Inviting students to ponder the meaning of secure elections can launch an important discussion about public trust in election results.

A classroom study of the gender-neutral statute known as Title IX can spark an engaging discussion on the law’s impact.

Muslim American Identities, Past and Present: A 2017 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Seminar for K-12 School Teachers, will be held July 9-28, 2017, in Indianapolis, Indiana. What does it mean to be both Muslim and American? Participants will read compelling texts and conduct engaging field trips while studying the diverse facets of Muslim American identity, both as grounded in the past, and as experienced in the present. As NEH Summer Scholars, participants will reflect on and discuss thirty primary source documents and two major academic monographs; visit two mosques; and…

In the Mix is the Emmy-Award-winning PBS documentary series for school classrooms, middle grades through college. Several programs deal with diversity and dispel stereotypes, topics that are so important now in American society.   In the Mix is glad to offer NCSS members a discount on any DVD title ($40 instead of $70) + $8 shipping per order) in a package that includes performance rights and discussion guides. Some relevant program topics include: “dealing with differences”; racism”; “teen Immigrants”; and “media literacy.”   The latest catalog is online at www.castleworks.com, and excerpts…

The Supreme Court closed out its 2000 term in June after issuing seventy-nine opinions and agreeing to take up more questions of interest to students and educators alike. Among the issues already slated for review after the 2001 term opens on October 1 are cases that could decide the future of affirmative action, the death penalty, and on-line pornography. Looking Back Last term was contentious for the justices, and not just because of the December decision in Bush v. Gore, No. 00-949—the case that effectively decided the 2000 presidential election. It determined both that the Florida…

New technological tools that imitate real life phenomena, such as agent-based modeling and simulations, help students explore how individual actions can contribute to the emergence of social patterns.

Examining the recent monumental Supreme Court rulings on abortion, gun rights, and religious freedom can spark important classroom discussions on their legal, political, and social implications.   

The sixtieth anniversary of Clarence Gideon’s court case, in which the Supreme Court decided that defendants in criminal proceedings should have access to a lawyer regardless of ability to pay, provides an opportune moment for an engaging lesson on the right to public defense.

The examination of compacts in the classroom offers an opportunity to explore areas of law that fall outside the most-taught legislative processes while serving as a jumping off point for discussions on federalism, state sovereignty, and separation of powers.