Group items tagged

Political Literacy site. Great for an election year!

Great Resources, activities, etc

Texas Freedom Network

Great article. I find myself everyday in the classroom wondering if my choice of content, my presentation of it, my choices of words, etc. leans to the left or the right. It's impossible to provide unbiased commentary, but I sure do try. Nothing is worse than a social studies teacher who insists on forcing their political views on students!

I hear you! I come from a background on the left, and sometimes quite suddenly when I'm explaining something to the class I'll hear my own voice and realise how partisan what I'm saying sounds. I found an excellent diagram of left and right ( http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2009/left-vs-right/ ) which I put up on the door so that at least the students might become more aware of the political spectrum and how it influences people's beliefs. Perhaps the best we can do is show the students how their political assumptions play out in their opinions so that as self-aware citizens they can at least make conscious choices... The right doesn't have much sway in education in Australia; I think the district board system over there in some areas (if you don't mind me saying...) gets hijacked sometimes by extremists by the looks of it. I've read some fascinating articles on how textbooks are approved in parts of the States which was quite surprising (the Intelligent Design debate I guess is an example).

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

I hope this site helps you place today's current events into a greater historical context. Each map is well-researched and based in fact, and none of the work is meant to be biased or political. No spin or opinion, just fact-based conclusions about the history of war. Maps-of-War is created by a Flash-Designer hobbyist and professional history- buff. Enjoy your visit and feel free to save or share our work for your own use!

" The 1896 presidential election was one of the most exciting and complicated in U.S. history. This website provides an introduction to one aspect of the campaign: the hundreds of political cartoons published in newspapers around the country. Most of these cartoons have been buried in archival microfilms, where students can't reach them. They offer a window into political structures and issues, society, and culture in the United States, just before the turn of the last century." A great resource on the topic.

Sometimes the media just hands you things to tear apart in TOK

"arr writes: "Gove and his advisers - either through stupidity or mischievousness - failed to place me, my website, or the lesson into its appropriate context. His criticisms betray a lack of knowledge, understanding, and interpretation that would make a GCSE history student blush with shame.""

PS. Abraham Lincoln was not a Freemason. He did apply for membership in Tyrian Lodge, Springfield, Ill., shortly after his nomination for the presidency in 1860 but withdrew the application because he felt that his applying for membership at that time might be construed as a political ruse to obtain votes. He advised the lodge that he would resubmit his application again when he returned from the presidency. ( http://www.mastermason.com/wilmettepark/pres.html ) PPS. There are loads of untold stories in academic books...

Civil War and Reconstruction, which introduces students to the most pivotal era in American history. The Civil War transformed the nation by eliminating the threat of secession and destroying the institution of slavery. It raised questions that remain central to our understanding of ourselves as a people and a nation - the balance of power between local and national authority, the boundaries of citizenship, and the meanings of freedom and equality. This XSeries will examine the causes of the war, the road to secession, the conduct of the Civil War, the coming of emancipation, and the struggle after the war to breathe meaning into the promise of freedom for four million emancipated slaves. One theme throughout the series is what might be called the politics of history - how the world in which a historian lives affects his or her view of the past, and how historical interpretations reinforce or challenge the social order of the present.

Kim and Sal talk about increased tensions between slave and free states as new territory is added after Mexican-American War and from Compromise of 1850 (especially the Fugitive Slave Act).

This article provides a case study of  how the CRCD framework shaped the  development of the "Day in the Life of  a Teenage Hobo Project," a multi-day  investigation into the social history of  teenage homelessness during the Great  Depression. Using the framework, Tom  Daccord, a former U.S. history teacher  and current academic technology specialist in Massachusetts, designed a  project that used multiple technologies- search engines, blogs, and podcasting  tools-to help students investigate the  political, economic, and social history  of the Great Depression. 

As a student and teacher of, among other things, propaganda and censorship, I think this is a great example for students to play with in thinking about how 'truth' gets established, politically and historically. In discussing nationalism I often talk about the importance of political myth in establishing identities, and here is a powerful example of a myth that became hegemonic.

"The University of Virginia is offering a free online course via iTunes U on the Kennedy Half Century. Larry Sabato, Director of UVA's Center for Politics"...

French Revolution Content

Contains thousands of documents from the Nuremberg Trials. Search function is excellent, too. Very organised. I like organised.

The Harvard Law School Library has approximately one million pages of documents relating to the trial of military and political leaders of Nazi Germany before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) and to the twelve trials of other accused war criminals before the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT). The documents, which include trial transcripts, briefs, document books, evidence files, and other papers, have been studied by lawyers, scholars, and other researchers in the areas of history, ethics, genocide, and war crimes, and are of particular interest to officials and students of current international tribunals involving war crimes and crimes against humanity.