Squeezing the World into Fifty States: Is There Room for Global Content in United States History Survey Texts?

The push to internationalize the U.S. History survey course has been going on for some time, and for good reason.  Students realize that the United States is a powerful participant on the global stage, and America’s standing in the world today can’t be separated from its relationships with other countries in the past. University administrators feel the pressure to prepare students for a global economy, and history scholars are exploring more and more the transnational connections and world-wide trends that have played an important role in the American experience.  To be sure, coverage of international topics has always been a part of the U.S. History course and texts – through the discussion of wars, foreign policy, immigration, etc. – but without necessarily providing a more overarching context and meaning. In the last few years the authors of survey texts have brought these international connections into sharper focus – with discussions or features that highlight international connections or compare American developments to similar developments around the world. But providing these connections or a global background in a more holistic way can be challenging for authors and their publishers. After all, one can’t cover all of World History and U.S. History in the same text.  How do authors provide enough context and content to be useful? How can the American story still resonate in a way that will engage students? Will there be a shift in the survey text paradigm as great as the shift that incorporated social history?

These are just some of the questions that challenge many of us involved with writing and publishing for the U.S. History survey course.