Kevin A. Escudero

“Education for Community Empowerment” is a project in collaboration with the Guam Museum to develop a curriculum on decolonization for use by teachers in Guam’s public schools. As a present-day US territory, in 1997 the Guam government established the Commission on Decolonization to engage members of the public in determining the island’s future political relationship with the United States. A critical component of the Commission’s work has been educating the public about the various political status options: independence, free association, or statehood. Through qualitative research with members of the Commission’s three task forces this project entails developing materials for K-12 students and hosting trainings at the museum to familiarize teachers with use of the curriculum. This research will also support the writing of a monograph which examines indigenous and immigrant communities’ participation in decolonization activism, drawing on the interrelated frameworks of U.S. imperialism, militarism, immigration federalism, and indigenous self-determination. The primary museum and a key educational facility in Guam, the Guam Museum’s mission is to “foster a greater understanding of the CHamoru culture and the art, history and natural environment of Guam.”