World History: Another Perspective
As a youth, Peter Frankopan was disenchanted by the version of history he learned as he studied the map of the world. Frankopan was uneasy about the relentlessly narrow geographic focus of his classes at school, which concentrated solely on western Europe and the United States and left most of the rest of the world untouched (Frankopan 2015, Loc. 141). After further reading and studying, Frankopan realized that there was more to the world than he was being taught. Frankopan states, “It was suddenly obvious that the regions we were not being taught about had become lost, suffocated by the insistent story of the rise of Europe (Frankopan 2015, Loc. 152).” Frankopan began studying the world from the perspective of the Eastern Mediterranean, in the Caucasus region, focusing his attention on the Eastern expansion of the world instead of Western expansion.
Frankopan’s vantage point may be connected to his Croatian heritage (Frankopan, Peter Frankopan – The silk roads – VPRO documentary – 2017). Perhaps his desire to understand where his family fit into the history of the world drove him to question the version of history he was presented with since he heard little about how the puzzle piece of his ancestry fit into this picture.
In the same way that Frankopan desires to understand where his Croatian heritage fits into the history of the world, so African Americans long for the history of their ancestors to be taught and recognized as a valid puzzle piece in the history of the world. African American history has long been taught as beginning with captivity and enslavement on the West Coast of African, with little thought to the long and ancient history of Africans in the history of the world. Knowing history is empowering for any group of people as well as affirming one’s very being. This is why I believe there should be culturally relevant or responsive curricula for African American children and youth.
Culturally relevant or responsive curricula for African American children and youth in Christian education, allows children to see themselves as positively fitting into the world. The vantage or viewpoint in which the history of the world is presented is critical in determining whether children of all cultures understand that they are created in the image of God. Culturally responsive teaching studies a wide range of ethnic individuals and groups; contextualizing issues within race, class, ethnicity, and gender, and including multiple kinds of knowledge and perspectives (Gay 2002, 108).
Frankopan believes the history of the world is more complex than we believe stating, “It is easy to mould the past into a shape that we find convenient and accessible. But the ancient world was much more sophisticated and interlinked than we sometimes like to think (Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World 2015, 26).” Frankopan shows the importance of differing perspectives of the world. Hopefully, Christian education curricula for African American children and youth can benefit from a culturally relevant or responsive vantage point just as many have benefited from Frankopan’s perspective of world history.
References
Peter Frankopan – The silk roads – VPRO documentary – 2017; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMhjI_00hVk. Directed by Floris-Jan van Luyn. Performed by Peter Frankopan. 2017.
—. The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2015.
Gay, Geneva. “Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching.” Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 53, No. 2, 2002: 106-116.
About the Author
Mary Mims
I am a licensed and ordained Baptist minister and have worked with the children and youth for the last seven years. I have resided in the Washington, DC area for the last 30 years, but I am originally from Michigan. I am also bi-vocational and work at the US Patent and Trademark Office in the Scientific Library.4 responses to “World History: Another Perspective”
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Yes, Mary. I love they way you turned this to your area of research interest and hoped you’d go there a bit with this book. I didn’t pick up on his Croatian heritage and I think it’s insightful. I would love to know what his book’s impact has been in the “silk roads” audience because as you indicated, knowing your deep history is a fundamental piece for human flourishing.
Mary,
Thanks for tying in your research with your review of Frankopan. Your postulate that Frankopan was motivated in part by his desire to see how his non-European family fit into world history. I agree that often, we are all driven by a personal passion, perhaps a family connection. My own German heritage/history was conveyed to me personally by my Aunt, my father’s sister-in-law. It totally changed how I view not only WWII but also history as part of the “spoils of war.” I look forward to learning more about your culturally relevant or responsive Christian education curricula for African American children and youth. Thank you in advance for teaching me.
Mary, thank you for the post – it’s really excellent. When Jamil was little we had the hardest time finding a children’s bible that had pictures of children who were not white. Fortunately we found the one Desmond Tutu published, but it was pretty much the only one we could find. Your research and its results will be very interesting to us and is needed by the community.
Thank you, Mary, for your great research into Frankopan’s cultural background and what drove him into being a historian. I am equally amazed by how you have weaved in the story of the African Americans who are still trying to find out the cultural and authentic connections. You have stated it si well that the silk road is more diverse and complex to human life. It is true many African histories and treeline was distorted by the slave trade model. But we are trying to find ourselves back again. Just as Frankopan talks of the speedy economic strategies by the Eastern powers to the west, it is still unclear how Africa is playing in this as they strategize too. What is happening is that the whole world is becoming one unified economic block.
Thank you for sharing this great piece, my sister.