In class/homework: Microteach the Arab Spring

Date assigned
Monday, April 29


Assignment
Each person in your group will teach the rest of the group about one country in the Arab Spring (December 2010 to present):

#1 - Tunisia
#2 - Egypt
#3 - Yemen
#4 - Bahrain
#5 - Libya
#6 - Syria (If your group only has 5 members, don't do Syria)

While researching your conflict, answer the following questions:

- Why did people begin to protest in your country?  What were the root causes of their discontent?

- How did the government respond to the protests?

- What happened during the course of the protests?

- Have the protests ended?  If not, why not?  If so, how did the protests end?  

- Was the government overthrown?  If so, who took power?  Was dictatorship replaced with democracy?

- What factors helped and/or hurt the effectiveness of the protests?  Did the people have help from other countries?  Did the government have help from other countries?

- What did the protests in your country ultimately accomplish?

- What else still needs to be accomplished in your country?

Prepare a 1-page handout to give each of your group members for them to follow along with while you teach (you will also turn in a copy of this handout). 

Due date

Be prepared to teach your group about your conflict on Thursday, May 2.

Arab Spring resources

Overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring

Timelines
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/02/144489844/timeline-the-major-events-of-the-arab-spring

Explanations
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/02/06/weekinreview/06marsh.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/world/arab-unrest/index.html
http://www.thenation.com/article/158991/arab-spring#
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=45439&cid=31&fromval=1

Tunisia
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-tunisia-act-of-one-fruit-vendor-sparks-wave-of-revolution-through-arab-world/2011/03/16/AFjfsueB_story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/tunisia-arab-spring
http://www.juancole.com/2013/02/tunisias-spring-turmoil.html
http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/tunisia-arab-springs-pivotal-democratic-example
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/20/arab-spring-hits-snags-in-tunisia-where-it-all-began/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/17/tunisia-protests-events-idAFLDE70F08020110117

Egypt
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/egypt/index.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/two-years-after-egypts-arab-spring-revolution-seem-long-time-ago-1070676#
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=259276&sid=2159613
http://www.economist.com/node/21557339
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/03/egypt.protests.timeline/index.html

Libya
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=259276&sid=2163152
http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR34MI2#a=1
http://blog.heritage.org/2012/03/10/the-bitter-fruit-of-libyas-arab-spring/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/22/1009459/-Causes-of-the-Libyan-Revolution-and-the-Arab-Spring
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903461304576524701611118090.html
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/libya-arab-spring-timeline

Bahrain
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/08/20118301473301296.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/19/bahrain-special-case-arab-spring
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/on-the-middle-east/2013/feb/13/middleeast-bahrain-saudi-gulf
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/bahrain-arab-spring
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=259276&sid=2163172

Syria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19331551
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13855203
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=259276&sid=2163169
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/opinion/global/the-dangerous-price-of-ignoring-syria.html?_r=0
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/syria/index.html

Yemen
http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=259276&sid=2163159
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/002021e6-97d4-11e2-97e0-00144feabdc0.html#slide0
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/12/09/after-the-arab-spring-yemen-s-women-are-left-behind.html
http://rt.com/op-edge/saleh-arab-spring-al-qaeda-yemen-886/

Films
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/empire/2011/04/2011421104111964650.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/general/2011/04/20114483425914466.html

Arab Spring slide presentation

The Arab Spring slide presentation from Monday, April 29 is located here.

Homework: Iraq War articles

Date assigned
Thursday, April 25


Assignment
Read three articles about the Iraq War:

1) If America Were Iraq - http://www.juancole.com/2004/09/if-america-were-iraq-what-would-it-be.html

2) What we Did to Iraq - http://www.juancole.com/2013/03/what-we-did-to-iraq.html

3) The Last Letter - http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/the_last_letter_20130318/

Then write a response (2 pages typed and double-spaced OR 3 pages handwritten and single-spaced).  You can answer the following questions directly, or you can use them as a way to guide your thoughts:

1. Has the United States committed war crimes in Iraq?  Explain your answer.
2. Should anyone from the United States government be charged with a crime for the Iraq War?  Explain your answer.
3. Does the United States owe anything to Iraq, considering the state of the country today of 10 years of violence?  If so, what?  If not, why not?
4. Does the US government owe anything to wounded veterans returning from the Iraq War?  Explain your answer.
5. How do we prevent wars like this from happening in the future?

Due date
Monday, April 29

In class: Cost of the Iraq War, "Alive Day Memories"

The Cost of the Iraq War slide presentation from Thursday, April 25 is located here.

The deficit graph is located here.

Alive Day Memories 
Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j08fvUk67U
Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uCvxCZttUY
Part 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCZ4XJx-lJs
Part 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Nsh7gbRuM
Part 5 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgmzatiz6Wc
Part 6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIYUs7LKWCE

Vice documentaries on the Iraq War

Heavy Metal in Baghdad (2007) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTJ1Ki4OM-g

In Saddam's Shadow (2013) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhnNIhV4EsU

Timelines of the Iraq War

Through photos: http://www.cfr.org/iraq/timeline-iraq-war/p18876

Through front page headlines: http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-iraq-war-timeline-as-told-through-front-pages

BBC - very current: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14546763

Think Progress - very detailed: http://thinkprogress.org/report/iraq-timeline/

Space!

Day of Silence: "Stonewall Uprising"

"Stonewall Uprising" (link here) is a fantastic documentary chronicling the "Rosa Parks moment" for the gay rights movement.

In June 1969, it was illegal to be gay in 49 out of 50 states.  In New York, homosexuals were regularly arrested for "lewd immoral conduct" (any homosexual act, basically) and "masquerading" (dressing in drag).  The New York police department raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn, and the customers in the bar (as well as the surrounding neighborhood) rose up to fight against the legal oppression that homosexuals had faced for their entire lives.

I consider this a must-watch movie for anyone interested in civil rights in the United States.

In class: Start of the Iraq War

Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation at the United Nations on February 3, 2003: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuKoSQEpTkQ

President Bush announcing the start of the war on March 19, 2003: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BwxI_l84dc

US military personnel in Baghdad topples a statue of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wss_urnuB7o

George W. Bush's Mission Accomplished speech on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yCsmwoMecU




10 most iconic photos from the Iraq War: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/03/18/the_10_most_iconic_photos_from_iraq_war

Moving images from the Iraq War: http://lightbox.time.com/2013/03/18/a-decade-of-war-in-iraq-the-images-that-moved-them-most/?iid=lb-gal-viewagn#1

Homework: Bush's War

Date assigned
Thursday, April 18


Assignment
Watch Part 1 (link here) and Part 2 (link here) of the PBS Frontline entitled "Bush's War."  Take notes on both parts.  Your notes should focus on five subjects:

1) History of Iraq

2) Motivations of American officials

3) Casus belli (causes of war)

4) Groups inside Iraq

5) What went wrong


Due date
Part 1 notes - Monday, April 22
Part 2 notes - Thursday, April 25

In class: Boston Marathon bombing, Guantanamo Bay, enhanced interrogation techniques, and Abu Ghraib

Democracy Now - http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/16/headlines

1995 Oklahoma City bombing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

Bush administration Justice Department memos authorizing torture - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture_Memos

Abu Ghraib torture scandal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse

Homework: Guantanamo Bay hunger strike

Date assigned
Monday, April 15


Assignment
Read the New York Times op-ed by a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay who is participating in the current hunger strike (link here).  Write a 1-page response (double spaced if typed, single spaced if handwritten).


Due date
Tuesday, April 16

TEST: Review questions

Test review questions can be found here.

In class: 9/11

Just another day - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaVYdg9BoNI&safe=active

The initial bulletins - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP5uIPyYDlQ&safe=active

The south tower attack - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKZqqSI9-s&safe=active

South tower collapse - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYg2krLsPB8&list=PL0E80C8578868041F&safe=active

North tower collapse - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzWwvQfgjrw&list=PL0E80C8578868041F&index=31&safe=active

Aerial photos - http://www.nbcnews.com/id/35330966/ns/us_news-life/#.UV2c8KJg9YU

In class: Judaism 101 slide presentation

The Judaism 101 slide presentation is located here.