Social Studies

		Social Studies

	Major Rachel Wasserman email: rachel_wasserman@sarasota.k12.fl.us Welcome to the Department of Social Studies -- the home of World History, Geography, Comparative Religion, U.S. History, U.S. Government, and Economics classes here at SMA. History, as Leonard Levinson aptly said, “is the short trudge from Adam to atom.” It encompasses every aspect of human life, both ancient and modern. The study of history is the study of humanity, and spans an arc from the examination of the earliest artifacts of human civilization to the unprecedented bailout of Wall Street in the autumn of 2008. Our job as teachers in this department is to help our students understand the continuum of human history, and see how the foundations of our present were laid in the past. Every Florida high school teacher is mandated by the state to ensure that our students are prepared to live, work and compete in a global economy. This entails instructing our students in the realities of our multi-cultural world. America might be the leader of the free world, but today’s geopolitical realities demand that our students understand the cultural, religious, and economic pressures that drive other nations. Here are some thoughts on history: History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again. *Maya Angelou* History is a voice forever sounding across the centuries the laws of right and wrong. Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity. James A. Forude It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. Robert F. Kennedy 1925 – 1968 SOUTH AFRICA, 1966 A generation which ignores history has no past and no future. *Robert A. Heinlein* What are the facts? Again and again and again - what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history" - what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts! *Robert A. Heinlein* Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt. Bergen Evans, THE NATURAL HISTORY OF NONSENSE (1946) History, although sometimes made up of the few acts of the great, is more often shaped by the many acts of the small. *Mark Yost*		Links Works Cited Information ACADEMIC HONESTY GET THE FACTS! factcheck.org .politifact.com/truth-o-meter/ www.straightdope.com/ hoaxbusters.org/ dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbuster General History fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook U.S. GOVERNMENT http://www.usa.gov/ loc.gov/index.html http://www.senate.gov/ senate.gov/general/contact_information/ house.gov/ .supremecourtus.gov/ SUPREME COURT CASE SUMMARIES THE U.S. CONSTITUTION law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations firstfreedom.org/religiousfree AMERICAN PRESIDENTS americanheritage.com/people/presidents americanpresidents.org millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident AMERICAN WOMEN greatwomen.org/women.php? npg.si.edu/col/seneca/senfalls1 kenyon.edu/khistory/frontier AMERICAN ART AMERIC~1 CELEBR~1 Currier Museum Online Curriculum Mathew Brady NY Studio NGA - American Painting NGA Themes in American Art Landscape (Images) NGA Themes in American Art Portraiture The National Portrait Gallery AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SITES history.com/minisites/blackhistory nhc.rtp.nc.us/tserve/twenty GEOGRAPHY & WORLD CULTURES africaguide.com theodora.com geography.about.com factmonster.com geographic.org nfoplease.com The World Factbook http://www.nationalgeographic.com ECONOMICS moneyinstructor.com mcwdn.org/ECONOMICS/EconMain money.howstuffworks.com/money-economics- economics.about.com LIBRARY OF CONGRESS loc.gov/index.html loc.gov/families/ SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION si.edu


Home \| Up \| Major Wasserman \| Captain Geimer \| Captain Cirieco \| Captain Mannion