Contemporary Issues & Project-Based Historical Inquiry

Course Description

This semester-long course is meant for students interested in writing, research, history, literature, film production, theater, humanities (philosophy, sociology, psychology, anthropology, etc) and journalism through a historical lens. Throughout the semester, students develop research projects of their choosing based upon a common theme while at the same time practicing historical thinking skills in the examination of contemporary issues. Students develop a thesis, research and analyze source material, and express this work through a summative final project that is clear, persuasive, and creative.

Grade Level(s): 11th-12th grades

Related Priority Standards (State &/or National): Missouri Learning Standards (6-12)

Disciplinary Tools: 1.1A/B/C/E
Disciplinary Tools: 2.1A
Disciplinary Tools: 5.1C
Key Concepts & Understandings: 1.2A/B/C/D
Key Concepts & Understandings: 1.3A/B/C/D

Essential Questions

For what end(s) should we analyze source materials to inform our perception of contemporary events?
To what extent does the past influence the present?
Is it possible to use historical inquiry to impact the contemporary world?
What is the most effective way to convey historical context and understanding?
In what ways does bias/perspective drive historical narrative?

Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas

One can deconstruct sources of evidence to generate an informed conclusion/construct meaning.
One can independently select, evaluate, and organize varied sources of evidence to generate an informed conclusion/construct meaning.
One can create reasoned arguments using critical thinking, including comparison/contrast, drawing a conclusion, examining cause/effect, and looking at continuity/change over time.
One can generate a plan to take informed action to impact their community and/or participate in the problem-solving process.

Course-Level Scope & Sequence (Units &/or Skills)

Unit 1: Contemporary Issues and Historical Thinking Skills

The class will open the semester by examining relevant contemporary issues while practicing critical inquiry and research on relevant topics. Students will:

Examine research and the role it plays in historical inquiry
Examine various research methodologies
Examine the origin of bias in both contemporary and historical source materials
Research Contemporary Issues through comparative research (American Politics, social history, economics)
Review final project options and criteria inherent to each

Key questions to be explored include:

How can we analyze source materials to inform our perception of contemporary events?
To what extent does the past influence the present?
In what ways does bias/perspective drive historical narrative?

Unit 2: Student-Centered Research

During the second phase of this course, students begin to take ownership of the topics covered and the research they decide to conduct. During this unit, students will create annotated bibliographies specific to their individual or group topic. Students will:

Discuss, select, and debate a common class theme for projects.
Develop and create group/individual essential questions specific to individual research.
Research and analyze contemporary issues in a group setting (Global/Historical Political, Social, Economic Perspectives)

Key questions to be explored include:

What are the advantages of researching through the lens of the theme?
How does a specific claim and acknowledgment of counterclaims impact research?

Unit 3: Project-Based Learning

Unit 3 is dedicated to student work on individual/group projects. The first two units set the foundation for historical inquiry and research skills. In the final phase of this course, students will take the work from Unit 2 and begin to apply it by communicating conclusions and taking informed action. Students will collaborate with others and communicate and critique their conclusions in public venues. Students will:

Conduct and reflect on student self-reflections and self-evaluations and how such practices can impact student work.
Create a series of promotions for the presentation of final projects.
Challenge traditional perspectives and historical narratives regarding contemporary issues.

Key questions to be explored include:

For what end(s) should we analyze source materials to inform our perception of contemporary events?
To what extent does the past influence the present?
Is it possible to use historical inquiry to impact the contemporary world?
What is the most effective way to convey historical context and understanding?
In what ways does bias/perspective drive historical narrative?

Course Resources & Materials

Colonial and Postcolonial Latin America and the Caribbean: Emily Sebastian, ed. The Colonial and Postcolonial Experience New York, NY: Britannica Educational Publishing with Rosen Educational Services, 2017. 254 pp. This volume examines colonial society in Latin America and the Caribbean and its influence on the region today.
Salvador Allende Reader: Chile's Voice of Democracy. Features a substantial biographical introduction on Allende and an extensive chronology and bibliography.
The Chile Reader: History, Culture, Politics (The Latin America Readers). The Chile Reader makes available a rich variety of documents spanning more than five hundred years of Chilean history. Most of the selections are by Chileans; many have never before appeared in English. The history of Chile is rendered from diverse perspectives, including those of Mapuche Indians and Spanish colonists, peasants and aristocrats, feminists and military strongmen, entrepreneurs and workers, and priests and poets. Among the many selections are interviews, travel diaries, letters, diplomatic cables, cartoons, photographs, and song lyrics.
Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Representing Reality is the first book to offer a conceptual overview of documentary filmmaking practice. It addresses numerous social issues and how they are presented to the viewer by means of style, rhetoric, and narrative technique. The volume poses questions about the relationship of the documentary tradition to power, the body, authority, knowledge, and our experience of history.
DVD/Film/Documentary Materials: Salvador Allende. Patricio Guzmán (THE BATTLE OF CHILE) tells Allende's story, from his youth in Valparaiso and his early career, to his presidency of Chile and death during the coup of September 11, 1973.
DVD/Film/Documentary Materials: Nostalgia for the Light. Director Patricio Guzman travels to Chile's Atacama Desert where astronomers examine distant galaxies, archaeologists uncover traces of ancient civilizations, and women dig for the remains of disappeared relatives.
DVD/Film/Documentary Materials: Machuca. Set in Chile, 1973, this is an astonishingly intimate and painful coming-of-age story about a pair of 12-year-old boys from opposite extremes of society who form an unlikely friendship during the last days of President Allende and the first days of Pinochet. The potent events are accompanied by a searingly beautiful soundtrack with heart-stopping beats that propel the drama of the story.
Library Resources