Preschool
- We can both play with it: learning to share.
- If I were green, I could.... (A game played often on different days with different colors)
- The interconnectedness of humans, plants, animals, the earth, water, the air (Reinforced by a riddle game with
clues: "I am connected with something that....")
Elementary
- The first people who lived here (ate, lived in, grew, made, killed, used, believed, understood, observed, organized themselves, built, traded.... (A year-long exploration)
- If we observed everyone's festivals, we would have a lot of celebrations! (Learning about feast days)
- We don't look alike, but we have a lot in common! (Studying other races and nationalities)
- Myths and legends of other lands. Small groups make up plays and act them out.
- Conflict resolution skills. Learning to handle fights, arguments, differences of opinion.
Middle School/Junior High
- Recycling to save the earth and keep it clean. Two practical projects: finding a new use for something people throw away; organizing a cleanup.
- I'm more like him/her than I am different. Exploration of gender roles through a series of weekly writing assignments.
- Oral history: interviewing 10 people over fifty. What do they remember about growing up, the land, their parents and grandparents, the most important things that
happened in their lifetime? What has changed most in their village/city over time?
- Local government: Who makes decisions? How are these decisions carried out? What services are offered? Where does the money come from? What happens to those who
break the law? Are all people treated fairly by those who govern? How do people come to hold positions of
power?
Secondary
- Biographies of peacemakers: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, others.
- Reconciliation and forgiveness: studying Shakespeare's "Tempest;" Buddhist, Jain and Hindu notions of ahimsa (non-violence); the Sermon on the Mount; local variations of negotiation and mediation.
- World systems: how we are linked by trade, food, history, conquest and colonialism, communication, travel, education, literature, environment, world government, religion, transportation, human needs.
- Language and art: how is English like Spanish and how different? How is Arabic like Hebrew and how different?
How would a Japanese paint a bird on a tree as compared to an Ethiopian painting a bird on a tree, or
Gauguin painting in Tahiti?
College/University
- Exploring the history of relationships between dominant groups and minorities.
- Determining structural impediments to equality.
- Non-violent strategies for change.
- Understanding global realities.
Janet M. Powers
Adjunct Associate Professor of South Asian & Women's Studies
Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA 17325
jpowers@gettyburg.edu