9-12: Social Studies

Imperialism has had a tremendous impact on the world, and it is important that students be able to recognize that many of the power differentials that exist today are, in part, the product of imperialist relationships in the past. This video explaining the background, and competing forces, that drove Imperialism in Africa and Asia provides

  • Imperialism: Crash Course World History #35
    •  Provides students with a zoomed-out perspective of Imperialistic forces and how they operated on a global scale. By watching this video, students should understand that European Imperialism was driven by multiple factors, especially economic ones, that there was a wide range of responses to the invasive European powers by those being imperialized, and that the effects of imperialism can still be seen today.

When traditional Imperialism began its downfall with the end of WWII, once-imperialized nations were often left in a vacuum with no clear governmental or economic systems in place. It is important that students understand that the end of imperialism came with new consequences for imperialized nations, and these effects can still be felt today to varying degree as these countries rebuild.

 

One of the primary focuses in anthropology is to understand human groups, and how humans interact with one another. Because of globalization, humans now are able to interact on a worldwide scale. It is important for not only students, but also people in general, to understand the forces that have both caused and nurtured this global trend. By understanding how things like power, economics, intrapersonal/intragroup relationships operate on a global scale, and also how humans react in different ways to these forces, students will begin to understand the interconnectedness of society and its structures.

  • Globalization 1 and 2: Crash Course World History #41-42
    • This video serves as a general introduction to the concept of globalization, exploring the concepts of migration, cultural diffusion, increasing populations, and interconnected economic systems.
  • Globalization and Trade and Poverty: crash Course Economics #16
    • This video explores some of the major impacts of globalization, namely increased economic productivity, individualism, and democracy, as well as environmental strain. By presenting some of the benefits and disadvantages of globalization, this video will help students understand that globalization is an evolving force, and we have yet to see if it will be largely beneficial or not.

 

  • Indians Try American Snacks
    • As the world becomes more and more intertwined, cultural groups undergo an exchange of ideas. This video is an example of food being shared between cultures.

 

While some groups of people struggle to gain even the most basic of human rights, in other areas this struggle is more nuanced. It is important for students to understand that both localized cultural systems and global forces contribute to this struggle.

  • Child Labor: The Dark Side of Chocolate
    • This video is an excellent example of how the global economy can have a huge and often negative impact on individual workers while benefiting other groups.
  • Bangladesh: Rights for Female Agricultural Workers – The Woman at Karmojibi Nari
    • An example of the fight for women’s rights and equality in Bangladesh.
  • Activity: Buzzfeed’s How Privileged Are You Quiz
    • This is a good activity for students to complete to help them understand some of the ways that people experience disadvantages due to their race, sexuality, gender, religion, and access to wealth and education.
  • MIT Open Courseware: Gender, Sexuality and Society
    • This Is a collection of lecture notes and readings related to the topics of gender, sexuality and society. “This course seeks to examine how people experience gender – what it means to be a man or a woman – and sexuality in a variety of historical and cultural contexts. We will explore how gender and sexuality relate to other categories of social identity and difference, such as race and ethnicity, economic and social standing, urban or rural life, etc.” Furthermore, this online course aims to help students recognize how these topics play out in media, and how they operate on a national and worldwide level.
  • Racism in the United States: By the Numbers
    • This video highlights some of the many ways that racism happens in the US.
  • Sex Discrimination | Crash Course Government and Politics
    • Discusses employment discrimination, primarily against women in the workforce. Discrimination against women tends to be handled somewhat differently in the courts, as they are not a minority. Even so, the courts need a method for challenging issues to help further important government interests – this is called intermediate scrutiny.
  • Is America Dreaming?
    • In “Is America Dreaming? Understanding Social Mobility” Brookings Fellow Richard Reeves discusses  inequality and opportunity in America using Legos to explain the chances for economic success of Americans born at the bottom of the economic ladder. He shows the chances that the poorest fifth of Americans have to rise to the top, based on their race, the marital status of their mothers, and their level of education.
  • Re-Examining Brown
  • Strategies for an Equal Education
  • Campaigns for Economic Freedom
  • Sonia Sanchez: The meaning of Malcom X
    • This gallery contains three video segments of poet Sonia Sanchez recorded for Eyes on the Prize. In The Meaning of Malcolm X, she describes what Malcolm X represented to African Americans in the 1960s. In Meeting Malcolm X, she recalls the pivotal moment when she first heard him speak. In “Malcolm”, she recites her poem, a eulogy to the slain civil rights leader.
  • The Murder of Emmett Till
    • Watch this video segment—adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: “The Murder of Emmett Till”—to learn the story of a 14-year-old black boy who was brutally murdered on a visit to Mississippi from Chicago in 1955. After Emmett whistled at a white woman, he was beaten and murdered by two white men; they were later found innocent by an all-white jury. Emmett’s tragic death and the subsequent publicity about the trial helped spark the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s.
  • Freedom Riders: Fresh Troops
    • In this video segment from the American Experience: “Freedom Riders” Web site, view newsreel footage, interviews, and archival photos to explore how students in Nashville, Tennessee, prepared for civil rights protests by training in the techniques of nonviolent direct action. This training prepared them for several initial efforts focused on the Nashville community and made them ideal reinforcements when attacks by white mobs decimated the ranks of the first Freedom Riders in 1961. This resource is part of the American Experience: Freedom Riders Collection.
  • Freedom Riders: Freedom Riders Create Change
    • In this video segment adapted from American Experience: “Freedom Riders,” view newsreel footage, archival photos, and interviews to explore how the Freedom Rides of 1961 brought about the end of racial segregation in interstate transportation. The Freedom Riders, aware that their nonviolent protest would elicit violence from some Southerners attempting to enforce local segregation laws, were determined to continue their protest even in the face of possible arrest. A series of events involving the U.S. attorney general, a U.S. senator, the governor of Mississippi, and a federal agency put an end to discriminatory practices in public transportation. This initial, unambiguous victory for the Civil Rights Movement paved the way for further progress. This resource is part of the American Experience: Freedom Riders Collection.
  • Boston Desegregation Controversy
    • Citizens demonstrate at Boston’s City Hall Plaza against the mandatory busing of students to schools outside of their neighborhoods in this 1974 archival news footage from WGBH: “Evening Compass.” The demonstrators, made up of parents and children and led by local politicians, hold signs targeting Senators Edward Kennedy and Edward Brooke and Judge W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. for their support of this policy, which was designed to desegregate schools. While protestors indicate that previous demonstrations were peaceful, the footage shows this demonstration ending with shouting, thrown objects, and property damage to a government building.
  • Colonel Stone Johnson
    • During the Civil Rights Movement, black civil rights activists often risked their lives to promote racial equality. Colonel Stone Johnson, shown in this interview, was among those who offered protection and tried to prevent violence against African Americans, which ranged from beatings to bombings.
  • Implementing Brown
    • This video segment reveals conflicting views of President Eisenhower’s response to the Brown v. Board of Education ruling against segregated schools. NAACP attorney Constance Baker Motley argues that the president should have done more to enforce the ruling. Former attorney general Herbert Brownell and his deputy, William Rogers, explain the president’s cautious response
  • James Farmer and the Freedom Rides
    • This interview with civil rights leader James Farmer recalls the Freedom Rides of 1961, when an interracial group rode two buses through the South to test enforcement of recent Supreme Court rulings that banned segregated seating on interstate buses and trains. More than 300 Freedom Riders were arrested and jailed before the Interstate Commerce Commission enforced the rulings.

It is key that students understand that every way of life comes at some cost, whether that be economic, ecological, or societal. By understanding sustainability, students will begin to understand why these systems of life exist, how they interplay with one another on various communal levels, and why or why not these lifeways are in need of reevaluation.

  • Slash and Burn: Why Amazonian Farmers Use Fire (and other videos in this series) (1) (2) (3) (4)
    • This is a set of four videos that help explain why some Amazonian cultures utilize fire in their agricultural and general life practices, and then explores why this practice may or may not be sustainable locally and globally.
  • Food Insecurity, How it Happens, and What You Can Do
    • This resource explores in global terms why some populations deal with food insecurity, while others do not, and provides some possible solutions that might help.
  • Feeding Nine Billion Video 1: Introducing Solutions to the Global Food Crisis by Dr. Evan Fraser
    • This video explores the social, technological and environmental reasons behind the global food crisis, and how all of these factors interact on a global level.
  • Play Pumps: National Geographic, and Frontline World Troubled Waters Takes a Second Look at PlayPumps
    • Summary of Projects
    • Frontline Investigates
      • This set of videos highlights an attempt to help solve the issue of unclean/scarce water in parts of southern Africa, and then understanding why this global aid was not a sustainable solution.
  • Applied Anthropology: Ikal Angelei Dam Project (Kenya)
    • This is a wonderful example of anthropology at work, showing how an anthropologist worked together with corporations, governments and individual communities to protect a local water source from being removed. Furthermore, this video highlights how people on a corporate, national and local level can affect each other.
  • Resiliency Among the Salmon People
    • Resiliency Among the Salmon People (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • Yukon Kings (short film)
      • This is a brief lesson plan centered around a short film. “Students watch a short film, Yukon Kings by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, about the challenges facing Ray Waska, a Yupi’k fisherman, and his community as the fish stocks of Alaska’s Yukon Delta diminish.  In this lesson, students learn about how the cultural traditions of Native Alaskans are linked with local ecosystems. Students debate the need to respect and protect tradition vs. accepting change. Reflective writing prompts are also included for students to demonstrate their understanding of the story.”
  • A Vanishing Island (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • A Vanishing Island (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • Isle de Jean Charles | Global Oneness Project
      • “Students watch a 9-minute film, Isle de Jean Charles by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, about a tiny island community off the Louisiana coast. The film explores the changes taking place on the island through the lives of two residents whose families are facing a future where rising seas, coastal erosion, and storms are threatening to wash their home away. In this lesson, students discuss the effects of hurricanes and the advantages and disadvantages for living near the coast. Students will participate in classroom discussions and explore the themes of cultural displacement and the effects of environmental change. Reflective writing prompts are also included for students to demonstrate their understanding of the story.”
  • The Value of Ancient Traditions | Lesson Plan | Global Oneness Project
    • The Value of Ancient Traditions | Lesson Plan | Global Oneness Project
    • Drokpa: The Nomadic Mountain People of Tibet by Diane Barker | Global Oneness Project
      • “Photographer Diane Barker’s body of work titled, “Drokpa: The Nomadic Mountain People of Tibet,” distills more than a decade of travel to the Tibetan Plateau. From 2000 to the present, Barker has documented the nomads in the region and threats to their traditional lifestyle. Modern Chinese culture, including cell phones and other technology, continues to encroach into the lives of nomads, as the Chinese government enacts its plan to relocate nomads from high-altitude pasturelands into government housing. In classroom discussion, students examine specific aspects of nomadic life and explore what could be lost as ancient cultures disappear.”

 

A few examples of these include the following:

  • Living with Less Water (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • Living with Less Water (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • When a Town Runs Dry | Global Oneness Project
      • “This short film, When a Town Runs Dry, documents life in Stratford, a small town in California’s Central Valley. A farming community for over a hundred years, Stratford is suffering from a drought that is severely impacting the community, land, and residents’ daily lives. Currently in its sixth year of drought, the Central Valley is home to the country’s most productive agricultural region, containing more than half of all the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States. Some farmers are selling land and cutting back on farmed acreage, while others dig deeper wells to maintain crop yields. Groundwater in the area has significantly diminished due to over-use and according to the Los Angeles Times, the water table below Stratford fell 100 feet in two years. Residents are living without running water. This film explores the drought through the eyes of three Stratford residents—a farmer, a shopkeeper, and a high school football coach. All three men prepare for an uncertain future. In the accompanying lesson, students explore the effects of environmental
  • Fire hunting in Australia
  • Slash and burn agricultural practices in the Amazonian basin

 

The movement and migration of human groups is a topic that is central to the field of anthropology. By understanding the way and the reason that human groups resettle (and have throughout time), we can begin to comprehend how cultural changes take place and predict the reasons that mass migrations take place. 

  • A Story of Us Podcast: Migration Series: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
    • This is a series of short podcasts (most are around 15 mins) centered around the ways that human groups migrate today, and also discusses archaeological evidence for how human groups have traveled in the past.
  • Modern humans may have interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovans
    • While migration has increased in the last one hundred years or so, human migration is not a new phenomenon. Even when morphologically different groups of archaic humans could still be differentiated, we see examples of mobility and interaction. Modern humans even likely bred with with Neandertals and Denisovans once they migrated into new regions! Check out this video to learn more

 

  • Exploring Cultural Sustainability (Lesson Plan Resource) | Global Oneness Project
    • Exploring Cultural Sustainability (Lesson Plan Resource) | Global Oneness Project
    • Mongolia’s Nomads by Taylor Weidman | Photo Essay | Global Oneness Project
      • “Social changes can be affected by a variety of influences, including exposure to other cultures, available resources, and environmental conditions. Some changes may impact the sustainability of a society and the environment on which it depends. Students view a photo essay, “Mongolia’s Nomads,” by Taylor Weidman, which highlights Mongolian pastoral herders, one of the world’s last remaining nomadic cultures. In this lesson, students explore the concept of cultural sustainability and the nomadic way of life of present-day Mongolian pastoral herders. Reflective writing prompts are also included for students to demonstrate their understanding of the story.”

 

  • Ancient and Modern Worlds (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • Ancient and Modern Worlds (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • A Thousand Suns (short film) | Global Oneness Project
      • “In an age of rising populations and climate change, global food security is a major concern. New farming technologies and market-based agriculture provide one answer while traditional farming practices and natural resource management provide another. Students watch the film,  A Thousand Suns by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, about the traditional farmers of the African Rift Valley and their unique world-view. In this lesson, students examine the impacts of globalization and climate change on traditional farming in the Gamo Highlands of the Rift Valley. Students identify ways that Gamo farming is linked to a unique holistic worldview and debate whether globalization is having a positive or negative impact on Gamo culture. Reflective writing prompts are also included for students to demonstrate their understanding of the story.”
  • Deconstructing Consumerism (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • Deconstructing Consumerism (Lesson Plan) | Global Oneness Project
    • What Would it Look Like (short film) | Global Oneness Project
      • “Increased global consumerism has vast environmental, economic, and social repercussions. Thought leaders across the globe investigate the unsustainable cultural values at the root of modern consumption. Students watch a 25-minute film, What Would It Look Like? by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, about the environmental, economic, and social impacts of global consumerism. In this lesson, students discuss what motivates their own consumer choices as well as the effects of consumerism on the global economy. Reflective writing prompts are also included for students to demonstrate their understanding of the story.”
  • The Value of Ancient Traditions | Lesson Plan | Global Oneness Project
    • The Value of Ancient Traditions | Lesson Plan | Global Oneness Project
    • Drokpa: The Nomadic Mountain People of Tibet by Diane Barker | Global Oneness Project
      • “Photographer Diane Barker’s body of work titled, “Drokpa: The Nomadic Mountain People of Tibet,” distills more than a decade of travel to the Tibetan Plateau. From 2000 to the present, Barker has documented the nomads in the region and threats to their traditional lifestyle. Modern Chinese culture, including cell phones and other technology, continues to encroach into the lives of nomads, as the Chinese government enacts its plan to relocate nomads from high-altitude pasturelands into government housing. In classroom discussion, students examine specific aspects of nomadic life and explore what could be lost as ancient cultures disappear.”
  • Play Pumps: National Geographic
    • What happens when you don’t have modern water distribution systems that provide most people in America with clean water? This video shows the things some people have to go through in order to have clean water Creativity and playfulness ends up being a part of the solution!
  • Frontline World Troubled Waters Takes a Second Look at PlayPumps
    • Years ago, Frontline Correspondent Amy Costello, reported on a new kind of water pump being developed in southern Africa. The PlayPump operated like a merry-go-round, with the added benefit of pumping clean water into a tower that the whole village could access. The original report attracted international investors and celebrities such as President Bill Clinton and rap star Jay- Z. PlayPumps started rolling out to villages throughout southern Africa. But, when Costello returned for a follow-up report, she found a less promising scene.