Modern World History
Era Nine: The 20th Century Since 1945:
Promises and Paradoxes
The People’s Republic of China: Who Should Own the Land?
This highly participatory unit gives students the opportunity to analyze the issue of proportional land distribution in China since 1940 by role playing each of the four major social classes of China in the 1940s and dramatizing the wide disparities in land distribution. They read primary sources depicting the impoverished state of Chinese peasants in 1947 and follow Mao Tse-Tung’s sweeping land reform movement by reading “Stone Village,” a fictionalized account of the violent turn that land reform often took. Students analyze an article in the Beijing Review, written by a farmer who became wealthy as a result of the “Family Responsibility System.” 78 p. Grades 7–10
>>>Preview the unit [pdf]
[NH172-LA6] $16.95 Reproducible
South African Dilemmas in the 20th Century
This unit begins with an examination of the historical factors that made South Africa a deeply divided society, culminating in the government’s imposition of the apartheid system, which lasted from 1948 until the early 1990s. Students will then consider how and why the country made the transition from apartheid to multiracial democracy, asking the fundamental question: Has the abolition of apartheid brought a better life to all South Africans?
70 p. Grades 9 –12
>>>Preview the unit [pdf]
[NH167-LA6] $16.95 Reproducible
Infinite Patience, Indomitable Will:
Ralph Bunche and His Struggle for Peace and Justice
This unit encourages students to explore the life, accomplishments, and legacy of Ralph Bunche, an African American who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951 for his work at the United Nations in brokering the 1949 armistice after the first Arab-Israeli conflict. Later in his UN career, he was involved with the Congo Crisis of 1960. Both negotiations serve as excellent conflict mediation models. Other lessons examine his preparation for eventual work with the United Nations as one of the first African-Americans acquiring an education at the University of California, Los Angeles and Harvard, his work with Gunnar Myrdal on race relations in America, and his involvement in the Civil Rights movement.
Cross-listed with US History.
191 p. Grades 9 –12 >>>Preview the unit [pdf]
[NH167-LA6] $16.95 Reproducible
To order units>>>Ordering information
