The Vocab of Eurocentrism

Front

Eurocentrism

Back

Interpreting history focused on European or white-American experiences, often ignoring indigenous peoples and people of color.

Front

Settle/Settler

Back

To calm, control or bring order to something wild, often used for Europeans in the Americas (1500-1800).

Front

Explore/Explorer

Back

People who discover something new in unfamiliar places, often ignoring that the land is already inhabited.

Front

Discover: To see, gain knowledge, or find out; often overlooks indigenous peoples.

Back

To see, get knowledge of, find, or find out. Similar to “explorer”, this term often ignores the indigenous people inhabiting the land where the “discovery” happened.

Front

Colonize: To settle and control land outside your borders, often ignoring existing inhabitants.

Back

To settle in and take control of land outside your own borders. Often ignores or obscurs that, in many cases, people already lived in the colonized places.

Front

Civilize

Back

To make someone or something more tame or refined, and less wild. Historically used to justify taking indigenous peoples’ land and treating them as inferior.

Front

Impact of Eurocentrism:

Back

Incomplete and biased world view, contributing to inequality and discrimination.

Front

Non-Eurocentric view of history requires an inclusive understanding of the past, amplifying diverse cultural experiences.

Back

It requires a more inclusive understanding of the past that gives voice to the experiences and perspectives of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds instead of just one.

Front

Eurocentric view: Europe at center of world map.

Back

Putting Europe in the center of a world map.

Front

Challenge Eurocentric history:

Back

Learn Eurocentric vocab in history texts to recognize biases.