Nicole Pathak ‘26
Every student reading this article has taken, is currently taking, or will take Global Studies. The course covers three main subjects: China since the late 19th century, African colonization, and the evolution of Islam. As the St. Andrew’s history curriculum progresses, sophomores take either American History or AP European History, and juniors learn about United States history regardless. In some way, every habitable continent is part of the required curriculum, except for Latin America. This truth leaves only one question: why?
While it is true that there is a senior elective for Latin American studies, the reality of the situation is that the class has only run once since its inception, and Sra. Martinez-Hanley, who taught the course, said the class was composed entirely of Latinos. She said that a repeated theme she found in the student feedback of the course was her students wishing that Latin American studies would be part of the general curriculum rather than a separate class.
Ms. Anderson, who teaches Honors Global Studies, expressed a similar sentiment. “I do think Latin America is of course very important due to its proximity to the US.” She explained it is hard to know what would leave the curriculum to make room for more Latin American studies. At the same time, she made it clear that in the overall history curriculum, “what we really focus on is scaffolding skills.”
However, another teacher of the Global Studies course, Mr. Brandt, would also love to see more learning about Latina America. “I love the idea of Latin American studies being a part of the Global Studies curriculum as I am personally interested in the subject matter and know students would benefit from learning about it,” he said.
Sra. Martinez-Hanley further explained this idea. “I think that students should be required to learn about all different places, but absolutely Latin America,” she argued. Martinez-Hanley asked, “Where can that be told, and is it really going to take away from the others?”
Regarding the Global Studies curriculum, Mr. Brandt said, “one can assume that the focus areas were chosen in part because of the aftermath of 9/11, the fact that Africa has often been ignored despite its size and diversity of peoples and cultures, and the growing influence of China,” although it is worth noting that he isn’t completely certain. The important takeaway here is that each topic covered in the curriculum is relevant to the social and political contexts of the modern day.
The purpose of school should be to prepare you for the real world; therefore, the purpose of history class should be to ensure that you can actively participate in and understand the political discussions that surround you. To this end, the inclusion of Latin American studies is absolutely essential and, dare I say, indelible.
The United States of America borders two countries: Canada and Mexico. Every four years, one of these countries (and the demographic it represents) becomes a figurehead that politicians criticize for voter support. Regardless of where you stand on immigration, it is utterly indisputable that migrants are people, first and foremost. Claims that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” or that they have “bad genes” in comparison to Americans are despicable. The fact that such racist and eugenicist rhetoric is tolerated in mainstream politics is, frankly, symptomatic of deeply integrated xenophobia in American society.
While I commend the history curriculum for its emphasis on building critical thinking skills, I must also admit that most people, student or not, don’t want to put in the effort to learn about different cultures. The truth of the matter is this: the historical knowledge of too many adults is limited to what they have learned in school and what they have experienced. Considering the unlikelihood the average person has of being exposed to these stories in their day-to-day life, school becomes the key place where students learn about these people and their stories.
As a Colombian citizen, I understand that asking to cover all of Latin America is completely unrealistic. I am asking, however, that we be reminded that Latin America is more than drug cartels and poverty. As a proud American, I ask that we come to terms with our country’s role in creating the environment that led to these unfortunate circumstances.
This year is a better time to create change than any other as it is a self-study year. Ms. Anderson said, “This year is kind of a year of generally asking questions about ourselves, it’s going on all around the school, we’re meeting once a month to do it– to talk about different aspects of the school– so I think a lot of questions are gonna get raised about curriculum next year that many people are going to address next year.”
One solution to this conundrum that almost all interviewed teachers proposed was to require four years of history rather than three. Mr. Gill, another Global Studies teacher, argued the importance of history, saying “what we don’t have is people who can have empathy for those that are different from them because they don’t know their background story. That’s what history provides. That’s why history and English to a lesser extent, are, in my opinion, the two prime movers of what the curriculum should be about.”
It is hard to discern exactly what the future has in store. Whether or not any change will be made is uncertain. The only thing I hope is that my words do not fall on deaf ears and that perhaps I could inspire at least one person to consider the case for Latin America.