The Department of Defense is launching a new course focused on Western civilization and Christianity in its schools this upcoming fall, representing an educational shift directed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Defense Department Education Activity manages approximately 160 schools across 11 nations serving roughly 70,000 children of military personnel and federal civilian employees.
The course, titled “Western Civilization to 1500,” will utilize a textbook published by Encounter Books, a conservative publishing house, with instructional materials developed in partnership with Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian institution in Michigan. High school students taking the course can fulfill world history graduation requirements through the department’s virtual school system. This initiative represents part of a broader restructuring of Defense Department schools, which has begun recruiting classical learning instructors and appointing academic leadership with ties to classical education charter schools and Republican-aligned educational reform efforts.
Historians and educators who examined the textbook have raised significant concerns about its content. They contend that the material conflates Western civilization with Christianity and presents Islam as an inherent threat to both. The text characterizes Christian-led conflicts such as the Crusades as defensive actions while depicting Islamic conflicts as inherently aggressive, and it references recent attacks like those on October 7 and 9/11 to support this framing. Scholars argue the approach lacks historical nuance and uses selective presentation to advance a particular political perspective rather than provide scholarly analysis.
The publisher and authors have defended the work, citing peer review by 15 experts and noting that the text acknowledges Western cultural debts to the Islamic world. They argue that emphasizing Western civilization study represents a return to standard educational practice prior to the 1970s and addresses what they view as cultural disorientation among younger generations.
These changes align with the Trump administration’s broader push to reshape military education consistent with its vision for American schools. Recent personnel changes include replacing the schools’ director and chief academic officer with individuals connected to classical learning initiatives and conservative education policy, including staff formerly involved with Florida’s civics curriculum rollout.
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