The plight of refugees has recently received considerable media coverage. Yet, little attention is given to groups who are internally displaced. The purpose of this article is to model one way to teach about internally displaced peoples, drawing on the Rohingya crisis as a specific example. We first provide a background of the Rohingya crisis, and…

In this article, the author recommends websites that include both traditional world history content and sites that focus on contemporary world issues and problems. The first two sites provide an intellectual stage for both world history and global studies. While they don't have lesson plans or links to other sites, they provide an understanding of…

After a disaster, or in the midst of a conflict, the news that finds its way into people's homes has a uniquely powerful effect on their psyche. Vulnerable people are caught in destructive forces beyond their control. The scenes people see are post-apocalyptic. The stories are gripping, spanning themes of luck, loss, hope, love, and wild fear,…

The social studies teachers of North Fork Senior Secondary School (a pseudonym) had organized an activity to raise students' levels of awareness of the tragic events taking place in Darfur by giving them a taste of what it is like to experience a famine. The North Fork "famine" would last from Friday afternoon at 3:00 until Saturday at…

Describes past and present United Nations activities relative to human rights. Examines legislative accomplishments; supervisory activities for existing conventions; and overall monitoring of the human rights situation throughout the world. Calls for strict implementation of standards and full use of existing mechanisms as a means of ensuring…

Provides a curriculum design to take advantage of the high levels of motivation generated by contemporary events in Iran and the Middle East. (Author/IRT)

In this article, the author deplores how the No Child Left Behind Act has caused schools throughout the nation to dramatically reduce the number of curriculum hours for science, art, music, and history and social studies. The author contends that there is nothing wrong with these standards but he observes how teachers are being threatened by NCLB…

Addresses the teaching of world problems to elementary students. Suggests that children already are aware of world problems and the effects on their own lives. Discusses the use of group discussions, role play, and thematic resource folders to help children develop problem-solving skills for dealing with global issues and problems in their own…

Explores the issue of whether evil exists in the world and the best ways to confront it. Claims that the ubiquitousness of evil places a responsibility on social studies educators to address it in the classroom. Offers six suggestions for teaching students about the existence and implications of evil. (CMK)

Historically, the cold war was a watershed that separated two epochs: the time of abnormal, although compelled, partnership of two political systems and the period of peaceful coexistence with barely hidden hostility. The peacefulness of the latter, however elusive and vulnerable it was from time to time, has to be credited to the cold war, a…

The Secretary-General of the United Nations discusses the purposes, principles, fundamental values, and organizational structure of that body. Suggests that educators and students must have a basic understanding of what the United Nations does in order to broaden the public support for this world organization. (KO)

Summarizes the issues and problems involved in the Korean War truce talks that eventually spurred the signing of the armistice agreement on July 27, 1953. Focuses on the reparation of the prisoners of war and the Military Demarcation Line and Demilitarized Zone. (CMK)

One of the many important aspects of the Darfur Atrocities Documentation Project was that it set a precedent for what the U.S. and/or other nations can, and should do, when future cases of potential genocide arise. Far too often in the recent past, the international community (the United Nations, individual governments, many nongovernmental…

Explains the various themes and approaches employed in environmentally oriented World Studies courses for secondary-level students. Presents topic areas of a representative conservation unit and identifies commonly used instructional strategies and experiential methods. Discusses program benefits for students and teachers and includes standards…

Accused of harboring and supporting terrorists, Saddam Hussein's country of Iraq sits at the top of a short list of targets in United States war on terrorism. Iraq is a country about twice the size of the state of Idaho with a population of over 22 million. The country relies on oil for its economic well-being and controls what some estimate to be…