My project will be examining why the academic field of history is lacking in ethnic diversity as well as the range of global history taught in secondary education. In terms of the employment of ethnic minorities in academia in the field of history, I wish to understand if the employment today reflect the reality of the population demographics of the West. For example, this project aims to discover the historical education curriculum in places such as Great Britain, and how much of it reflects the nation’s colonial past and the diverse populations that played a major part in the trajectory of the country’s modern history. A closer example would be the United States, and how much of the historic content taught in classes are spent outside of the domestic issues and the Second World War. This study will also look into the benefits of a more diverse employment of ethnic minorities who can shed new light on their experiences as well as their respective ethnic group’s contributions to the history of their adopted homes. Another topic this project will look into is how the history curriculum can change to adapt to a more diverse America today. Perhaps through this project’s research, I can present a better reflection for the field of history.
Sounds like an interesting direction for this inquiry. Now I’d like you to start defining the shape of this project–what audience do you want to reach? what would be the best genre and rhetorical situation do accomplish that? You have a lot of latitude to define what this project looks like.
You might, for example, want to write for K-12 schools or universities to ask them to rethink their hiring decisions. Or perhaps you want to write for college students about their career choices? Or for administrators who craft curricula? Or for a broader public who wants to understand why it matters who makes curriculum and teaches it? There are a lot of possibilities here, and selecting an audience will help you to more clearly define your purpose and determine what material to incorporate and what arguments to develop.
Let me know what questions you have and if you’d like to talk some more about this.