The assessments of the flammable liquid storage/dispensing/handling rooms at XYZ Corporation

Includes bibliographical references

The sounds of silence: American history textbook representations of non-violence and the Abolition Movement

In this paper we examine how the Abolition Movement’s approach to non-violent resistance has been silenced in four American history textbooks. Despite extensive research that reveals an extensive network of groups dedicated to the peaceful abolishment of slavery little of this historical record is included in the textbooks. Instead, a skewed representation of the movement is conveyed to the reader, one that conveys an image of a movement that contributes to a climate of social violence. Through a critical discourse analytical approach to the data we carefully deconstruct how this process of misrepresentation occurs. By employing the discursive tools of narrative framing, positioning, and stance we lift up what is often hidden from the reader and demonstrate how language use communicates powerful social messaging to the reader. We argue that student readers are left with an impoverished sense of how non-violent democratic change has occurred when presented with a limited portrayal of the Abolition Movement. We therefore emphasize the importance of equipping students with the skills needed to critically interrogate both historical and contemporary sources that purports to convey the inevitability of war to resolve complex social problems; we maintain this is both an educational imperative and a civic obligation

Russian History Textbooks in the Putin Era: Recycling iconic heroes and casting faithful citizens

In this paper we examine the heroic representations of Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin in two recent (2016) and widely used Russian high school history textbooks. We argue that these representations aim to achieve an uncritical acceptance and allegiance to Putin’s political regime among Russian school age students. Employing a critical discourse analytic approach to the textbook representations of Stalin and Putin revealed how ideological messages were communicated to the reader through words and images. We drew upon critical theory and social semiotic perspectives to guide our analysis. The findings that emerged from this research demonstrated how the Russian concept of hero was discursively enacted in the two textbooks to accomplish socio-political purposes. While there were differences between the textbooks’ depictions of Stalin’s heroic stature, both accounts used these alternating depictions to enhance adulation of Putin’s heroic leadership in the present. Furthermore, the representations of Stalin’s crimes served to justify Putin’s policies today by portraying opposition to his leadership as unpatriotic and damaging to the welfare of the Russian nation. The significance of these findings underscores the importance of examining how the narratives of a nation’s past attempt to shape civic identities in the present. Our study also draws attention to the dangers of how officially sanctioned historical accounts in school settings around the world can be used to shape a compliant citizenry in the present