Frequently Asked Questions About WAPUSH

What led you to create this project?

 

We began our campaign to petition the College Board to create an AP U.S. Women’s History course after we were awarded a Schlesinger Library Teaching Grant. Our initial proposal was to petition the College Board to add documents about women to the required foundational document list in AP U.S. Government & Politics since all of the current 9 required documents are written by men. After we spent time working in the Schlesinger archives, it was clear to us that there was so much information about stories that need to be told there should be an AP U.S. Women’s History course. So we decided to model our campaign after the highly effective campaign for AP African American studies.

Why not AP Women’s Studies?

 

Would this course be legal to teach in states that ban the teaching of sex/gender/LGBTQ+ history?When it is taught well, high school students are deeply interested in U.S. history and knowledge of AMerican history is essential to an engaged citizenry. We believe women’s history should be accessible to all students, regardless of the state they are living in and feel women’s history is insufficiently covered in current U.S. survey courses. We also want the content to be developmentally appropriate and do not want to get bogged down in fights over what is meant by the term “women.” We believe a deeply nuanced conversation about gender, women and sexuality studies is more appropriate at the collegiate level and will encourage students who have completed AP U.S. Women’s History to take an intro to women, gender and sexuality studies when they enroll in college. In addition, teachers credentialed in Social Studies/Social Science are likely to have certification to be able to teach U.S. history which would be easier adapted to an AP U.S. Women’s History course

 

Have you experienced pushback against this campaign?

 

Yes and we welcome a diversity of opinions on this topic. There was a published Oped by a high school student in Indiana who opposes this campaign.

 

Why not include women in existing AP courses such as AP U.S. History or
AP World History: Modern?

 

Women are more than a sidebar and the stories are so fascinating and vast they are worthy of their own year long stand alone elective.

 

How can people get involved in this project if they’d like to help?

 

We welcome involvement from teachers, students and scholars!
 

You can get involved by doing one of the following:
 

1. Join our LinkedIn group: www.linkedin.com/company/105036762/admin/dashboard/
    

2. Join our Facebook group for educators: www.facebook.com/groups/3564851203823077
    

3. Reach out to Kristen Kelly at woodsk01@yahoo.com or Serene Williams at serene@teachwapush.org