On October 25, 2006, New Jersey's Supreme Court announced that the state must legally recognize same-sex couples. The high court gave the legislature the responsibility to provide a name to this legal recognition. This issue, though, is not specific to New Jersey, but a national one in which 27 states have amended their constitution to restrict…

This forum reconstructs a roundtable discussion about the academic responsibilities of International Relations professors with respect to their undergraduate students. Specifically, participants discuss the proper pedagogical role of professors' personal political beliefs and the best ways to encourage undergraduate students to engage political…

Education for citizenship has the teaching of controversial issues, the exploration of social values and the fostering of active participation at its core. This article focuses on a case study of 11-year-old pupils in a Scottish primary school, who were exposed to a new programme underpinned by values-based participation. The pupils initiated…

Philosophers of education disagree on how the question of the moral status of homosexual acts should be tackled in the classroom. Some argue that the question should be taught as a controversial issue, that we should present rival moral positions as even-handedly as possible; others maintain that we should actively promote the view that homosexual…

The head of Arizona State University's film-production program, F. Miguel Valenti, doesn't believe in showing movie clips in his classes, arguing that every scene should be viewed in its full context. So to make a point about why he thinks "Friday the 13th" has destroyed the horror genre, he recently showed the whole bloody mess of a…

Teaching and studying the Holocaust is a complex and sensitive undertaking. The dynamics of dealing with a modern, technologically advanced state's attempt to annihilate all members of a given group of people for racial reasons involves tortuous twists and turns that challenge the most sophisticated of thinkers, leading to a situation in which…

In recent years, immigration has become a hot-button issue--so much that mere mention of the word almost guarantees an impassioned response. Whether that response generates ideas and hope, debate and frustration, or even anger, depends on seemingly innumerable factors. Everything from personal preferences, politics, and prejudices to ethnic,…

Debates concerning how the issue of human life's origins should be handled within the confines of American public schools still continue. In order to mitigate the impact that evolution has on students, some school boards and state legislatures have recommended that stickers voicing a disclaimer about evolution be placed in biology textbooks. Even…

This paper presents a set of interdisciplinary lessons for teaching about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Alaska). Lessons include a petroleum product treasure hunt, an examination of life without petroleum, the development of a wildlife poster, an exploration of the tundra ecosystem and the plants and animals that live there, identification…

Theorists on human rights can be divided into two camps: those who believe that rights are asserted by and ascribed to groups, and those who believe that rights may be properly predicated to individuals only. Of late, the latter group has gained dominance. This paper, by presenting a rhetorical analysis of individualism in regard to rights,…

This quarterly index provides subject access to individual articles and reviews which appeared from July to September 1970 in 100 alternative periodicals. Since the last issue of the index, 30 new periodicals have been added. These additions reflect some of the areas which the index has not covered sufficiently in the past: gay liberation, womens'…

Reviews the history of the evolution-creationism controversy, citing court cases pertaining to it. (FL)

Claims that "Choices," a teaching unit on nuclear confrontation produced by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the National Education Association, misrepresents the world nuclear situation and should not be used by teachers intent on conveying unbiased information. Suggests "The Apocalyptic Premise: Nuclear Arms Debated" as…

Many teachers avoid controversial topics because they do not want to upset students or parents, do not know appropriate instructional strategies, and fail to recognize the importance of motivating students through placing science in its relevant context. An example is provided for use in a methods course for helping future high school teachers to…

Suggests that building a sound rationale for dealing with controversial issues in the classroom will prevent unnecessarily adversarial relationships between teachers and administrators or the public. Discusses involving students in real problems in both public and private issues. States that effective rationale building depends on involvement in…