IRIS NRC
Institute for Regional and International Studies National Resource Center

Curriculum and Lesson Plans

Global Education Fellows Unit Plans

In 2020, IRIS NRC selected eight K-12 teachers from different Wisconsin school districts to serve as inaugural Global Education Fellows. The fellows met monthly to discuss the internationalization of secondary social studies and history curricula and developed and shared international and transregional curricular materials. Participants were provided a stipend to purchase relevant teaching and learning materials and an additional stipend for the development of curricular materials at completion of the program.

Discovering Solutions to Climate Change Around the World Unit Plan

The Haitian Revolution and its Legacies Unit Plan (Bilingual Components)

Learning About Africa Unit Plan

The Human Experience in Afghanistan: A Khaled Hosseini Book Club Unit Plan

International Law Inquiry Unit Plan

Global Human Rights Unit Plan

Discovering Solutions to Climate Change Around the World

Created by Todd Carter, Fort Atkinson High School

Content Areas: Global Connections, Global Perspectives, Environmental Science, Social Studies Inquiry Practices and Processes, Behavioral Sciences, Economics, Environmental Literacy and Sustainability

Grade Levels: 7-12

Time Required: 2-5 block class periods

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Learning Objectives

Students will explore (acquire, organize, and analyze) climate change data for an individual country. They will give specific examples of causes that are happening in their assigned country, of effects of climate change in their assigned country, and ultimately examine(create action) economic decisions that can lead to solutions for climate change in their country. An important part of the lesson will be that students must understand individual cognitive factors and economic factors that drive individual behaviors. Only when these are considered, can worthwhile solutions take place. Students will create public policies for their own assigned country. Students will also participate in a mock United Nations debate on environmental policies.

Students will demonstrate the following academic skills:

  • Inquiry research
  • Informational reading & source annotation (MLA and/or APA)
  • Compare and contrast using change and continuity over time
  • Collaboration 
  • Presentation creation
  • Essay composition

Essential Questions

  • How has your selected country addressed climate change economically, socially and culturally over time?
  • What can be done to create solutions to the world climate change issue?

Resources

Unit Plan: Discovering Solutions to Climate Change

The Haitian Revolution and its Legacies (Bilingual Components)

Created by Bill Gibson & Amy Piaskowski, Madison East High School 

Central Questions

  • What makes the Haitian Revolution unique?  
  • How does it differ from the other American Revolutions (connecting to student’s background information).
  • What’s the difference between a political vs a social revolution?
  • What’s the difference between a ‘society with slaves’  vs a ‘slave society’?
  • What is the role of vodou in the Haitian Revolution?

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Unit Outline

  1. Overview
  2. Sugar DBQ & Role of Sugar in the Caribbean
  3. Introduction and Overview of the Haitian Revolution
  4. Legacy of the Haitian Revolution
  5. Haiti Today

Sample Activity

Stations Activity:  Legacy of Haitian Revolution (and in Spanish)

    1. Haitian Constitution 1801 excerpt
    2. Includes Questions for short videos

Further Exploration

Haitian Revolution and its Legacies Unit Plan

Learning About Africa

Created by Brittany Brazzel, DeForest Area High School

Unit Topic: African Exploration (Inquiry Project)

Objective: Students will investigate and analyze specific features of Modern African culture in order to better understand authentic African History.

Students will demonstrate the following academic skills:

  • Inquiry research
  • Informational reading & source annotation (MLA and/or APA)
  • Compare and contrast using change and continuity over time
  • Collaboration
  • Presentation creation
  • Essay composition

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Essential Questions

  • How has your selected country changed politically, economically, socially and culturally over time?
  • What are the lasting effects of the incomplete/misrepresented narratives of Africa presented by Western cultures?

Unit Outline

Lesson One: Disrupting African misconceptions 

  • What do you know about Africa? 
    • Full group brainstorm (Highlight and disrupt misconceptions and stereotypes)
  • Have students do a quick exploration to find the truths of African history/culture from the full group brainstorm (engagement and interest is the focus) assignment on slides.
    • Full group share out 

Lesson Two: Project introduction

  • Review each aspect of the directions as a class for understanding
    • May have to teach MLA formatting, the Five themes resource, and writing expectations
  • Inquiry Research (pairs will work together learning about a specific country)
  • Presentation Creation
  • Presentation

Lesson Four: Essay 

Writing Prompt: What are the lasting effects of the incomplete/ misrepresented narratives of Africa presented by Western cultures? 

  • Essay structure understanding
  • Pre-write with 1:1 support
  • Editing with 1:1 support
  • Final Draft

Resources

Lesson One

Five Themes of World History

African Country Project Directions

Unit Rubrics

The Human Experience in Afghanistan: Khaled Hosseini Book Club

Created by Kelly Wayne, Oshkosh West High School 

Narrative:

Khaled Hosseini has written three powerful novels that revolve around intertwining stories full of sacrifices, families, conflict, redemption, selfless love, and more. While set in Afghanistan, the underlying turmoil of war and conflict are present. These novels can help students gain a better understanding of the culture of Afghanistan while also expanding the knowledge of the people of Afghanistan through relatable, dense characters. Students often have little knowledge of what Afghanistan looked like before September 11th, 2001. The goal of this unit is to expand our knowledge on historical events before 9/11 while using the novels as a backdrop to engage students through the coming of age stories. Hopefully, by the end of this unit, students can appreciate the cultures and customs of Afghanistan while seeing beyond the stereotypes often reflected in our media today. 

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Lesson 1: Background Information and Context

Objectives: 

  • To provide a brief history of Afghanistan and contextualize Hosseini’s role as an canonical author of Afghan-American literature 
  • To acknowledge our own bias towards Afghanistan 

Background knowledge

Activities:

  • Quickwrite: Reflecting on TIME covers (slides 1 and 2)
  • Discussion: What is a single story of Afghanistan?
    • Typically I make a list of their comments and we discuss why these words come to mind.
  • Timeline activity
    • I’ve used this in a number of different ways. Sometimes I cut out the events and have students try to put them in chronological order. Other years I have picked out the events that I wanted to highlight and discuss.  
  • Women in Pre-Taliban Afghanistan (slides 3-6)
    • After students reflect on pictures, discuss the differences before and after the rule of the Taliban 

Discussion Questions:

  • What are some single stories of Afghanistan?
  • How does our media in the United States portray or report on Afghanistan? 

Other Resources:

Lesson 2: Introducing the Author: Khaled Hosseini

Objectives: 

  • To contextualize Hosseini’s role as an canonical author of Afghan-American literature 

Activities:

Discussion Questions:

  • What role does an author have to portray their cultural background in a manner that is true to their culture, customs and traditions?

Other Resources:

Lesson 3: The Refugee Crisis in Afghanistan

Objectives: 

  • To understand the the refugee crisis and the definition of refugee 

Activities:

  • Preview each book (slides 7-9) and have students fill out survey with their first, second and third choice
    • Typically I read part of each first chapter along with a general synopsis of the book and trigger warnings of tough topics discussed. 
  • Discuss refugee crisis 
    • Definitions: what is a refugee? 

Discussion Questions:

  • What does Hosseini want us to know about refugees? 

Resources:

Lesson 4: Analyzing Poetry in Relation to Hosseini's Novels

Objectives:

  • To understand the use of poetry in Khaled Hosseini’s novels 
  • To apply literary elements when discussing poetry

Background knowledge:

  • Literary elements and application to poetry 

Activities:

  • Note: this is the poem that inspired the title
  • Note: this is the poem that inspired the title and is the epigraph of the novel

Discussion Questions: 

  • Why does Hosseini highlight the importance of poetry? 
  • What is the importance of poetry?

Additional Resources:

Lesson 5: Ignite Session

Objectives: 

  • To conduct research and expand knowledge on a topic related to Afghanistan 
  • To teach the class about the topic  

Background knowledge:

  • Topics (but not limited to) can be things mentioned in the novels 
    • Cities, historical places/figures 
    • Names, wars, conflicts mentioned 
    • Food, music, clothing or other cultural elements
    • Farsi words used 

Activities:

  • Ignite Session Slides
    • Day One: students pick topic to research and create slide
    • Day Two: students present ignite session
      • Allow students to ask questions after the presentations

Lesson 6: Analyzing Symbolism and Foil Characters in the Hosseini Novels

Objectives: 

  • To apply knowledge of symbolism and foil characters to Hosseini novels
  • Analyze author’s use of these literary devices 

Background knowledge:

  • Lessons on foil characters and symbolism in literature 

Activities:

Lesson 7: Jigsaw Discussion

Objectives: 

  • To discuss compare and contrast Hosseini’s novels 

Background knowledge:

  • Students should be finished with the novel or most of the way through the novels 

Activities:

  • Students will discuss the questions (in groups that include students from each book) below:
    • Day One: Answer the questions (find evidence)
    • Day Two: Discuss 

Discussion Questions: 

  • How does Hosseini give a voice to the voiceless?
  • Why does Hosseini use Farsi words throughout his novels?
  • How have you seen the concept of hybrid identity throughout his novels?
  • How does Hosseini use literary devices?
  • What cultural elements does Hosseini discuss throughout the novels?
  • How does Hosseini structure the novel? 
  • How do you see the effects of war in your novel?
  • What commentary on gender roles does Hosseini make in the novel?
  • What do Hosseini’s novels say about the human experience? Is it beautiful, horrifying, or both?
  • Are Hosseini’s characters relatable? Why or why not?

Lesson 8: Cover Art

Objectives:

  • To understand how authors utilize art to portray themes in the novel 
  • To analyze the cover art by discussing observations, colors, images, etc.
  • To create our own cover art and explain why it fits the novel 

Activities: 

Lesson 9: Exploring TEDTalks

Objectives:

  • To explore how the these in Hosseini’s novels are discussed in TEDTalks 

Activities:

  • Pick a TEDTalk
    • Students pick a TEDTalk to watch and answer questions about 
  • Whole class discussion on how the themes are similar and different in Hosseni novels
    • What are the main takeaways from the TEDTalks?

Lesson 10: Assessment

Objectives:

  • To demonstrate understanding of theme through an essay or Socratic seminar 
  • To demonstrate understanding of the Common Core standards 

Activities:

Additional Resources

Additional Resources:

International Law Inquiry

Created by Mark Drake, West Bend West High School 

11-12th Grade International Law Inquiry 

Question: Who should be held responsible for the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh crisis?

Wisconsin Model Academic Standards 

PS3.c.h: Power in government: Evaluate the structure and functions of governments at the local, state, tribal, national, and global levels. Evaluate the purpose of political institutions at the local, state, tribal, national, global, and supranational or non-government organization (NGO) levels distinguishing their roles, powers, and limitations.

SS.PS4.a.h Create arguments by researching and interpreting claims and counterclaims.

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Unit Outline

International Law Inquiry re Nagorno-Karabakh crisis 2021 Unit Plan

  • Standards
  • Supporting Questions
  • Formative Performance Tasks
  • Featured Sources
  • Summative Performance Tasks
  • Taking Informed Action

Lessons

Lesson 1 Nuremberg

Lesson 2 Types of Atrocities

Lesson 3 Holding Criminals Accountable

Lesson 4 International Criminal Court Simulation

Lesson 5 Taking Informed Action

Resources

Works Cited

Global Human Rights

Created by Dawn Shimek, Mishicot High School 

Questions:

When comparing countries around the world, how do their governments differ regarding the rights given to their citizens?

How do the behavior and actions of the government violate the citizens human rights?

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Wisconsin Model Academic Standards 

PS3.c.h: Power in government: Evaluate the structure and functions of governments at the local, state, tribal, national, and global levels. Evaluate the purpose of political institutions at the local, state, tribal, national, global, and supranational or non-government organization (NGO) levels distinguishing their roles, powers, and limitations.

SS.PS4.a.h Create arguments by researching and interpreting claims and counterclaims.

SS.Inq1.a.h Frame researchable, complex, and open-ended questions, integrating multiple social studies strands that call for investigation.

SS.BH2.a.h Investigate how language and culture can unify a group of people. Evaluate the factors that contribute to cooperation and conflict among peoples of a country and the world (e.g., language, religion, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, social or financial inequity, political beliefs, access to resources, economics, environment).

SS.BH3.a.h Analyze the means by and extent to which groups and institutions can influence people, events, and cultures in both historical and contemporary settings. Become critically aware of ethnocentrism, its manifestations, and consequences in a world that is increasingly interconnected.

SS.Hist1.b.h Evaluate multiple events from different perspectives using primary and secondary sources and analyze intended and unintended effects from both long- and short-term perspectives. Evaluate how different groups and individuals contributed to the effect.

SS.Hist3.b.h Evaluate historical perspectives to create arguments with evidence concerning current events.

SS.Hist3.c.h Evaluate and justify predictions of potential outcomes of current events based on the past.

SS.PS2.a.h Critique the struggle for suffrage and citizenship since the founding period. Analyze the constitutional tension between protecting individual rights and promoting the general welfare and security of the country, as well as between majority rule and minority rights. Assess the impact of individuals, groups, and movements on the development of civil rights.

Unit Plan Outline

Global Human Rights Unit 2021

Child Health & Human Rights (6-12)

Examining the Politics and Human Stories of Migration

Lesson Plan

Refugees: Children of No Nation

Enrichment Activities

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Videos

Children on the Run in Central America (2017)

Unaccompanied: Alone in America (2018)

Walking to America (2018)

A Lost Generation: Learning About Family Migration from Indigenous Villages in Guatemala

Lesson Plan

Human Rights Day Presentation

Power Point

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Readings

Capital, Power, and Inequality in Latin America

Convention on the Rights of the Child

How Climate Change Is Fuelling the U.S. Border Crisis

Why Do People Migrate

How do Immigrant Children and Families Experience Immigrant Detention

Curricula Developed for Post Secondary Use

Child Health and Human Rights

New Tendencies in Peace and Development Studies: Child Health and Human Rights (2020) 

This course will review research, programs, policies, and case examples related to the care of children who are in highly vulnerable situations around the world.

Topics: Core Concepts of Child Health and Human Rights, Case Studies on Community-based Care for Children in Africa and Child Migration Across the US Border, Global Comparisons and Integration,

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Instructor & Curriculum Designer

Lori DiPrete Brown

Assistant Director, Global Health Institute, Civil Society and Community Studies, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Guest Lectures:

Erika Rosales, Children in Migration in the US

Michael Knipper, Children, Migration and Human Rights

Mark Lagon, Child Trafficking Violence and Exploitation

Learning Objectives

This course will focus on programs for orphans and vulnerable children in Africa, and will include comparative case studies from other regions, including children in migration and children who live in conflict situations. The course prepares students for practice, or advocacy in this area, and will give students an opportunity to explore issues in their own country of origin or the setting for their work.

  • New lines of research in Peace and Development Studies: co-development, post-development, post-colonialism, mal-development, degrowth theory, development ethics. These and other new research lines will be addressed through different case studies.
  • Exploration of research needs and priorities in Peace and Development Studies, both from government agencies (education, coexistence, politics, citizenship), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs, civil society movements, associations)
  • Analysis of the latest publications in Peace and Development Studies, with special emphasis on Scientific Journals of recognized prestige, as well as the documents of international organizations such as the Reports of the United Nations Development Program and other publications.
  • Analysis of the characteristics, priorities and research results of the main centers of research in peace and development studies of the world.

Videos

Readings

Online Resources

FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University

Better Care Network (BCN) is an international network of organizations committed to supporting children without adequate family care around the world.  BCN works by fostering collaboration, research and information sharing on family strengthening and alternative care, and advocating for changes to national, regional, and global policies to improve children’s care situations.

Child Rights International Network

U.S. Government programs for Children in Adversity

Human Rights, Migration, and the U.S. Border

Child Health and Human Rights- Children, Migration, and the U.S. Border (2021) 

This course will review research, policies, programs, and case examples related to child migration as a highly vulnerable population with a focus on the case of the Mexico-U.S border.

Offered in ten sessions, this 1-credit hybrid course will combine readings, online lectures, and online discussions with two classroom sessions at the beginning and end of the course.

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Instructors

Lori DiPrete Brown is a Distinguished Faculty Associate in the School of Medicine and Public Health and School of Human Ecology.

Erika Rosales is an undocumented immigrant and a DACA recipient. She currently works at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and is as a Human Rights Curriculum Coordinator at the Global Health Institute.

Learning Objectives

  • Students can describe and analyze issues related to child migration at the U.S-Mexico border; the causes, dangers, opportunities for action and the relationship to human health and well-being.
  • Students can describe the various complexities of child migration at the Mexico-U.S border over time in connection to policies for vulnerable children. They can understand how these policies have evolved over time and the way in which they have affected increased vulnerability for children.
  • Students become familiar with the range of conditions of vulnerability that might pose health challenges for children, including mental and physical health, as a result of child migration.
  • Students can examine the historical context that has resulted in Child Migration at the U.S-Mexico border and analyze policy-related shortcomings as a framework for response to the needs of children
  • Students can summarize and critique U.S. policies that affect the needs of children in highly vulnerable situations related to border entry, asylum-seeking status, family separation, deportation, and human rights. Students will also understand how these policies and programs have been implemented over time.
  • Students can articulate and prioritize how they can apply the concepts in this course to future research, policy, advocacy, and practice and service efforts to address the needs of vulnerable children.

Videos

Readings

  • Dominguez Villegas, R. 2014. Central American Migrants and “La Bestia”: The Route, Dangers, and Government Responses. Migration Policy Institute.
  • Chaos, Confusion, and Danger: The remain in Mexico Program in El Paso. Women’s Refugee Commission. 
  • Crea, T.M. et al. 2018. How do Immigrant Children and Families Experience Immigrant Detention? The center on Immigration and child welfare. School of Social Work. New Mexico State University.

Rights to the City Course

Rights to the City (2020) 

This Course is designed in 4 Modules. These Modules consists of readings, video lecture, and videos.

Topics: Conceptual Foundations of Human Rights and Citizenship; Rights to the City; Globalizing Space and Understanding Inequity; Transnational Perspective on Citizenship

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Instructor & Curriculum Designer

Instructor: Carolina Sarmiento, Ph.D.is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the School of Human Ecology and an affiliate with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Curriculum Designer: Maria Moreno, Ph.D., is Associate for Experiential Education at the Global Health Institute.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the link between rights to the city and human rights
  • Learn how human health might be affected by urbanization
  • Recognize the interconnections, both in risks and solutions, between human rights and rights to the city

Videos

Human Rights Amnesty International #9. This series of animated video clips for human rights education offers a broad overview of different human rights issues. This is a perfect introduction for a beginner interested in learning about the basics of human rights.

Inés & Valentina, Mexico -Write for Rights (2011)

This is an example of human rights issues of power/forces at play.  This is the court case of Ines y Valentina (two indigenous women who fought abuse against the military) were raped by Mexican soldiers in 2002. The Inter-American Court had ordered the Mexican government to guarantee the safety of Inés Fernández and her family on 7 April 2009 but the protection measures have not been fully implemented.

City Rising : Gentrification and Displacement (2017)

Director: Juan Devis

This multi-platform documentary shows how gentrification is deeply rooted in a history of discriminatory laws and practices in the United States. City Rising follows the journey of California communities that are fighting gentrification and features a growing movement of advocates seeking responsible development across the state. People of color who cherish their neighborhood’s culture and sense of community are mobilizing against unsustainable rents and other forces that they see are pushing neighbors into homelessness.

The End of Poverty (2010)

Director: Philippe Diaz

The End of Poverty? Is a daring, thought-provoking, and very timely documentary by Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery, and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals, and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade, and tax policies – in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries.  This film asks why today 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more that the planet can generate?

The Last Train Home (2010)

Director: Lixin Fan

A family embarks on an annual tormenting journey along with 200 other million peasant workers to reunite with their distant family, and to revive their love and dignity as China soars as the world’s next super power.

Readings

  • Human rights issues under international and national law. UN General Assembly, https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html
  • Building a Dangerous Precedent in the Americas: Revoking Fundamental Rights of Dominicans Human Rights Brief. https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1894&context=hrbrief
  • Harvey, D. 2003. The right to the city. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27 (4), pp. 939-941.
  • Marcuse, P. 2012. Whose right (s) to what city? In Cities for People, Not for Profit, pp. 33-47. Routledge.
  • Purcell, Mark. 2006. “Urban democracy & the local trap.” Urban Studies 43 (11):1921–41.
  • Soja, E. 2009. The city and spatial justice [«La ville et la justice spatiale», traduction: Sophie Didier, F. Dufaux], J.  Spatiale , n° 01|, September, pp. 1-5.
  • Uitermark, J., Nicholls, W., & Loopmans, M. 2012. Cities and social movements: theorizing beyond the right to the city. Environment and Planning 44: pp. 2546 – 2554.
  • Ong, Aihwa. 1999. Flexible Citizenship. Durham: Duke University Press.
  • Purcell, Mark & Brown, J Christopher. 2005. Against the local trap: Scale and the study of environment and development. Progress in Development Studies, 5 (4): 279-297.
  • Roy, A. 2010. The democratization of capital and development. Poverty Capital: Microfinance and the Making of Development. New York: Routledge, pp. 1-40.
  • Sassen, Saskia. 2002. Locating cities on global circuits. Environment and Urbanization 14 (1): 13-30.
  • Miraftab, Faranak, and Shana Wills. 2005. “Insurgency and Spaces of Active Citizenship: The Story of the Western Cape Anti- Eviction Campaign in South Africa.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 25 (2): 200–17.
  • Smith, Michael Peter, and Luis E. Guarnizo, eds. 1998. Transnationalism from Below. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
  • Friedmann, J. 2002. Transnational Migration: Space of Incorporation. The Prospect of Cities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 39-66.
  • Laquian, A. A. 2005. From Mega-Cities to Mega-Urban Regions. Beyond Metropolis: The Planning and Governance of Asia’s Mega-Urban Regions. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, pp. 1-52.

Climate Change and Human Rights

Climate Change and Human Rights (2020)

This Course is designed in 5 Modules. These Modules consists of readings, video lecture, and videos.

Topics: health equity and COVID-19; air pollution and respiratory disorder; heat and daily work productivity; water, food and vector-borne disease; and, the impact of these topics on developing countries, island and frontline nations.

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Instructor & Curriculum Designer

Course Instructor: Jonathan Patz, M.D., MPH., is Professor & John P. Holton Chair of Health and the Environment, and he directs the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Curriculum Designer: Maria Moreno, Ph.D., is Associate for Experiential Education at the Global Health Institute

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the link between health and human rights
  • Learn how human health might be affected by climate change
  • Recognize the interconnections, both in risks and solutions, between human rights, health and climate change

Videos

Professor Patz at University of Illinois-Chicago webinar on Climate & Health Equity in the time of COVID

Air Pollution and Environmental Justice, “One reason why coronavirus hits black people the hardest”

Climate Change and Air Pollution

Heat and Vulnerable Populations

Vector-borne Diseases 

Climate Change and Food Security

Climate Change Human Rights and Social Justice

Climate Change and Children’s Health

TED Talk: “My Country Will Be Underwater Soon –Unless We Work Together”

TED Talk: “Why Climate Change is a Threat to Human Rights”

Readings