Letter to the editor
I am a Lawrence High School junior who has been in the Lawrence public school system since kindergarten. I am troubled by the fact that our high school places little emphasis on world history. With the increased racial and ethnic diversity in our high school, our community and across the nation, it is only logical to offer courses that teach the history and culture of non-Western countries.
The present curriculum at Lawrence High School includes very little concerning world history. Our school does require that students take Modern World Civilizations. However, this course focuses primarily on European history and only covers the effects that Europe has had on non-Western nations. Aside from this course, the school only offers two other courses dealing with anything other than American history. One is the advanced placement European history course, and the other is a class called Contemporary Issues, which focuses on world current events, but not world history.
Learning about world. History is very important in this day and age. Understanding the cultures and backgrounds of others will allow students to build respect and become accepting of people of all nationalities. World history classes would also enable students from minority backgrounds to study and trace their own heritage. Personally, I would like to learn more about the history of the cultures of my friends, and I would like them to learn more about mine.
The College Board Advanced Placement Program has recently developed an advanced placement world history course that will be offered for the first time during the 2001-2002 school year. The course will cover the history and culture of nations from North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Adopting this course into our high school curriculum would be a feasible solution to the lack of a diverse history education at Lawrence High. I have proposed this option to several of my classmates, and the response appears to be positive. History teacher Mark Rowe agrees, saying "Our school would have enough student interest to run a world history class." Mr. Rowe even went as far as to agree to teach an advanced placement world history course if the school offered it.
Although an advanced placement world history class would be a great addition to the curriculum, it is not enough. In addition to the advanced placement class, our school should incorporate more world history into the Modem World Civilizations class. It would be unfair to only offer comprehensive learning to the most academically successful students. Additional world history in the Lawrence High curriculum would help prepare students for the rapidly diversifying outside world.
Feiler Court