Taxonomy

The Individual and Society is the introductory section of the Facing History Scope and Sequence. The focus for the section is on how both individual and national identities are formed, as well as how these identities influence behavior and decision-making.

The second part focuses on the processes of the national and collective identity that help people connect but also contribute to misunderstanding, stereotyping and conflict. Students learn that the way a nation defines itself affects the choices it makes, including the choice to exclude those who do not fit a nation's concept of itself. They see that membership can be a tool for constructive and destructive purposes.

This segment of the Scope and Sequence examines the primary historical case study of Holocaust and Human Behavior, as well as other instances of intolerance, mass violence and genocide, in each case exploring the small steps which led to these difficult periods in history. By focusing on these histories, students grasp the complexities of the past, while also connecting it to their lives today.

Bias or discrimination against Jews as a group. Includes anti-Judaism.

Art, music, literature, and works about them.

Verbal and physical behaviors.

Individuals or groups who do not help person(s) in need, and why.

The rights and duties of a citizen. Includes patriotism.

The civil rights movement in the United States.

Includes obedience to authority and group conformity; does not include civil disobedience or other resistance to authority.

Includes economic inequities, poverty, the Great Depression, etc.

About education or aspects of education

Includes “race science,” etc.

Includes genocides in our case studies (Holocaust, Armenian Genocide) as well as other genocides.

Bias crimes committed by individuals, not governments; includes lynching.

Includes discrimination against gays and lesbians, and gay identity

In the international sphere.

The Idea Exchange/Forum area provides an online discussion space to share thoughts, experiences and resources with other Facing History and Ourselves educators. Idea Exchange Forums are for Facing History Educators and those currently involved in a Facing History Institute or Online Course.

How an individual sees himself or herself, as well as how s/he is perceived by others.

The movement of people across geographic locations.

Includes legal issues as well as the concept of justice.

Includes individual and collective memory of historical events, and monuments.

About the relationship of groups or individuals to the society around them

Emphasis of a national culture or interest above that of other groups.

Peaceful resistance to oppression or aggression.

Spreading of ideas, allegations, or rumors to further one’s cause or damage another cause, particularly from a government.

Prejudice or discrimination based on perception of inferiority or superiority of different groups of people. About human behavior, not racial categories (see eugenics).

Societies (TRC, etc.) as well as individual forgiveness.

People who flee a government or other power to escape persecution; Includes people left stateless by war or genocide.

How religion influences human behavior.

Extraordinary actions in times of conflict, including Righteous Gentiles, Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, and other individual or organized actions

Includes genetics, forced sterilization, and other science issues.

Authoritarian, dictatorial, or coercive governments.

People who choose to take positive action in the face of injustice in society or in situations where individuals need assistance.

Includes individual and group behavior; does not include military actions.

Military actions.

As students confront the terrible human atrocities of the Holocaust, and other historical case studies, they explore the meaning of concepts such as guilt, responsibility, and judgment—and what those concepts mean in our world today. Students also discover that one way of taking responsibility for the past is to preserve its memory. They explore the importance of monuments and memorials as communal gestures of remembering, of acknowledging injustice, and of honoring individuals and groups who have suffered.

This section focuses on how understanding the past can connect with the issues of today. Contemporary stories show how history is made every day by ordinary human beings. Students begin to understand that they also have the power to change the course of history through their own individual actions. They explore what it means to be a citizen in a democracy, to exercise ones rights and responsibilities in the service of a more humane and compassionate world.