What I've Learned Along the Way
After 25 years of distinguished service to our organization, Dr. Karen Murphy, Facing History’s Director of International Strategy, will join our partner organization High Resolves as CEO of an initiative called The Human Responsibility Accelerator. In this article, we invited Karen to share a bit of what she has learned in more than two decades at Facing History.
![Photo of Dr. Karen Murphy teaching](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/karen_murphy_teaching_hands_raised.jpeg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=0XtPSmhB)
The 1968 East LA School Walkouts
Students learn about education, identity, and activism through an exploration of the East Los Angeles school walkouts, when thousands of students protested unequal educational opportunities for Mexican American students.
![John Ortiz, Mexican-American student leader at James A. Garfield High School, addressing assembled students during a walkout.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1968_LAStudentWalkoutatGarfieldHigh_FH2169821.jpg?h=61a57aa7&itok=I40HzuJ5)
What Does It Mean “To Kill a Mockingbird”?
Facing History shares a list of key components for a reflective classroom and provides educators with a number of resources to guide them in building their own.
![Gregory Peck (left) and Brock Peters in a pivotal scene from the 1962 film "To Kill a Mockingbird."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/atticus_and_tom_robinson_in_court.gif?h=fa747474&itok=gA60t0Vr)
January 6th
The January 6th investigation has deepened widespread concerns about rising threats of fascism, racism, white nationalism, and other phenomena that undermine justice for all. But in analyses that focus primarily on the role of white nationalism fomented within media echo chambers, for example, commentators have overlooked what may be a more pervasive parallel phenomenon: the widespread crisis of faith in U.S. media and institutions at large.
![Photo of Two People Watching the News on TV](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/two_people_watch_news_tv.jpeg?h=140710cd&itok=9u-6fk5n)
California Grape Workers’ Strike: 1965–66
Students explore the first year of the Delano grape strike, when grape workers in California's San Joaquin Valley went on strike to demand higher wages and better work conditions.
![Dolores Huerta and others hold up "Huelga" signs as part of the grape strike.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1965_GrapeStrikeDelanoCalifornia_FH2121754.jpg?h=ae158943&itok=JphiCAwe)
Teaching about the January 6 Insurrection and its Impact on US Democracy
The January 6 insurrection remains important to understand and discuss, as well as the larger questions it raises about the state of US democracy. A recent poll found that 52% of young people between 18 and 29 believe that either US democracy is "in trouble" or "failed," while only 7% agree that it is "healthy," further highlighting the need to teach students about democratic institutions.
![Black and white photo of the US State House](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/b%26w_photo_us_state_house.png?h=a6c55029&itok=OVK2Jup-)
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown
Students explore the potential negative impact of images through the social media protest #IfTheyGunnedMeDown and develop a decision-making process for choosing imagery to represent controversial events.
![National President of Black Lawyers for Justice, carries a picture of Michael Brown as he leads demonstrators on a march.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2014_CurfewSetAfterViolentProtestsFlareAmidOverMichaelBrownShooting_FH2173438.jpg?h=24afd704&itok=E8IzzWCR)
The Impact of Identity
Students explore how identity impacts our responses to other people and events by examining a cartoon and analyzing an opinion poll from a week after Ferguson.
![Students learning in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2019_SL_190522_0613_FH2101388.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=_mOwH2tA)
The Power of Images
Students examine how identity and biases can impact how individuals interpret images and experience the challenge of selecting images to represent news events, particularly connected to sensitive issues.
![People hold hands in prayer in the parking lot of convenience store that was looted and burned after Michael Brown was shot by police in Ferguson, Mo.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2014_LivinginFerguson_FH230964.jpg?h=8b6300e7&itok=E_y1giir)
The Challenge of Confirmation Bias
Students define confirmation bias and examine why people sometimes maintain their beliefs in the face of information that contradicts their understanding.
![Attentive uniformed students sit at their desks.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/High_school_students_FH137506.jpg?h=1116cd87&itok=4mkiOSJA)
A Contested History
Students consider how US history books, films, and other works of popular culture have misrepresented the history of the Reconstruction era.
![A portrait of W.E.B. Du Bois, head-and-shoulders, facing slightly right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a53178u.jpg?h=87584735&itok=bgkKYE0Q)