective, in terms of its alignment with its goals and mission statement. I conclude that while TFA has been successful in some individual cases, the program as a collective has so far failed to make advancements within the opportunity gap experienced between low-income and high-income students within the American school system. The paper concludes by making several recommendations for the TFA program about how it can alter itself in hopes of being …

Revitalizing The Shakespeare Press Museum, Alix Katherine Guyot

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to determine how the Shakespeare Press Museum could attract more visitors, what kind of programs the Shakespeare Press Museum can offer to those visitors and how the Shakespeare Press Museum can turn frequent and interested visitors into volunteers. The popularity of letterpress printing has grown significantly over the last few years and interest in the museum the has grown as well.

This study investigated the practices of other similar organizations and suggestions from experts with knowledge related to organizing and maintaining exhibits and knowledge of the Shakespeare Press Museum. Elite and specialized interviews were …