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We and They

We and They

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.

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Identity & Community Lesson 1
 Lesson Plan February 18, 2009
New Life in U.S. No Longer Means New Name

The New York Times published an article last week noting that, in the past, immigrants to the U.S. sometimes changed their name to make it more American-sounding. Nowadays, the vast majority of immigrants keep their names.

 Facing Today September 3, 2010
"Open Hands, or Fists?": Eboo Patel on Young People's Worldwide Influence
 Video Clip August 7, 2009
"This Is a Siren": Student and Poet Jonathan Lykes
 Video Clip November 29, 2010
'Jena 6' Teen Agrees to a Plea Deal
(CNN, December 3, 2007) According to this news update about Jena 6, Mychal Bell, the 17-year-old black teenager whose arrest and detention led to the "Jena 6" protests, has agreed to a plea deal that could lead to his release by June.
 Facing Today April 10, 2008
A Boy of Old Prague

by Sulamith Ish-Kishor

(Dover Publications)

Tomas, a young boy living in the 1500's, has been taught to be suspicious and even hateful of Jews. His beliefs are challenged when he must confront them in the ghetto. See pages 294-297 of the Holocaust and Human Behavior resource book for a discussion of this novel.

 Library Resource December 15, 2009
A Celebration of "Progress"

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, expositions and fairs were a way of educating people not only about their nation and its place in the world but also about their own place in American society. In 1893, over 27 million people attended the World’s Columbian Exposition—an exposition that used architecture, artifacts, and “living exhibits” to celebrate “American progress.” Held in Chicago to mark the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyages to the Americas, it attracted over 13 million Americans—about one of every five people in the nation.

 Publication Readings January 3, 2012
A Class Divided

60 minutes
Source: PBS Video

A Class Divided is an expanded version of Eye of the Storm. In this documentary, Jane Elliott meets with her class to talk about the classroom experiment about discrimination she performed 15 years earlier and the effects it had on their lives. In addition, Jane Elliott is seen giving this lesson to employees of the Iowa prison system.

 Library Resource December 15, 2009
A Commandant’s View

In an interview with journalist Gitta Sereny after his arrest in Brazil in 1971 and subsequent trial, Franz Stangl, the commandant of the death camp at Sobibor and later at Treblinka, responded to questions.

“You’ve been telling me about your routines,” I said to him. “But how did you feel? Was there anything you enjoyed, you felt good about?”

 Publication Readings March 9, 2010
A Discussion with Elie Wiesel

30 minutes, color
Source: Facing History and Ourselves

Facing History and Ourselves students from Chicago area high schools share their thoughts and experiences as part of a panel discussion with Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. There is a lesson created around this video, about Eve Shalen and the "in" group, on pages 29-31 of the Holocaust and Human Behavior resource book.

View The "In" Group

 Library Resource December 15, 2009
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