National Parks in a Comparative Perspective
"Grand Canyon National Park, a free government service" (1938) poster by Chester Don Powell is public domain
Resource Description
This module invites a comparative and global emphasis in a study of national parks in USA and India. The universal quest for conservation and preservation varies in its motivation and is inevitably influenced by local histories and culture. The two sections of the module focused on the United States and India respectively bring the separate trajectories in view. In bringing a critical perspective on analyzing national parks, the module will not only look at aspirations for preserving heritage, but also see the parks as geographical and social spaces with conflicts. Conflicts between communities and flora and fauna will be a primary theme of analysis.
Learn moreOchre
Credit: Ochre pigments and paint additives and resins at Cornelison and Sons, London by Heather C. McCune Bruhn, 2014., licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Resource Description
Ochre, which is essentially rust (iron oxide), is humankind's first pigment, and one of the most plentiful sources of color on earth. Ranging from red to orange, yellow, brown and even violet depending on trace minerals and moisture levels, it is extremely stable and fairly non-reactive. It can be prepared very easily (colored rocks and soil can be crushed, washed, and mixed with a binder to make paint), and was first used by humankind around 100,000 years ago. It is still in use today. This module introduces ochre pigment and explores its use in three case studies: Blombos Cave in South Africa, in Italian Renaissance frescoes, and in environmental cleanup.
Learn morePolitical Asylum: An Introduction from an Arts & Humanities Perspective
Credit: City of Asylum by Jutta Gsoels-Lorensen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Resource Description
This module, suited for a General Education course, is conceived as a week-long introduction to the legal institution of political asylum through various forms of cultural expression, including refugee writing, documentaries, and visual art.
Approaching the theory and practice of international protection through the lens of narrative and narrative acts, this unit provides teaching materials that prompt students to consider the workings of “story” in a variety of contexts, ranging from the aesthetic to the legal; the therapeutic to the political. Designed for active learning, the enclosed activities seek to create space for engaged classroom debate through guided textual analysis, media criticism, (creative) writing prompts, and cross-disciplinary forms of “reading.” Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives will serve as the primary class text. Students will also be introduced to Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, a non-profit, residency program for writers facing persecution in their countries.
Learn moreReading Black Lives Matter
Credit: Portland, Oregon during George Floyd protests, 2020 by Another Believer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Resource Description
This module, intended for use in introductory humanities courses, will be an interdisciplinary, comparative analysis of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Students will compare/contrast popular narratives about BLM with stated goals of movement participants. They will also consider the place of BLM in larger historical narratives. Students will be encouraged to move beyond initial assumptions, and instead ask the questions that humanist scholars ask of such texts and events. In the process, students will:
- gain a more scholarly understanding of the goals, methods, organizational and social philosophy, complexity, and identity of BLM;
- understand the place of BLM alongside other civil rights movements in the post-Civil War era; and
- better understand the complex relationship between social movements and public opinion.
Roger Casement, the International Rubber Trade, and Human Rights (1901-1916)
Credit: Sir Roger David Casement
(1864-1916), Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons
Resource Description
Suitable for introductory or survey courses in the humanities, this module focuses on the last fifteen years of the life of the diplomat and human rights advocate Roger Casement (1864-1916), which included his investigation of abusive practices on the rubber plantations of the Congo Free State and in the Putumayo District of the Amazon, as well as involvement with the Irish independence struggle. Because of the connection to the international rubber trade, the final years of Casement’s life illuminate the connections between colonialism, extraction, labor exploitation, and questions of human rights. The public revelation of Casement’s homosexuality in his conviction for treason by the British enables conversation about the history of gay rights in relation to these topics.
Learn moreSouth Asian Modernity and Global Modernism
Credit: Village Music, 1926-27 by Abanindranath Tagore is Public Domain
Resource Description
South Asian Modernity and Global Modernism is designed to serve as a learning module to address how South Asians may have understood the concept of modernity during and after the British raj. This is indeed a very broad topic, and the module readings address it in a selective manner, starting with a brief history of the word “modern” in European discourse of the eighteenth century and then addressing writings of selected South Asian thinkers as they adapted many of the characteristics of modernity in their own writings.
The contents of this module can be taught in a week of class time.
Learn moreSugar and Servitude: The Taste of Color
Credit: Kara Walker's "A Subtlety" by metacynic is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Resource Description
This module provides resources for teaching about the artistic practice of Kara E. Walker and its interrogation of whiteness and race. Materials also support teaching an overview of the history of the production, consumption, and meanings of sugar, particularly as that history has contributed to the Transatlantic slave trade and continues to depend upon coercive labor practices in the U.S. and globally. Included is a list of artworks produced by Walker that touch specifically on sugar and links to videos of the artist describing aspects of her practice; academic and literary texts that can inform students’ ability to read Walker’s complex visual texts; discussion questions and classroom activities to further their engagement with the material; and ideas for culminating projects.
Learn moreTelling Our Migration Stories in Language Classrooms
Image credit: "Migratory Birds" by Didgeman is free to use (Pixabay)
Resource Description
Originally conceived for language learning classes, this 50-minute lesson and accompanying homework guides students (and teachers) towards understanding their own journeys into the present. This OER integrates reflection, discussion, and creation through multiple modes of perception (i.e., visual, auditory) and modalities (e.g., writing, speaking, and listening) and can be modified for a broad array of grammar features (e.g., case, verb conjugation, locational prepositions, expressing emotion) and target skills (e.g., pronunciation, listening comprehension), adjustable for a range of proficiencies. The lesson culminates in students creating a recording of their own migration story and uploading it into a public digital library. This OER fosters appreciation for others’ stories through personal reflections on our own, all while fusing digital humanities and language learning.
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