Most current social and cultural theory asserts that any form of social reality is not natural, adhering to an internal logic, but that it is constructed by human beings or what is termed human agency. The tools and motivations for any given construction of reality vary based on prevailing conditions or circumstance. Depending on a person's method of analysis, an analyst's citation of the elements involved in a particular act of social construction might be sorted out in terms of a hierarchy of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, War, World History, Films, Foreign Policy, Philosophy, Ideology, Experience, Military...
Among the many movements of modern times for the advancement of civilization and the relief of humanity from unnecessary burdens of expenditure and of paralyzing fear, none is more significant than that for arbitration and world-wide peace. This movement has been made possible by the education of the masses of the people in all the more progressive countries of the world, and will succeed finally only as education becomes more universal. Like all great constructive movements for the uplift and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Social Studies, Educational Methods, Instructional Materials, World Problems,...
The author wrote a piece called "What Our Children Should Learn about 9/11." In that piece, the author made just four simple points. These include: (1) children should know the facts; (2) once they had a grounding in the facts, the children should not abjure moral judgment; (3) children should learn to make both analytical and moral distinctions; and (4) children must learn to live with uncertainty, and specifically to understand the difference between living in fear and living with...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, World History, Foreign Policy, Arabs, Muslims, Expectation,...
The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. (Individual papers contain references.) [For the 2009 proceedings, see ED504973.]
Topics: ERIC Archive, Social Studies, Proverbs, Social Justice, Global Approach, Photography, Visual Aids,...
On July 26-27, 2008, FPRI's Wachman Center hosted 37 teachers from across the country for a weekend of discussion on teaching U.S. Military history. Sessions included: (1) The Revolutionary War and Early American Military History (Kyle Zelner); (2) The Mexican-American War (Paul Springer); (3) The Civil War (Mark Grimsley); (4) The Frontier Years (Vance Skarstedt); (5) The American Military and Society (Peter Karsten); (6) The Spanish-American War and the Philippine War (Brian McAllister Linn);...
Topics: ERIC Archive, United States History, War, World History, History Instruction, Land Settlement,...
On March 28-29, 2009, FPRI's Wachman Center hosted 43 teachers from across the country for a weekend of discussion on teaching the nuclear age. In his opening remarks, Walter A. McDougall observed that although students today are not made to crawl under their desks in air raid drills, that atomic power remains, and it is still necessary to raise a nuclear-literate generation. Sessions included: (1) Nuclear Weapons (Jeremy Bernstein); (2) Nuclear Weapons in International Politics (Andrew L....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Weapons, War, International Relations, World History, Terrorism, Power Structure,...
On May 3-4, 2003, the Foreign Policy Research Institute held its tenth History Institute for Teachers. Forty-two teachers from fourteen states participated in a weekend of lectures and seminars, featuring seven outstanding scholars. Although Muslims define themselves and the Christian West in terms of religion, Western countries view relations among themselves and with Islam in national terms. Understanding America's distinctive encounter with Islam is fundamental to understanding both the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Islam, Muslims, Arabs, Conflict, Politics, Foreign Policy, Foreign Countries, Western...
This essay is based on the author's presentation at the Wachman Center's July 26-27, 2008 history institute, co-sponsored and hosted by the Cantigny First Division Foundation of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. For Europeans, World War I remains the epochal event of the twentieth century. For Americans, the war falls between two much larger and more emotive events in American history, the Civil War and World War II. Although the war did not result in destruction for Americans on the European...
Topics: ERIC Archive, United States History, War, World History, History Instruction, International...
This document includes the following issues of this journal: volume 18, number 3, Summer 2002; volume 18, number 4, Fall 2002; volume 19, number 2, Spring 2003; and volume 19, number 3, Summer 2003. The summer 2002 issue of "The Bill of Rights in Action" views problems related to victims of war. It focuses on the internment of Japanese Americans in camps during World War II, the court case that upheld it as constitutional, and subsequent attempts to compensate those held in the camps;...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Ancient History, Black Leadership, Capitalism, Civil Rights, Discussion (Teaching...
For U.S. neo-idealists, the 1990s represented a moment to be seized, a time in which the strategies of conflict and confrontation of the Cold War period could be replaced by strategies designed to enhance cooperation among the nation-states. In 2001, the George W. Bush administration found itself in the position of continuing the same Bill Clinton era search for a strategic framework around which to organize U.S. foreign policy. Evidence of these policies can be found in four strategic...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Policy, Higher Education, International Relations, Literature Reviews,...
In this interdisciplinary curriculum unit, students examine and debate the relationship between China and Tibet. Students are expected to produce a mock television report covering topics related to the Tibet question, such as historical issues, the policies of the U.S., Chinese, and Tibetan governments, and human rights concerns. Students are provided with background information, detailed instructions, on-line resources, and reflection questions. The teacher's notes describe the unit's purpose,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cooperative Learning, Foreign Countries, Foreign Policy, Grade 10, High Schools,...
This digest discusses the need for teaching about the Vietnam War, possible reasons for the negligible treatment the subject receives in social studies classes, and some instructional approaches to the material. Currently, students lack a systematic and detailed knowledge of this turning point in U.S. history. The impact of the Vietnam War on U.S. foreign policy, domestic politics, and social history cannot be overestimated. The controversial nature of the War and its ensuing political...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Asian Studies, Controversial Issues (Course Content), Diplomatic History, Educational...
This book discusses foreign policy issues and provides background information on current topics. This edition examines the following major issues: (1) "Conflict in Former Yugoslavia: Quest for Solutions" (Susan L. Woodward); (2) "South Africa: Forging a Democratic Union" (Jean Herskovits); (3) "Environmental Crisis in Former Soviet Bloc: Whose Problem? Who Pays?" (William Sweet); (4) "Trade with the Pacific Rim: Pressure or Cooperation?" (Jinny St. Goar);...
Topics: ERIC Archive, African History, Developing Nations, Environment, Foreign Countries, Foreign Policy,...
This briefing book provides background information on current foreign policy issues. This edition discusses the following major issues: (1) "U.S. in a New World: What Goals? What Priorities?"; (2) "United Nations: What Role in the New World?"; (3) "Germany's Role: In Europe? In the Atlantic Alliance?"; (4) "China: New Reforms, Old Politics?"; (5) "Trade and the Global Economy: Projecting U.S. Interests"; (6) "Russia and the Central Asian...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Asian History, Developing Nations, Diplomatic History, Economics, Foreign Countries,...
This booklet analyzes the changes that have occurred in Japan in the postwar period. The book is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1, "Revolutionary Change: American Occupation, 1945-52," focuses on the dramatic changes brought by Occupation forces. Chapter 2, "Evolutionary Change: Japan's Democracy from the Occupation through the 1980s," chronicles almost 40 years of uninterrupted conservative rule. Chapter 3, "The Transformation of 1993-94," addresses the more...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Asian Studies, Change, Democracy, Foreign Countries, Foreign Policy, Human Relations,...
The Ryukyu Islands form a chain stretching from the southernmost point of mainland Japan to the northern tip of Taiwan. The largest and most important of these islands is Okinawa. This paper documents the influence of other nations and cultures upon the Okinawan culture, and focuses upon U.S. cultural influence. In the mid-nineteenth century, Commodore Matthew Perry led an expedition to Okinawa as part of U.S. efforts to open Japan to trade. Okinawa proved to have great strategic significance...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Cultural Influences, Cultural Interrelationships, Culture Contact, Foreign Countries,...
This document reports on the tenor and outcomes of the National Issues Forums held in 1991-92 on three issues. The report draws upon three resources: short participant questionnaires, descriptions from groups' convenors, and detailed analysis of the taped proceedings of 10 groups. The report is organized in three sections, each consisting of a report from the forums and excerpts from the public response to each issue by a group of representatives from the national media and Congress who met to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adult Education, Citizen Participation, Citizenship Education, Citizenship...
This brief issues booklet provides basic information about the emerging democracy in the Philippines, as of 1989. The topics covered include the following: (1) "All in the Family"; (2) "The American Legacy"; (3) "An Enduring Presence"; (4) "Revolution: The Overthrow of President Marcos"; and (5) "Democracy Restored: Cory Aquino Victorious." A list of discussion questions and a 15-item annotated reading list conclude the booklet. (EH)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Colonialism, Conflict, Diplomatic History, Foreign Countries, Foreign Policy, Global...
This brief issues booklet provides basic information about the role of the Catholic Church in Poland, the erosion of Communist party leadership over the past year (as of 1981), the rise of the Solidarity Union and the economic problems plaguing the Polish people. An introduction is followed by the following sections: (1) "History of a Millennium"; (2) "Communist Poland"; (3) "Solidarity"; (4) "Church, Farm, and Freedom"; (5) "Poland between East and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Catholics, Communism, Conflict, Diplomatic History, Foreign Countries, Foreign...
This brief issues booklet provides basic information about the arms control issue in Europe, as of 1988. The table of contents includes the following: (1) "Trying Again"; (2) "Prelude to Arms Control"; (3) "The First Attempts: MBFR (Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions) and CSCE (Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe); (4) "CAFE (Conventional Armed Forces in Europe): The Political and Military Environment"; (5) "The Future of Conventional Arms...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Adult Education, Armed Forces, Conflict, Diplomatic History, Disarmament, Foreign...
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