This article explores the extent to which official social studies curriculum documents acknowledge difficult questions raised by the persistence of poverty in the United States. As it turns out, just as some parts of social studies curricula tell distorted stories about U.S. history, other parts tell misleading stories about the nation's present…

Just a few months earlier, the United Nations and the World Bank reported that 1.4 billion people live below the new poverty rate of US $1.25 per day. That news was accompanied by stories of severe famine in Africa, Asia, and even scattered through Europe and the Americas. The author knows that it's sometimes difficult to teach about contemporary…

Equal access to education, that is to a high quality education, has increasingly come to mean access to an Advanced Placement program. In recent years, there has been steady attention paid to opening access to AP programs. The 9th annual College Board report (2013) stated "students who succeed on an AP Exam during high school typically…

The preparation of students for global citizenship represents a central challenge to social studies educators in the twenty-first century. Two-thirds of the world's poor are steeped in abject poverty and its grim consequences. The world refugee problem has reached staggering proportions. There is an international epidemic of human trafficking, and…

The study of human rights is inseparable from social studies. Beyond the basic political, economic, and social freedoms and rights spelled out in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, hundreds of specialized topics have developed that demonstrate the complex nature of human rights in the twenty-first-century world--environmental exploitation…

After a disaster, or in the midst of a conflict, the news that finds its way into people's homes has a uniquely powerful effect on their psyche. Vulnerable people are caught in destructive forces beyond their control. The scenes people see are post-apocalyptic. The stories are gripping, spanning themes of luck, loss, hope, love, and wild fear,…

Panda-hugger and dragon-slayer are phrases used to describe two different kinds of China-watchers, and increasingly, two different types of people in the general public. A panda-hugger is someone who says that almost everything going on in China is good, that China's progress is a great thing for the world, and that any problems are peripheral. A…

Economics is a central part of civic education. Students need to know about the Constitution and the party system, but active citizenship in the twenty-first century requires much more than the standard civics courses offer. Economic issues dominate public policy debates ranging from Social Security to immigration to international security. If…

The American public often wonders what goes on in the White House and how domestic and foreign policy are made. Designed for use by the research and teaching communities, whitehousetapes.org provides teachers and students the opportunity to learn more about how American presidents have made decisions and exercised leadership during pivotal moments…

Summarizes the global efforts of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to ease poverty and help developing nations to build their capacity for sustainable development. Includes a glossary of poverty and human development terms, a human poverty index ranking for developing countries, and suggested teaching activities. (MJP)

The article profiles Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank (an independent financial institution in Bangladesh), as well as an economics professor at the University of Chittagong. In his birthplace of Bangladesh, 49.8 percent of people exist below the poverty line, and 73.2 percent of the women are categorized as…

Nutritionally vulnerable mothers and children, American Indians and Alaskan Natives, migrant laborers, and the elderly are described as the hungry in America. Additional and more effective government food programs are proposed as the solution. (DE)

In South Carolina, the children of farmworkers were found to be getting 800 calories of food a day. This case study describes the lifestyle of one of these families and examines problems associated with underemployment and poverty. Study questions and activities are included. (DE)

The South Pacific island of Bali is used as a case study of overpopulation and food shortage. A brief description of the resources, the typical lifestyle of the Balinese farmer, and possible teaching techniques are given. (DE)

Sahel is the Arabic word for "shore" and is applied to the Southern belt of the Sahara Desert now undergoing a severe drought. This article describes the lifestyle of a Tuareg herder as he and his family fight for survival. Discussion questions and possible solution to the problems are provided in the case study. (Author/DE)