ABSTRACT
Chapter 7, This chapter explores prominent features found in representations that reinforce perceptions of otherness— the ascription of traits to a population and exaggerations of differences between populations. “Ascribing Traits and Describing Difference,” examines the ways teachers both challenged and reinforced these aspects of otherness when describing populations throughout the Middle East and Africa in World and United States History courses.. The chapter illuminates the ways teachers minimized any substantive recognition of cultural diffusion between populations in their classroom discourse. The chapter describes how this reinforces a sense of remoteness between peoples.
