Profiles the National Women's History Project (NWHP). Since its inception in 1980 this nonprofit, educational organization has produced training and materials designed to increase awareness of the role of women in history and society. These include workshops, videotapes, and bibliographies. Discusses other activities of NWHP. (MJP)

Describes early Indian activism at the University of California, Berkeley, and the role of Indian student organizations in the occupation of Alcatraz Island. Examines the planning of the occupation, unity and contention among the group of participants, leadership, celebrities who visited the island, and the role of the media in activism. (SV)

Provides a tribute to the legacy of Thurgood Marshall through an examination of Marshall's key role in the history of desegregation. It focuses on his position as lead counsel for the NAACP assigned to argue Brown v Board of Education before the Supreme Court and his subsequent influence as a member of the Court. (GR)

Analyzes Thurgood Marshall's role as a critical jurist, especially in light of recent criticism directed at Brown v Board of Education. It discusses the separate-but-equal doctrine of Plessy v Ferguson and Marshall's underlying strategy that such a doctrine was harmful to black children. It concludes with the author's interpretation of Marshall's…

Describes community experiential education programs that empower local citizens to work with city planners in deciding the future direction of their urban neighborhoods. Questions whether such programs are true catalysts for social change when participants return to their home environments without a support system that values or utilizes learned…

Controversy over attempts to establish a needle and syringe exchange scheme in New York City (1985 to 1991) as an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) prevention measure are described. These efforts highlight several political and social pitfalls in AIDS prevention. (SLD)

Author describes how 22 first-year high school students became politically active concerning coastal-zone management and wetlands protection. Students translated regulations of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection into plain English. Students wrote their opinions in a concise manner and appeared at a board meeting to influence its…

Discusses the failure of filmmaker Spike Lee to grapple with the real politics of Malcolm X before and after he left the Nation of Islam. Acknowledging the complexity of the man and his context would avoid creating a mythical figure similar to Oliver Stone's movie "JFK." (SLD)

Issues in sexual harassment are discussed, including definitions, the experience of harassment, related behavior patterns, prevalence, beliefs, tolerance, and current research. The efforts and impact of a group of female faculty, staff, and graduate students (Women against Sexual Harassment) at the University of Rhode Island are described. (MSE)

Examines the extent to which the following reform proposals have students' development of critical thinking skills as their aim: (1) the National Commission on Excellence in Education's "A Nation at Risk"; (2) Ernest Boyer's "High School: A Report on Secondary Education in America"; and (3) the Carnegie Foundation for the…

Examines the similarities and differences in the socialization of activists who participated in two sets of 1960s-era movements: the antiwar, student, and civil rights protesters; and community environmental movements. Findings show that social class, social-psychological orientation, and religious socialization are predictors of participation in…

Examines characteristics of today's undergraduates. Shows that students are involved in local political activity, that they need to learn more about multiculturalism, that they are afraid of intimate relationships, and that they worry over money. Claims that colleges should provide an education that enables students to attain their dreams and…

Parker Palmer--activist, writer, and teacher--discusses the spiritual nature of teaching; the heartfelt connections teachers make with students; the challenging demands placed on teachers; balancing stress with peaceful, reclusive times; the importance to teachers of a support community; and the qualities that enable reform-minded teachers to…

Describes the author's experience when the director and teacher-trainers of a writing program persuaded him that the oral interpretation he wished them to perform was too troubling and explosive to use. Outlines his questions and anguish about the incident, and the urgency of dealing with the dilemmas of multiculturalism, racial intolerance, and…

In an urban Brazilian shantytown, poor mothers took the risk of becoming squatters on public land (despite repressive actions by a military dictatorship) because activism was their only avenue to access the resources (housing) needed for motherhood--their only available valued identity. Poor fathers, having other possible identities, tended to…