In class/homework: Imagine you're a Nicaraguan

Date assigned
Tuesday, May 28


Assignment
Read "Imagine you were a Nicaraguan..." and write at least 1 page answering the the following prompt:

Imagine you are a Nicaraguan teenager in 1977.  What changes would you like to see happen in your country and why?


Due date
Thursday, May 30, beginning of class

2nd period: Chef Boyardee IS a real person!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_Boiardi

In class: Cuba slide presentations

The Spanish-American War slide presentation can be found here.

The Neocolonialism slide presentation can be found here.

The Cuban Revolution slide presentation can be found here.

The Cascadia embargo activity slide presentation can be found here.

The Cuban embargo slide presentation can be found here.

In class/homework: Cuba, Guatemala, and 3 Castro quotes

Date assigned
Thursday, May 23


Assignment
Read the packet about the US coup in Guatemala in 1954.  Then read the following Fidel Castro quotes:

“If there ever was in the history of humanity an enemy who was truly universal, an enemy whose acts and moves trouble the entire world, threaten the entire world, attack the entire world in any way or another, that real and really universal enemy is precisely Yankee imperialism.”

“The ever more sophisticated weapons piling up in the arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor and the hungry, but they cannot kill ignorance, illness, poverty or hunger.”

“No state should pretend to have the right to starve another people to death.  That is turning a nation into a ghetto and imposing on it a new version of the Holocaust.”

Consider the quotes, the reading on Guatemala, and what we've studied about Cuba.  Write at least a page answering the following question:  Do you agree or disagree with Castro?

Due date

Tuesday, May 28

In class: Cascadia!

Date assigned
Tuesday, May 21


Assignment
Directions for this assignment can be found here.


Due date
Tuesday, May 21, end of class

Homework: Underpinnings of the Cuban Revolution

Date assigned
Thursday, May 16


Assignment
Read 5 documents provided in class:

Neocolonialism
The Platt Amendment
The United Fruit Company in Cuba, by Oscar Zanetti
History Will Absolve Me, by Fidel Castro
Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War, by Che Guevara

Then write at least 2 pages (typed, double spaced, 12 point font) summarizing why the Cuban people revolted against the Batista regime in the 1950s.


Due date
Finish the reading by Monday, May 20
Finish the response by Tuesday, May 21

In class/homework: Intervention in Syria

Date assigned
Thursday, May 9


Assignment
Read 4 articles on the conflict in Syria:

1) "5 reasons Syria's war suddenly seems more dangerous" (link here)
2) "The bloody stalemate persists" (link here)
3) "Syria: Intervention is in Our Interest" (link here)
4) "Syria: Intervention Will Only Make It Worse" (link here)

Write at least two pages on the following questions:

Should the United States get involved in the Syrian conflict?  If not, why not?  If so, should we get involved with the goal of stopping the bloodshed?  Or should we come in specifically on one side or another?  Explain your answer using evidence from the articles.


Due date
Monday, May 13

Extra credit: Women's rights in the Middle East

Date assigned
Thursday, May 9


Assignment
Watch Mona Eltahawy's recent lecture in Portland (link here).  Then read Eltahawy's 2012 article, "Why Do They Hate Us?" about sexism in the Middle East (link here).

Write a response of at least two pages exploring the following questions:

1) What shocked/surprised you the most about Eltahawy's lecture and/or essay?

2) Conservative Muslim men argue that they are following their religion when they make laws restricting women's rights.  At what point does the right to practice religion freely end if it causes the oppression of half the people in a society?

3) What needs to happen to liberate women in the Middle East?  Is it change that must take place from within?  Can it be helped along by other countries and cultures?

4) Is question #3 flawed?  Do women in the Middle East need to be liberated at all?

5) The United States is far from perfect on the issue of women's rights.  Do we have the authority to demand change in other countries regarding their policies toward women?


Due date
Monday, May 20

Homework: Syrian Civil War

Date assigned
Monday, May 6


Assignment
Read "Syria: To oppose or not to oppose?" (link here).  Write at least 5 questions to ask our guest speaker, Leila Piazza, in class on Tuesday, May 7.


Due date
Tuesday, May 7

PROJECT: Choose Your Own Adventure

You may choose one of the following three options for your 4th quarter project:

1) Read a book (approved by me) about the Middle East, Latin America, or China.  Write a paper similar to the one we wrote for the 1st quarter African film project.

2) Make a piece of propaganda (on a topic approved by me) about the Middle East, Latin America, or China, and write a 2-page paper describing the methods you used (just like the 2nd quarter propaganda project).

3) Write a persuasive essay (with a thesis statement approved by me) about a topic of your choosing within the purview or the Middle East, Latin America, or China (similar to the 3rd quarter Israel-Palestine project).


Deadlines for this project

Thursday, May 9 - Tell me which option you're choosing and get your book/topic/thesis statement approved (if you need book suggestions, ask me)

Thursday, May 16 - Turn in an outline of your ideas for your project

Thursday, May 23 - Turn in a rough draft of your project

Thursday, May 30 - Final project is due