Session Abstract
At Parallel Histories, students navigate sensitive topics by going back to historical sources when investigating the causes of conflict. Our dual narrative approach provides the starting point for investigation into the historical controversy as each side tells it, first from one position and then from the other. In the process, stereotypes are disrupted, and preconceptions challenged. Students learn how to question historical claims and identify the difference between proportionate and disproportionate claims. The proven impact of this process is that young people learn how to think without being told what to think. Their views are informed by precise knowledge and greater sensitivity and tolerance to views different from their own. Not only does our approach develop the skills of the historian, but it also empowers engagement as active citizens in a pluralistic democracy.
The issue of the international role of the US vs isolationism is on the front page of media today with debates over wars in the Middle East, interventions in Latin America, transatlantic alliances and the role of tariffs and international trade. Educators across the US are asking for resources to help their students understand the conflicted modern history of the US as an isolationist/protectionist power and as a global actor. Parallel Histories experienced team of nationally recognized educators from across the United States has produced an eBook ""Isolationism or Internationalism? America and the World 1898-1949"" using the Library of Congress collections that allow high school students, particularly Advanced Placement students, to grapple with primary source documents and analyze for themselves the historical context of very current issues.
Parallel Histories dual-narrative primary source innovative approach has been endorsed by numerous academics. Regarding the Israel-Palestinian for example Associate Professor Hillel Cohen, Head of the Cherrick Centre for the Study of Zionism and the State of Israel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, writes: “One of the basic facts facing anyone who studies history or is interested in history, is the different ways in which different groups perceive the same events. When it comes to a history of conflict, as in the Israeli-Palestinian case, this question arises in an extremely acute way. Because of this, any real attempt to understand the conflict - and the emphasis is on understanding, not on presenting a position in the debate - requires an in-depth acquaintance with the different ways in which each side experiences the conflict and narrates it. Only in this way is it possible to understand the forces that drive each of the parties, their deep beliefs and the way they see the other party. This familiarity is necessary both as an intellectual educational goal, and as a tool to reach an understanding between the parties. Hence the importance of the dual narrative project.”
The audience for this session is any educator interested in this innovative method of teaching conflicted histories.