Alli Adams
Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
As we witness a new threat to the rise of authoritarianism in our executive branch of government and Colorado State University’s lack of defense against brazen federal intervention, the most important protest the school and students can make against these threats is to put our history department at the forefront.
CSU’s administration continues to send emails and press releases that dance around any form of response or transparency regarding funding cuts to research, shifts in human resource processes and the rollback of diversity efforts. In defense of the administration, it is easy to see that submitting to President Donald Trump’s requests spares pulled funding, increased tuition and additional turmoil.
But since the university hasn’t decided to yield any sort of pronounced resistance to the atrocities the federal government has dispensed on our public education, there is a certain and quiet angle the university and students can take to undermine the tyrannical goals of the current president of the United States: continuing to require and register for history courses.
As a communication studies major, I have to take three history courses to fulfill the requirements of my major. Heading into junior year, as lost as ever about what to think of the political climate, I took three American history courses with professors Adam Thomas and Tracy Brady. What I thought was just going through the motions of my graduation plan became the turning point in my evolution of critical thinking.
In the wake of my sophomore year of high school and the rise of a global pandemic amid the most controversial modern president, our generation witnessed a surge in social media advocacy, propaganda campaigns from all sides and tragic historical events across the nation. As I reflect on the content I consumed that taught me what to think, five years later, I have the three required history courses I took to thank.
“A rounded proficiency in history equips us with the understanding that progress is possible and happening.”
History is the magical interdisciplinary study of all the patterns and propaganda that got us to this point. It looks at propaganda and myths, asking the context, the motive, the background and the outcome. Studying history reveals how our world works, widens our scope of perception and educates us on processes in multiple areas of our anthropological society, like gender, race-relations, class dynamics, religion, economics and architecture. It essentially takes stories from various perspectives to create a well-rounded understanding of what occurred.
Thus, studying history allows us to shape our opinions under a broader context and empower residents with the knowledge of patterns of injustice and inequality to recognize the collapse of empires, rise of dictators, disenfranchisement of middle and lower class Americans and more.
History is also important in maintaining a democratic republic, illustrated by past dictators who have used the censorship of history as a primary tactic.
John J. Tierney Jr., former special assistant and foreign affairs officer of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, wrote in an article, “Under Stalin, all pre-Bolshevik books, journals and newspapers were removed from libraries and other public arenas, and those found in possession of such literature were arrested. … Nazi Germany, among many others, needed censorship to justify its movement. Like the Soviet Union, Hitler’s regime was comprehensive and ruthless.”
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The equal and opposite reaction of censoring history in order to take authoritarian control over a country is planting history in the hands of students.
The current political climate utilizes fear mongering in communication to divide the very people who our government is supposed to serve. Because of this polarizing rhetoric, we often fall into doomsday thinking and further isolate these historical events as unique to our lifetime. Yes, there are unique aspects of current events that stem from recent inventions; however, history teaches us that humanity and America have survived worse circumstances.
I often felt grounded in my history classes. Analyzing primary historical sources has led me to feel merciful for current times because I now know the struggles of living in previous eras. I am eternally grateful I am not a mother in the Great Depression, a young man awaiting results of a draft or a woman attempting to divorce her husband in the 20th century. These patterns reveal how democracy, liberty and our civil rights have been threatened and recovered before. A rounded proficiency in history equips us with the understanding that progress is possible and happening.
Hence, cultivating an education at CSU that is embedded with historical courses at the center arms a student body with perspectives that strengthen both critical thinking skills and an understanding of democracy. It dismantles the anxiety that disempowers and averts Americans from unifying.
I ultimately call on the university to replicate the completion map of the communication studies program in its core curriculum. As an educational establishment already threatened by the decline of democracy and repressive legislation of the recent past, we must require or incentivize students to register for more history courses for AUCC credit.
Our country is under attack from a rise in authoritarianism and extremism from all sides of the political spectrum. For the students who feel hopeless, overwhelmed or defeated by the political atmosphere, calm your anxiety, credibly shape your opinions and avoid descending into a victim of propaganda and polarizing content by filling those elective credits with a history course. You won’t regret it.
Reach Caroline Studdert at letters@collegian.com or on social media @rmcollegian.