Less Scrambling, More Reflecting: Unpacking Simulations of Imperialism and How We can better Teach about the Berlin Conference, the European Colonization of Africa, and African Resistance

Every year thousands of teachers of world history teach about the problematically-named “Scramble for Africa”, and many of them make use of a popular classroom simulation that seems to have originated in the 1990s, based on what some teachers have told me. I remember first seeing pictures of the activity showing up on the closed […]

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What We Can Learn from a Pair of Skating Owls: Teaching the Little Ice Age in World History Classes and its Importance for Today

For a number of years, Donald Trump has been tweeting about the myth of climate change based on cold weather. Just this past week, he even sarcastically called for more global warming. While most of people reading this essay will quickly dismiss Trump’s claims, it’s important to consider how our students think about not only […]

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