The Vocab of Eurocentrism

Eurocentrism

• Interpreting the world and history focused on European or white-American experiences and figures, often ignoring indigenous peoples and peoples of color.

• To calm, control or bring order to something that is wild, untamed or out of control, often used to describe Europeans who came to the Americas from 1500-1800.

• People who go discover something new by going somewhere unfamiliar. The use of this term often ignores or hides the fact that “explorers” are often “exploring” land that is already inhabited.

• 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.

Settle/Settler

• Interpreting the world and history focused on European or white-American experiences and figures, often ignoring indigenous peoples and peoples of color.

• To calm, control or bring order to something that is wild, untamed or out of control, often used to describe Europeans who came to the Americas from 1500-1800.

• People who go discover something new by going somewhere unfamiliar. The use of this term often ignores or hides the fact that “explorers” are often “exploring” land that is already inhabited.

• 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.

Explore/Explorer

• Interpreting the world and history focused on European or white-American experiences and figures, often ignoring indigenous peoples and peoples of color.

• To calm, control or bring order to something that is wild, untamed or out of control, often used to describe Europeans who came to the Americas from 1500-1800.

• People who go discover something new by going somewhere unfamiliar. The use of this term often ignores or hides the fact that “explorers” are often “exploring” land that is already inhabited.

• 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.

Discover

• Interpreting the world and history focused on European or white-American experiences and figures, often ignoring indigenous peoples and peoples of color.

• To calm, control or bring order to something that is wild, untamed or out of control, often used to describe Europeans who came to the Americas from 1500-1800.

• People who go discover something new by going somewhere unfamiliar. The use of this term often ignores or hides the fact that “explorers” are often “exploring” land that is already inhabited.

• 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.

Colonize

• 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.

• To calm, control or bring order to something that is wild, untamed or out of control, often used to describe Europeans who came to the Americas from 1500-1800.

• People who go discover something new by going somewhere unfamiliar. The use of this term often ignores or hides the fact that “explorers” are often “exploring” land that is already inhabited.

• 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.

Civilize

• 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.

• To calm, control or bring order to something that is wild, untamed or out of control, often used to describe Europeans who came to the Americas from 1500-1800.

• People who go discover something new by going somewhere unfamiliar. The use of this term often ignores or hides the fact that “explorers” are often “exploring” land that is already inhabited.

• To make someone or something more tame or refined, and less wild. In history texts, the word is used to justify taking indigenous peoples’ land and treating them as inferior and uncivilized or wild.

How does Eurocentrism impact us and our country?

• 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.

• Eurocentrism is a way of thinking that focuses on the ideas, values, and perspectives of people descendant from Western Europe as the most important. 

• It leads to an incomplete and biased understanding of the world, and contributes to inequality and discrimination.

• 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.

What does a non-Eurocentric view of history require?

• 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.

• Eurocentrism is a way of thinking that focuses on the ideas, values, and perspectives of people descendant from Western Europe as the most important. 

• To calm, control or bring order to something that is wild, untamed or out of control, often used to describe Europeans who came to the Americas from 1500-1800.

• 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.

Which of the following demonstrates a Eurocentric point of view?

• Putting Europe in the center of a world map.

• Putting China in the center of a world map

• Putting Europe in the center of an ocean

• Putting Europe on the map at all.

What's one thing we’re going to do to challenge a Eurocentric telling of history?

• Learn some of the Eurocentric vocab often used in history texts to perpetuate Eurocentric thinking so we can recognise those biases.

• Do this activity about Eurocentric vocabulary and move on.

• There's really nothing that can be done about it. It's just the way it is.

• The class can do stuff but I'm straight chillin'. I'm not trying to do anything.