Europe and Russia

The View from the Sea: Oceans in World History

Summer Institute for k-12 Educators

June 26 – 28, 2017

World History courses often begin with a survey of river-basin societies, exploring the connection between agricultural surplus, irrigation projects, and centralizing power. Oceans and seas are conceived of as places in between - natural regional boundaries traversed only by merchants and military forces.

But what are the contours of a different World History – one with a view from the sea?

A focus on the ocean suggests new ways of thinking about everything from geography and...

Propaganda

Summer Institute for k-12 Teachers

June 22 - 26, 2020

5 online sessions, see schedule below

Each session will include a presentation by a scholar-expert, participant discussion, and a Q & A period.

What are the features, uses, and histories of propaganda? What techniques have governments and political movements used to construct and convey messages? How is propaganda related to the construction of national (or other) identities? Is propaganda...

Pop Culture in World History: Additional Resources

Pop Culture

Books:

Popular Culture, Geopolitics, & Identity, by Jason Dittmer – clear, concise summary of theoretical background for pop culture analysis, plus five very helpful case studies. Downside: contains very little about social media.

Popular Culture: Global Intercultural Perspectives, by Ann Brooks – explores the connection between pop culture and identity, including a lot of conversation about intercultural objects, lots of short case studies,...

Featured: The Travels of Ibn Battuta

October 5, 2016

The Travels of Ibn Battuta: a Virtual Tour has been one of ORIAS' most successful, most widely used projects. The Travels of Ibn Battuta: A Virtual Tour began as a Web resource written in 1999 by Nick Bartel for his students at Horace Mann Middle School, San Francisco, California. It was one of...