Facing Today Features
Facing Today helps educators connect the study of history to issues in our world today. We select current websites, articles, films and blogs that reflect universal themes, such as identity, membership and participation, represented in our scope and sequence. Each media resource is linked to related Facing History materials, including study guides, videos and lessons. A Feature provides an in-depth exploration of a current event.
- October 10, 2008One of the many ways citizens come in contact with government is through exercising their right to vote. Helping students understand the election process is one way to help them make informed choices as future voters.
- September 12, 2008A recent article in the Philadelphia Daily News on September 9, 2008 describes the brutal attack on a lab technician named Dewayne Taylor on his way home after midnight on a subway train as he slept in his seat.
- July 15, 2008Below are a collection of resources to help frame difficult discussions with students about the genocide and the response of leaders and ordinary people across the world. Facing History Resources: Darfur Now and Not On Our Watch Unit Learn more about Darfur and help students connect this material with their own experiences.
- July 14, 2008(CNN, July, 14, 2008) Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), indicted Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir of genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in contributing to the death and displacement of millions of civilians in Darfur.
- June 6, 2008Recent violence against immigrants in South Africa highlights how the treatment of immigrants is an issue that affects nations around the globe. The Economist article, "Give them a better life" describes the current situation in South Africa.
- June 6, 2008On June 5, 2008, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, issued a statement to the United Nations Security Council accusing the Sudanese government of contributing to acts of genocide.
- June 2, 2008(May 29, 2008) The Boston Globe article,"Turkish historian to study genocide," announces the appointment of Taner Akcam as chairman of Armenian Genocide studies at Clark University. Akcam is the author of A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility (2006).
- May 14, 2008While we mark 63 years since concentration camps were liberated, we also note that the study and commemoration of the Holocaust is a contemporary phenomenon. Our understanding of the Holocaust continues to deepen as we discover new documents and artifacts.
- April 22, 2008Making Connections: Civic Education explores the role of schools in preparing students for their role as democratic citizens in an increasingly diverse, global society.1 Introduction "Can education help others to think for themselves and make their own decisions?" Facing History student Jamarr Johnson asked this question in a speech he presented at a Facing History and Ourselves event.
- April 22, 2008Cartoons: Tolerance and Freedom of Speech The recent controversy over cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Mohammed has prompted serious questions about the responsibilities that come with freedom of the press and how particular religious beliefs should be respected within democratic, pluralistic societies.
- April 18, 2008Some people believe recent events in Jena, Louisiana may become the spark for a new civil rights movement. In Jena thousands of protesters arrived to protest the treatment of six black teenagers charged with assaulting a white schoolmate.
- April 18, 2008According to the International Association of Genocide Scholars, "In the 20th century, genocides and state mass murder have killed more people than have all wars." The month of April is a particularly relevant time to reflect on the history of genocide, as well as current efforts to stop and prevent genocide.
- March 30, 2008During April 2004, commemorations across the world marked the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide in which more than 800,000 Tutsis and some Hutus were slaughtered in a bloody 100-day rampage. The commemorations were marked by solemn pledges from diplomats and human rights activists to never allow another "Rwanda.
- March 30, 2008On September 9, 2004, ten days after a United Nations resolution calling for the Sudanese government to disarm militias and restore the peace in Darfur expired, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell became the first government leader to publicly declare that what was happening there was indeed genocide.
- March 17, 2008The readings that follow are designed to deepen thinking and stimulate discussion about the horrific events of September 11, 2001 and the implications for our students, our lessons, our schools and our communities.
