The United States is no stranger to strange lands. From its founding as a British colony to its settlement of the West, America is rooted in a tradition of exploration, conquest, and opportunism. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marked a new era in American expansion. A growing US economy was hungry for more resources and new markets. Politicians pressured the government to protect and promote American interests worldwide. An expanding population was redefining American society. Each of these factors contributed to the age of American imperialism—an era of unprecedented territorial and political growth and cultural development. Following the Spanish-American War of 1898, the US emerged as a formidable world power with territories across the Pacific and Caribbean. Of course, these new borders came with growing pains. As US imperialists insisted that the country had a responsibility to civilize "inferior" peoples, opponents lobbied on behalf of the colonies, insisting that imperialism contradicted the nation's founding principles of sovereignty, equality, and democracy.

Who was Christopher Columbus? In this video, Kim explores Columbus's background, his search for royal patronage, and his first voyage in 1492.

Columbus's voyage connected the Americas, Europe, and Africa in a web of exchange that transformed the environments of the Old World and the New World.

In this video, Kim discusses how mutual misunderstandings between Europeans and Native Americans often defined the early years of interaction and trade as each group sought to make sense of the other.

When Columbus arrived in the Caribbean, he met the Taino people. In this video, Kim explores the consequences of Columbus's voyage for the Taino people, as well as the changes wrought in Europe by Spain's New World exploits.

Conversations with History host Harry Kreisler welcomes Walter Russell Mead of the Council on Foreign Relations for a discussion of the Anglo American maritime system—its origins, development, and impact on the world. The conversation touches on the unique synergy between Protestant religion and capitalism, the consolidation of Anglo American power in the process of transforming the international system, the importance of culture in international politics, and the need for a dialogue of civilizations in the 21st century. (57 minutes)

Critical Epistemologies of Global Politics combines social science and cultural studies approaches to IR, showing why contemporary Border Studies needs to be trans-disciplinary if it is to avoid reproducing the epistemological and political order that has led to contemporary global crises like the rise of ISIS, global migration, or increasing contestations of the State form as such. The volume offers a critical epistemology of global politics and proposes an enriched vision of borders, both analytically and politically, that not only seeks to understand but also to reshape and expand the meanings and consequences of IR.

In this unit, you will explore globalization and development and its effects on indigenous peoples. Modern economic and political development is driven by the assumption that the results will be benefical for all people; however, cultural differences are not taken into consideration, leading often to the destruction of indigenous cultures. Understanding the context of modern development students become versant in the current debate about globalization.

By the end of the unit, you should be able to answer the following questions:

What is globalization?

How did the modern era of globalization develop?

What is the relationship between culture and globalization?

Students will analyze how a portrait reflects the events and trends of its time and then create a portrait of a public female figure today.

El chupacabra is an urban legend sourced from Puerto Rico that has been rumored to roam the island since the 1970s. But upon further inspection of these legends, where does el chupacabra actually come from? When was he first conceived in the Puerto Rican cultural imaginary? This audio short examines the lore of el chupacabra and interprets its symbolism amidst a fraught historical narrative.

Written & edited by May Santiago
Audio recordings & sound design by May Santiago

Opening audio is “Goatsucker” by The Killers, courtesy of Gordy, The Victims Fanclub & Island Records.
Bomba audio in Loíza, Puerto Rico from April 27, 2021 courtesy of Taino Vision LLC.
Archival audio of Madelyne Tolentino’s interview with Carmen Jovet courtesy of Borinken TV.

England didn't start its first successful colony in North America until 1607, more than 100 years after Columbus arrived in the New World. In this video, Kim discusses the problems that prevented England from following in Spain's footsteps, including struggles for the throne, war in Ireland, and economic depression.

The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

In our lives, we are constantly telling stories to ourselves and to others in an attempt to both understand our experiences and present our best selves to others.  But how do we tell a story about ourselves that is both true and positive? How do we hold ourselves up in the best possible light, while still being honest about our struggles and our flaws? Students will explore ways of interpreting and portraying personal experiences.  They'll read Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart , analyzing the text through the eyes of one character. They'll get to know that character's flaws and strengths, and they'll tell part of the story from that character's perspective, doing their best to tell an honest tale that presents their character's best side. Then they'll explore their own stories, crafting a personal narrative about an important moment of learning in his or her life.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart , viewing the events and conflicts of the novel through the eyes of one of the central characters.
Students write a two-part narrative project: one narrative told through their character’s perspective and one personal narrative about an incident in their own life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do our conflicts shape and show our character?
How can we tell a story about ourselves that’s both honest and positive?
How do definitions of justice change depending on the culture you live in?
What are ways individuals can react to a changing world? To a community that doesn’t accept us?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students will begin to learn how to use their digital course. How can this technology help them as a learner this year? How can they take advantage of the possibilities it offers?

How do we decide what’s “fair”? In this lesson, students will think about what they’ve learned so far about Umuofian justice, and about whether they (and their characters) agree with the systems that exist. They’ll also prepare for the next lesson’s in-class discussion.

In the 1600s, French and Dutch settlers in North America took a very different approach to colonization than their English or Spanish counterparts. In this video, Kim examines the trading relationships that French and Dutch settlers established with Native Americans in North America and how colonial goals affected patterns of settlement.

This course explores stereotypes associated with Asian women in colonial, nationalist, state-authoritarian, and global/diasporic narratives about gender and power. Students will read ethnography, cultural studies, and history, and view films to examine the politics and circumstances that create and perpetuate the representation of Asian women as dragon ladies, lotus blossoms, despotic tyrants, desexualized servants, and docile subordinates. Students are introduced to the debates about Orientalism, gender, and power.

American folklore is full of stories drawn from settler-colonial histories. Within that broad arena, tales of paranormal violence, battles with Indigenous ghosts, and “demonic” Natives continue to be popular story devices even today. These stories thus serve as effective tools for promoting certain ideas about Indigenous peoples, their resistance to colonial conquest, and their place in modern life. This episode takes a look at some of the first instances of authors using the trope of the “Native Burial Ground” in their fictional horror stories. Unsurprisingly, these tales of woe have real-life origins, collaborators, and consequences.

Music:
Holizna Radio, “I Love Myself More Than Anyone Else”

Sound Bites:
Horror Studio 1, episode: “3 TRUE SCARY Native American/Indian Burial Ground Ghost Stories”
Exploring With Cody, episode: “HAUNTED INDIAN BURIAL GROUNDS SWAMP AT NIGHT!”
Moe Sargi, “SOMETHING GRABBED ME IN THE HAUNTED NATIVE BURIAL GROUND ft OMARGOSHTV”

Special thank you to Horror Studio, Exploring with Cody, and Moe Sargi for allowing me to include some of their audio in this episode. Thank you, too, to Holizna Radio for graciously letting me use some of his wonderful music for this episode.

This entire project is in collaboration with The Pedagogy Lab. I wish to specially thank The Pedagogy Lab for the opportunity to work with them and my wonderful cohort. Lastly, I would also like to thank Ronald Young for his sound and technical expertise putting these episodes together.

Existing textbooks on international relations treat history in a cursory fashion and perpetuate a Euro-centric perspective. This textbook pioneers a new approach by historicizing the material traditionally taught in International Relations courses, and by explicitly focusing on non-European cases, debates and issues.

The volume is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on the international systems that traditionally existed in Europe, East Asia, pre-Columbian Central and South America, Africa and Polynesia. The second part discusses the ways in which these international systems were brought into contact with each other through the agency of Mongols in Central Asia, Arabs in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, Indic and Sinic societies in South East Asia, and the Europeans through their travels and colonial expansion. The concluding section concerns contemporary issues: the processes of decolonization, neo-colonialism and globalization – and their consequences on contemporary society.

History of International Relations provides a unique textbook for undergraduate and graduate students of international relations, and anybody interested in international relations theory, history, and contemporary politics.

This compilation of secondary sources gives an account for how the Transatlantic slave trade became a key economic feature of the Western coast of Africa, as well as an important economic feature of the "New World" colonies. This is a guided reading with questions throughout for the purpose of assessing students' understanding. Student's are prompted to mark the text for key details as they follow along. An excellent source to print or to use digitally.