Forgotten feminine foundations: Content analysis of secondary world history textbooks' inclusion of female agency in the rise of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
NOTES PERTAINING TO PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC.
Text of Note
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-91367-5
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Discipline of degree
Urban Education
Body granting the degree
The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Text preceding or following the note
2015
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This study investigated women's agency in the emergence accounts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in nine twenty-first century United States' world history textbooks through a feminist lens. The collected data were analyzed via critical discourse analysis and content analysis to determine if traditional patterns of female marginalization in content and imagery existed. The quantitative and qualitative findings in both text and imagery indicated that all textbooks in this sample supported a traditional content structure on both an individual and collective whole basis. This study then concluded that these gender-imbalanced accounts of world religions may serve as an avenue in which distorted and/or incorrect information may be communicated to students regarding the interconnectedness of culture and religion, potentially misshaping students' knowledge cultivation processes. Additionally, traditional content formatting may also reinforce existing negative stereotypes concerning women in religion and women overall. To rectify these transgressions, this study offers educators and textbook publishers succinct, provocative information on seven prominent religious women within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam whose contributions assisted in the rise of their religions.
TOPICAL NAME USED AS SUBJECT
Religious history; Womens studies; Multicultural Education
UNCONTROLLED SUBJECT TERMS
Subject Term
Philosophy, religion and theology;Social sciences;Education;Christianity;Content analysis;Female agency;Islam;Judaism;World history textbooks