|
As historians and teachers, we are all too aware of the notion held by students, policy-makers, and the public that history is something that has little bearing on the present or the future. And while we know these perceptions hold little value, connecting the immediate present and future to the past is something easily lost in our daily classroom interactions. In an effort to shed light on the opportunities to expose vital connections between past and present, the World History Bulletin invites essays (3,000-4,000 words) and lesson plans centered on how we might better and more directly integrate the historical origins of contemporary global issues into our classrooms.
Contributions might focus on the historical origins of global events or processes such as popular uprisings, genocide, global capitalism and economic recession, or climate change. Other possibilities include some of the more cumbersome subjects to broach with high school and undergraduate students, such as how religious, Orientalist, or exceptionalist systems of knowledge and perceptions shape media and popular representations of other cultures and global events. Still others might reconcile how to best integrate contemporary global issues with the standard chronological approach to history. We also invite contributions from the “learning” side of world history: what do a knowledge of world history and an ability to connect it to the present do in terms of student outcomes? How do we teach world history, and how do we measure in meaningful ways the extent of student learning? Do competing systems of knowledge (from Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs) produce different ways of teaching and learning the global past?
If relevant, contributors are encouraged to include in their narratives examples of critical thinking questions, primary source documents, readings, films, news sources, assignments, or any other means of instruction that might further the goal of more closely linking the past and present and assessing students’ understanding of these connections. Please send questions and/or submissions along with a C.V. to Clif Stratton at clif.stratton@wsu.edu by December 15, 2011.
|
