Educators around the country have been increasingly interested in expanding the teaching of African-American history, and many resources have been created to help. At the same time, scholars have begun to explore how African-American history is represented in these resources, in standards, in popular textbooks, and beyond. One emerging scholar in this area is Brittany Jones, an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Her work explores how emotions are represented in the curriculum, how we can help students consider the lived emotions of those in the past, whether or not some types history should be deemed "difficult" for students, and much more. On this episode, Brittany discusses these issues and how she arrived at these questions.


Episode Resources

Brittany Jones's Faculty Page

Brittany's Google Scholar Page

The 1619 Project Curriculum


Key Articles by Brittany Jones

Feeling fear as power and oppression: An examination of Black and white fear in Virginia’s U.S. history standards and curriculum framework

What is the word “difficult” doing in social studies research?: A systematic literature review of empirical research on difficult knowledges and histories, 2004–2022

ESD Resources

Brett Levy's Open Access Research Articles

Education for Sustainable Democracy Site

ESD Facebook Page (Please like!)

ESD YouTube Channel (Please subscribe!)


Related ESD Episodes

Integrating History & Current Events and Creating an Open Classroom Climate, with Amber Joseph (East Side Community School, New York City)

Engagement & Equity in Civic Education, with Professor Jane Lo (Michigan State University)

Guiding Productive Political Discussions, with Diana Hess (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

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