LOCATION: Mercy High School,  3250 19th Avenue, San Francisco (near Stonestown Galleria).

TIME: 5:00-7:00 pm on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from October to April during the 2009-10 school year.

October 21: Marcus Rediker’s Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age

November 18: Misha Glenny's McMafia : A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld

December 16, January 20, February 17, March 17, April 21 Books to be announced.

Side reading suggestions:

• "Cutthroat Capitalism: An Economic Analysis of the Somali Pirate Business Model", By Scott Carney (Wired, 7-13-09)
  http://www.wired.com/print/politics/security/magazine/17-07/ff_somali_pirates
  
• "Beating Somali Pirates at Their Own Game," By David Axe (This article originally appeared on Wired.co.uk 04.06.09)
• "Pirate Economics?: Captain Hook Meets Adam SmithDebunking pirate myths reveals how hidden economic forces generate social order," By Michael Shermer (Scientific American. October 12, 2009)
  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pirate-economics&print=true
• On FORA.TV - Somali pirates on the Maersk Alabama.
  Capt. Richard Phillips describes defending the Maersk Alabama and his crew during a Somali pirate hijacking. (The first United States merchant ship to be captured by pirates since the 1800s.)
• “Pirates of Puntland, Somalia”
  From: Origins e-history (Ohio State University online journal) June 2009 (vol 2 issue 9)
  “In the first week of April, Somali pirates raided an American-flagged ship in the Indian Ocean and took the captain hostage. It was only one of several raids along the Somali coast in a 48 hour period. In recent months and years, pirates have made the Horn of Africa the most dangerous place to navigate in the world. This month, historian Andy Carlson examines the very long history of piracy in the region, and explores how the political problems of Somalia as a 'failed state' have contributed to the current wave of maritime brigandage.”  - includes maps and bibliography.
  http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/origins/article.cfm?articleid=27
  

WHO ARE WE?

The World History study group meets monthly to discuss trends and scholarship in the teaching of World History. The group chooses seven books per school year dealing with an annual theme; the book discussions are facilitated by Alan Karras, author and professor in the International and Area Studies department at University of California, Berkeley. The group is open to all Bay Area Social Studies classroom teachers, grades K – 12. Space is limited to 20 teachers. 

Topics explored in past study groups have included Africa as an Atlantic culture; the nature and origins of nationalism; the Middle East; Power, Poverty and Politics; and the Caribbean and Central America.

This year’s topic is “Transnational Transgressions.” Our first book will be Marcus Rediker’s Villains of All Nations.  Future books for this year will potentially include works on money laundering, human trafficking, drug trafficking, border disputes and international organized crime. 

Participants are reimbursed for the cost of the books if they attend at least 5 meetings.

The World History Study Group began in the Spring of 1999 with 4 goals:

1. Infuse into World History instruction a global perspective that transcends regional and Eurocentric perspectives.
2. Demonstrate links between historical and contemporary issues.
3. Build connections between classrooms and community resources.
4. Use the World Wide Web to enrich the development and dissemination of curriculum.

If you are interested in joining the group please contact Kelly Korenak at World Savvy, by calling 415-292-7421 or emailing kellyworldsavvy.org.

This study group is a program of World Savvy and the Bay Area Global Education Project (BAGEP), co-sponsored by ORIAS.