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Shukkeien garden, Hiroshima (2001)

 
HIS 370 / 570, SUMMER WORKSHOP - 
WORLD HISTORY FOR TEACHERS


Student Projects
 

SUMMER 2005


One of the principle assignments for the Summer Workshops requires students to produce a teaching unit / independent study unit web site.

The best representative web sites resulting from this assignment are listed below by author and topic. 

VICKI ALEXANDROU

  • An examination of River Valley Civilizations aimed at middle school student which inquires into the influence of geography on the development of early settlements.

WEB SITE EVALUATION

MICHELLE BURK

  • A unit for high school students nearing the end of a year-long study of world history examines the role of the United Nations and how economic power affects a nation's abilty to influence world systems.

WEB SITE EVALUATION

REBECCA CLARK

  • a student-oriented approach to a comparative examination of the use of propaganda in the Anglo-Boer War (1899 - 1902), the Russo-Japanese War (1904 - 1905) and World War Two illustrating how persuasion is used in times of military conflict to demonize the 'enemy' and inspire nationalism and support within the country.

WEB SITE EVALUATION

BRIAN DeTROW

  • a two week unit for high school students devoted to an examination of trade involving the Soninke of ancient Ghana and the Berbers in Africa illustrating how new methods of transportation affect the accumulation of wealth, religious practices and beliefs.

WEB SITE EVALUATION

BETH FLEMING

  • a look at life-altering experiences through various works of world literature of interest to high school students, including an examination of the effect of colonization on Africa (Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe), arranged marriages in Hindu cultures (Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya), the influence of myth on modern China (The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan); and the influence of political/religious organizations on Middle East culture (My Forbidden Face by Latifa).

WEB SITE EVALUATION

JOAN HOLMES

  • an exploration for high school students of how the insensitive religious and social attitudes of conquerors toward their subjected culture/people encourages an aggressive response and rebellion on the part of the subjected people. Examples examined include Isreal, Haiti, China, and Chechnya.

WEB SITE EVALUATION

BRANDON PARSONS

  • high school students are asked to explore the effects of religion and economics on the process of exploration in the period between 700 CE and 1600 CE as evidenced in three specific settings: China, Islamic Africa and Spain.

WEB SITE EVALUATION

CHAI REDDY

  • a unit for high school students examining the mutual effects of colonization on both cultures involved , examining specifically the impact of the British occupation of 19th century India and the exchange of goods and ideas between the two countries.

WEB SITE EVALUATION

ALISA NAZELLI

NORMA JEAN ARENDT

  • a three-week Junior High School cultural studies unit centering on Celebrations with ties to art and music classes and including a scheduled trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
KYRA BURTON
  • An expansion of the "Middle Ages" to include China in the Eastern Middle Ages, a course of study for advanced high school students.
STEVEN CAWTHON*
  • Latin American Baseball Players in the Big Leagues: a resource-oriented site for an already - established one semester High School level course on Sports History providing links to the rules and history of American baseball, the history of Latin American players on American Major League teams, profiles of both past and current Latin Americans playing in the United States and some of Steve's favorite general internet links.
SUSAN CAPELLO
  • "In The Beginning...": an introductory social studies unit for eighth grade students examining aspects of location, geography and climate using maps, mythology, exploratory field trips -- and lots of critical thinking skills!
ROBERT CORRIGAN*
  • Ancient Mesopotamia -- an introductory unit covering geography, the arts, literature and law for high school courses in World History.
SUSAN E. FOLEY*
  • A "Cultural Diffestival" concludes this series of lessons for seventh graders on Cultural Diffusion; the material explores customs, food and other examples of cultural exchange, especially those involving the societies of the non-western world.
ELIAS GORMAN*
  • a series of lessons on GeoHistory designed for use by High School teachers interested in expanding their teaching into Subsaharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia as part of a World History course of study.  Includes a nice set of related web site links as well.
JOHN LAUFER*
  • An Introduction to World History for high school students "with an emphasis on geography skills, global views, and an exploration of the process of writing a historical account of an event".
ROBERT LAURICH*
  • An inroductory examination of the culture of the Warrior in Japan, Africa and Central America.
WILLIAM MATHEWS*
  • an Introduction to World History unit for eleventh graders which examines the sources of conflict in perceived differences introduced by geography, climate and aspects of culture.
JOSEPH PTAK*
  • A consideration of the use of Indigenous Histories to teach World History, using examples from Mexico and Central America to examine problems and issues involved in doing so.
STACY TUTAK
  • The French Revolution and Its Impact on English Romantic Literature is a unit for high school students which looks specifically at the writings of Wordsworth, Shelley and Byron as reflections of the revolutionary spirit in the romantic literary movement in Great Britian; the unit works to unify history and literature, to move beyond the "simply factual" in search of deeper meanings and insights.
As you look through each web site, keep in mind that these represent STUDENT efforts, not the polished work of professional educators / web site developers (although some obviously had the help and support of knowledgeable resource persons).  Those enrolled in the workshop included experienced classroom teachers interested in beginning to develop an internet expertise, several undergraduates preparing to enter the teaching profession and others with no intention of teaching but sharing an interest in world history and / or the internet.  Not surprisingly the quality of the resulting projects varies considerably in terms both of content and presentation. 

Consulting the evaluations accompanying each web site unit should help make those contemplating the use of any of these efforts in their own classrooms aware of both the positive and negative consequences of doing so.

  • Please feel free to send your comments about individual efforts to the authors where an email address is listed or (concerning the project evaluations themselves) to the site webmaster.  Thanks for your interest in this undertaking!

This site has been prepared by Lee A. Makela (l.makela@csuohio.edu) for the use of students at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, who are enrolled in HIS 370 / 570, Summer Workshop: World History for Teachers, during the Summer Session of the 2004 - 2005 Academic Year; please contact him with any comments.

last updated: July 5, 2005