The “Western Civilization” course first appeared after the First World War and evolved in subsequent decades when Americans came to see themselves, along with the European democracies, as members of a great Atlantic or “Western” civilization. The course, which became required at many high schools, colleges, and universities, was meant to provide all students, regardless of major or future vocation, with a general understanding of the major events, great people, and great ideas. It also provided students a brush with the cultures of a civilization of which they were its latest benefactors. But beginning in the 1960s, it came under criticism, some arguing that the course rested on a fixed, mechanized and ideological concept of the past that excluded not only the rest of the world, but also large segments of the American population. Western Civilization had fallen short, many argued, of offering “something worth teaching to undergraduates en masse: something all educated persons should know; something every active citizen ought to become familiar with in order to conduct his life well and perform his duties effectively.”

World History many argued could best meet the needs of providing something all students should know. Since the late 1960s world history courses have proliferated across the country. At some colleges and universities they have replaced the western civilization surveys; mostly quietly, but in a few cases as a result of vehement protests, which were sometimes met by lament and criticism. At many other institutions, the Western Civilization survey is still taught in some form, but is no longer a mandatory course. While the benefits of teaching world history are not in dispute, it is also indisputable that Europe remains a major dynamic region of the world that has always had a diverse, multicultural population, a rich history, and large body of interesting and critical historical scholarship. And practically speaking, students cannot be sufficiently introduced to the breadth of European history in a world history course. Moreover, the Western Civilization survey has adapted to the world historical perspective and have accommodated by taking on topics and themes that were ignored or poorly treated in the traditional Western Civilization courses, such as women and gender, marginalized peoples, migration, and new approaches to cultural history. In short, one textbook author has argued that, “[t]here is a crucial place in the curriculum for both kinds of courses [Western Civilization or world history]: they teach different perspectives and foster different kinds of skills. One doesn’t need to be thrown out to enable the other to flourish.” However, despite these new perspectives and trends and some fine textbooks, instructors still face challenges and fundamental questions remain about the rationale, scope, content, narrative, and chronology of the European survey.

This panel session will present three case studies of Western Civilization/European survey courses taught today. Presenters will highlight the challenges as they see them and the ways they have addressed them.