At the annual HOTCUS conference in Liverpool in 2019, HOTCUS announced the launch of an “Inclusive Curriculum Competition”. Our aim was to encourage further debate within our community about curricula that draw students into an encounter with new topics and themes, that expose students to a variety of critical perspectives upon those topics and themes, that seek to flatten hierarchies and model an ethos of mutual intellectual respect within the classroom.

This website features the three most impressive submissions to the first round of the competition, the winning syllabus by Lydia Plath, and those by Adam Burns and Katharina Rietzler which received Honorary Mentions. It also provides short introductions to the winners and their teaching philosophies.

The “Inclusive Curriculum Competition” is a long-term project for HOTCUS to encourage mutual support in our community to make our teaching of American history more inclusive and diverse. The recent pandemic has forced us to rethink the ways we teach, and this website will provide materials for all those who are keen to try out new pedagogies and consider new themes and approaches. We will keep updating this website to document the ongoing conversation within our community about inclusive curricula. If you are interested in these questions, you may want to watch this space.

At the next HOTCUS annual conference in June 2021 we will host a panel on the first round of the “Inclusive Curriculum Competition” on which Lydia, Adam, and Katharina will share their experiences in creating and teaching their syllabi. 

For details of the inaugural winners and their entries click here

For the competition criteria and call for entries from 2019 click here