This course examines why democracy emerges and survives in some countries rather than in others; how political institutions affect economic development; and how American politics compares to that of other countries. It reviews economic, cultural, and institutional explanations for political outcomes. It also includes case studies of politics in several countries. Assignments include several papers of varying lengths and extensive structured and unstructured class participation.

This course provides a substantive overview of U.S. politics and an introduction to the discipline of political science. It surveys the institutional foundations of U.S. politics as well as the activities of political elites, organizations, and ordinary citizens. It explores the application of general political science concepts and analytic frameworks to specific episodes and phenomena in U.S. politics.

Students will use tables and visualizations of data about geographic mobility to explore rates and patterns of migration within, and immigration to, the United States. Using Census Bureau data tools, students will learn about past reasons for migration and immigration and understand the internal and external stresses of fluctuations in population.

Japanese Americans suffered terrible injustices as a result of governmental policies during World War II that discriminated against them by treating them like enemies. In this lesson, students examine what happened to Japanese Americans during WWII, what constitutional rights were violated in the process, and why such a massive injustice happened.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Civics and Government: 2.4, 3.2, 5.1, 6.4
Economics: 1.4, 4.4
Geography: 5.13
Historical Knowledge: K.14, 1.12, 2.16, 5.22, 6.21
Historical Thinking: 2.21, 2.22, 6.23
Social Science Analysis: 1.19, 2.23, 2.25, 3.18, 3.19, 4.21, 4.24, 5.27, 5.28, 6.24, 6.27, 6.28

Lesson seeds are ideas for the standards that can be used to build a lesson.  Lesson seeds are not meant to be all-inclusive, nor are they substitutes for instruction.  This lesson seed provides a compelling question and a bank of sources to use to drive an inquiry based lesson or a potential Evidence Based Argument Set (EBAS).  When developing lessons from these seeds, teachers must consider the needs of all learners.  Once you have built your lesson from the lesson seed, teachers are encouraged to post the lesson that has emerged from this lesson seed and share with others. Essential Question: How effectively did John Adams respond to domestic and foreign challenges?EL Modifications:Image source: "John Adams" by Gilbert Stuart from the National Gallery of Art at https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.42933.html

This course explores the ideal of social justice. What makes a society just? We will approach this question by studying three opposing theories of justice—utilitarianism, libertarianism, and egalitarian liberalism—each foundational to contemporary political thought and discourse.

This course aims to acquaint students with traditional and contemporary topics in labor economics and to encourage the development of independent research interests. The class provides a systematic development of the theory of labor supply, labor demand, and human capital. Topics covered include wage and employment determination, immigration, unemployment, equalizing differences, among many others. There is a particular emphasis on the interaction between theoretical and empirical modeling.

This course is an introduction to labor economics with an emphasis on applied microeconomic theory and empirical analysis. We are especially interested in the link between research and public policy. Topics to be covered include: labor supply and demand, taxes and transfers, minimum wages, immigration, human capital, education production, inequality, discrimination, unions and strikes, and unemployment.

This website provides the film script, reviews, a discussion forum, and 15 essays on Hasidism.

This 12-day unit focuses on the various experiences of immigrants traveling to the United States. Students will identify a variety of reasons people choose to move to the United States by analyzing a range of texts that detail the individual experiences of immigrants from various parts of the world. Texts and conversation will encompass themes common to the immigrant experience: hope, hardship, and adaptation.

In order to give students a real world application and view of the immigrant experience, they will learn the skills of interview questioning in order to conduct their own interview. Students will use the texts explored in the unit to inform the questions they craft for their interview.

We describe a classroom activity in which students use M&M candies to simulate death and immigration. Students build a mathematical model, usually a linear first order, difference or differential equation, collect data, estimate parameters, and compare their model prediction with their actual data.

In this lesson, students will see how statistical data can tell a larger story, understand numbers in various contexts and explore different points of view in relation to data. They will also consider how—as future voters—they will help determine how the political process can serve everybody.

This course aims to get students thinking about politics and policy as a part of their everyday life. We treat politics as a struggle among competing advocates trying to persuade others to see the world as they do, working within a context that is structured primarily by institutions and cultural ideas. We’ll begin by developing a policymaking framework, understanding ideology, and taking a whirlwind tour of the American political system. Then, we’ll examine six policy issues in depth: health care, gun control, the federal budget, immigration reform, same-sex marriage, and energy and climate change.

Asian American histories or contributions are often left out when students study the development of the nation up to 1850, which could inaccurately lead students to believe that Asian American communities did not exist during this time period. In fact, Asian Americans were here at the formation of the United States. Specifically, Filipino Americans settled in the U.S. as early as 1763, and Filipino sailors had arrived in California as early as 1587. In 1763, Filipino sailors settled in a Louisiana bayou, and became the first Filipino immigrants to settle in the United States, known as “Manilamen.” Along with enslaved people and other people of color, the Filipino immigrants built a small fishing village called Saint Malo. These Manilamen made many contributions to Louisiana and the U.S., including revolutionizing the shrimping industry.

2021 Social Science Standards Integrated with Ethnic Studies:
Geography: 5.13, 8.20
Historical Knowledge: 8.27, 8.28
Historical Thinking: 8.31, 8.32
Social Science Analysis: 4.21, 4.24, 5.26, 5.27, 5.28, 6.24, 6.27,6.28, 7.29, 7.30, 8.36

Everyday we are bombarded with the word "global" and encouraged to see globalization as the quintessential transformation of our age. But what exactly does "globalization" mean? How is it affecting the lives of people around the world, not only in economic, but social and cultural terms? How do contemporary changes compare with those from other historical periods? Are such changes positive, negative or simply inevitable? And, finally, how does the concept of the "global" itself shape our perceptions in ways that both help us understand the contemporary world and potentially distort it? This course begins by offering a brief overview of historical "world systems," including those centered in Asia as well as Europe. It explores the nature of contemporary transformations, including those in economics, media & information technologies, population flows, and consumer habits, not through abstractions but by focusing on the daily lives of people in various parts of the world. This course considers such topics as the day-to-day impact of computers in Silicon Valley and among Tibetan refugees; the dilemmas of factory workers in the US and rural Java; the attractions of Bombay cinema in Nigeria, the making of rap music in Japan, and the cultural complexities of immigrant life in France. This course seeks not only to understand the various forms globalization takes, but to understand its very different impacts world-wide.

Hitherto it had gone by the original Indian name Manna-hatta, or as some still have it, 'The Manhattoes'; but this was now decried as savage and heathenish... At length, when the council was almost in despair, a burgher, remarkable for the size and squareness of his head, proposed that they should call it New-Amsterdam. The proposition took every body by surprise; it was so striking, so apposite, so ingenious. The name was adopted by acclamation, and New-Amsterdam the metropolis was thenceforth called.
—Washington Irving, 1808

In less tongue-in-cheek style, this course examines the evolution of New York City from 1607 to the present. The readings focus on the city's social and physical histories, and the class discussions compare New York's development to patterns in other cities.

This is a problem-based learning project that studies immigration. A driving question, grabber, directions, rubric are provided.

This project requires students to research how immigration affects certain factors of a community.