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Instructors of world history can
find rich visual sources for students by accessing several websites created by our
colleagues in the related fields of Anthropology and Archaeology. On February
1, 2008, the American Anthropological Association launched its redesigned
website at http://www.aaanet.org. The new
user-friendly site offers many possibilities for integrating intriguing topics
for historical inquiry as well as timely news updates and articles from
professional publications. A new blog called " In Focus: Reflections on
Anthropology News" should be of interest to both students and instructors
alike who access it. The Archaeological Institute of American has a website at http://www.archaeological.org which
offers a myriad of possibilities for professionals who teach the past each day.
Their publication "Archaeology" has fascinating online features easily
downloaded http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/index.html.
One complex topic which all social
scientists must address is race. Race:
Are We So Different? is a public
education project that combines perspectives from the sciences, history as well as lived experience. An interactive website, http://www.understandingrace.org,
is a wonderful resource for teachers beginning an academic semester or year in
which students from middle school through college will be introduced to
cultures quite different from their own. The program offers three basic
perspectives: that race is a socially constructed concept, that race is not
biological in nature, and that racism can be part of everyday institutional and
private life. After a compelling visual introduction, visitors can choose from
three main sections: History, Human Variation, and Lived Experience. "Race in
the United States" begins with an historical overview on a timeline starting in
1600 in North America through the present day. There is an introductory movie
that answers questions about the origin of racial issues in the United States.
Once the film has been viewed, a return to the menu allows a more in-depth
investigation of specific topics such as "Colonial Authority" http://www.understandingrace.org/history/gov/colonial_authority.html, "The Paradox of Freedom and Slavery" http://www.understandingrace.org/history/gov/paradox.html, or early 20th century "European Immigration and
Defining Whiteness" http://www.understandingrace.org/history/gov/eastern_southern_immigration.html. World history instructors will find many visual and textual
primary sources, quotes and chronology to support many of the analytical
frameworks they employ. "Human Variation" http://www.understandingrace.org/humvar/index.html offers menu selections for students including Race and Human Variation, The
Human Variation, and Only Skin Deep. The last section, Lived Experience, treats
a difficult subject with the question, "Who is White?" and a "Sports Quiz"
which addresses athletic stereotypes. This is a website students will return
to after class is over.
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Musicians at Fiesta San Geronimo, Taos, NM, 1939.
Photograph by John Collier, Jr., courtesy of the Collier Family Collection.
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Another link useful for world
history instruction is the Society for Visual Anthropology http://www.societyforvisualanthropology.org/svawelcome.html, which promotes the study of visual representation and media.
If teachers request documentary projects in world history, students can be
further directed to the Center for Social Media at American University's School
of Communication http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/fair_use for important considerations regarding Fair Use Classroom Tools at http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/fair_use_teaching_tools.
These are only two brief examples
of the opportunities that the American Anthropological Association's website offers
interested historians, so on to the Archaeological Institute of America which
promotes interest in the material record of past societies all readers of World
History Connected teach regularly. Both disciplines support the stated goal of
the AIA that "greater understanding of the past enhances our shared sense of
humanity and enriches our existence."
For 60 years, the AIA has published a popular magazine and
now students can view online content from the current issue at http://www.archaeology.org/. The
May /June 2008 issue contains a story which links a curious crystal skull
reputed to Aztec to the latest installment of the famous film adventure series,
“Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” starring Harrison
Ford once again. Students will want to know the truth and teachers can provide
the details after reading the enlightening article by Jane MacLaren Walsh at http://www.archaeology.org/0805/etc/indy.html.
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The author and Scott Whittaker, director of the Smithsonian's Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Facility, examine the "Mitchell-Hedges Skull." Silicone molds of the skull's carved features were analyzed by SEM for evidence of tool marks. (James Di Loreto/Courtesy Smithsonian Institution)
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A quick click of the mouse on a
featured Interactive Dig can transport those interested 400 miles south of
Cairo and to the City of the Hawk http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/hierakonpolis/index.html or to a Turkish City in the Clouds once visited on command of Louis XIV http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/sagalassos/index.html.
Keep dry, but do visit a Black Sea Shipwreck Project http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/blacksea/index.html or gaze upon the letters http://www.archaeology.org/interactive/johnsons/index.html left behind by prisoners during the American Civil War. All this is sure to
visually instruct even a reluctant learner.
Another feature, "From the Trenches" http://www.archaeology.org/0801/trenches/world.html,
reinforces the geographic instruction so vital for historical understanding.
Granite obelisks from Egypt, DNA analysis of a woman buried in Norway during
the 9th century CE, pale, red-headed Neanderthals, pre-Columbian
ball courts in Puerto Rico, and evidence of 7,700 year-old rice fields in China
are all reported by Samir M. Patel in World Roundup. According to a poll of
2,200 online readers, only 13% would like archaeologists to find the tomb of
Hammurabi, while 47% hope that Alexander the Great will be found. Looking
back to 2007, visitors can ponder the significance of discoveries of South Asian
Paleolithic tools, Roman imperial standards found on the Palatine hill, an
expanded Angkor in Cambodia, or thirteen solar towers in Peru http://www.archaeology.org/0801/topten/.
Even the experts had a difficult time choosing the top ten.
Careers could be launched by
directing students to the Interviews feature. Kathleen Curtin discusses her
own journey to become a historian with a "love of food and cooking" http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/curtin.html,
or the academic insights of Dr. Shelby Brown about teaching following an "Aha
moment in Mexico" as a young woman http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/brown.html.
Other interviews focus on high interest topics such as tracking
hunter-gatherers, http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/sealy.html,
the looting of gladiator sculpture http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/rizzo.html, the Celtic roots of Halloween, http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/butler.html and evidence of documented dog burials on most land
masses—some 4,500 years old http://www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/morey.html.
Encouraging students to see
material remains for themselves at current local exhibitions is facilitated by
the important feature of Events conveniently arranged by regions at http://www.archaeology.org/events/museums.html.
For students anywhere in the nation, permanent and special exhibits are
detailed and described whether in Chicago at the Oriental Institute Museum http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/, in Baltimore at the Walters http://www.thewalters.org/, or in
Virginia at the Mariners'Museum http://www.mariner.org/.
Nothing beats seeing material remains or visual primary sources for yourself,
and this feature makes sure that no one will pass up opportunities they might
regret later.
All in all, our colleagues in Anthropology and Archaeology
have provided world historians and their students much rich online content to
be considered, and virtual treasures to be savored for years to come. Just a
fraction of what is available has been introduced here and will be continued in
a later column.
Biographical Note: Wendy Eagan teaches world history at Walt
Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. |
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