Using the Arts to Investigate Historical, Social and Political Themes - February 26

*The Alameda County Office of Education and Shadowlight Productions Present...

Using the Arts to Investigate Historical, Social and Political Themes

In collaboration with ACOE staff, Larry Reed -- renowned shadow theatre artist and the Founder and Artistic Director of Shadowlight Productions in San Francisco -- will present a unique all-day hands-on workshop using shadow theatre medium to explore approaches for integrating arts and history-social science teaching and learning in grades K-12 classrooms. The theme: communication across barriers, be they political, social, cultural or linguistic. The workshop will culminate in discussion of how instruction and student engagement can be enhanced and deepened through consideration of the “habits of mind” developed through study of history and of the arts.

Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009, 9:00AM - 3:00PM

Location: Alameda County Office of Education, 313 W. Winton Avenue, Hayward, CA 94544

Audience: K-12 Teachers and Administrators

Costs: $75/ per person

For more information and to register please visit: here.

Workshop Series: Teaching About Religion in Public Schools

From: Avi Black (ablack@acoe.org)


Alameda County Office of Education, The California Three Rs Project, CSU San Bernardino & the Religious Studies Program at UC Davis PRESENT

TEACHING ABOUT RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

EXTENDED registration deadline: February 20, 2009!!
Registration form is attached below. No refunds after deadline.

Scholarships and stipends now available!!

Among the most challenging content in both the U.S. and World History Content Standards is the extensive coverage of the beliefs, practices, and impact of religion on human history. In addition to this content, for which many have received little preparation, educators must also understand the constitutional issues related to how religion is addressed in public schools. This Saturday workshop series is designed to provide assistance in both these areas. The program will feature scholar sessions on the major religions covered in the Standards, paired with teacher discussions on how to apply this content in California’s religiously diverse classrooms in a constitutionally permissible manner. Professional development credit is offered.

Saturdays: February 21, March 14, and May 16, 2009
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Alameda County Office of Education
313 W. Winton Avenue
Hayward CA 94544

$150 fee includes morning refreshments, materials, and lunch at all three sessions

Tuition scholarships AND stipends of $150 are available through Oakland Unified School District and the CA International Studies Project!!

Up to three units of university credit available through CSU San Bernardino Extended Learning


Content Topics

The Nature of Religion and the Legal Parameters for Teaching About Religion in Public Schools

Basic Beliefs and Historical Evolution of Judaism

Early Christian Beliefs and History

European Religious Reformations and Their Impact

History and Basic Beliefs of Islam

Basic Beliefs and History of Hinduism

Beliefs and Cultural Influences of Buddhism

EXTENDED registration deadline is February 20, 2009. Registration form is attached below. No refunds after deadline.

For further information about the program, including scholarships and stipends:

Contact Avi Black, History-SS Coordinator at ACOE
510-670-4239
ablack@acoe.org

ACOE Black History Month Resolution

From: Sheila Jordan

Alameda County Board of Education
and
Alameda County Superintendent of Schools

Resolution No. 1843

African American History Month – February, 2008

WHEREAS, Americans of African descent helped develop our nation in countless ways; and

WHEREAS, African American history reflects a determined spirit of perseverance and cultural pride in its struggle to share equally in the opportunities of a nation founded upon the principles of freedom and liberty for all people; and

WHEREAS, the history and contributions of African American citizens have been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the curriculum of public education institutions; and

WHEREAS, African American citizens have participated in every effort to secure, protect, and maintain the essence and substance of American democracy, as reflected by California Education Code section 37221(d) which establishes March 5 as Black American Day to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Crispus Attucks, the first African American martyr of the Boston Massacre; and

WHEREAS, it is important that the history curriculum in our schools, at every grade level, reflects the experiences of men and women of different racial, religious and ethnic groups so that each student has an opportunity to understand the common humanity underlying all groups; develop pride in his or her own identity and heritage; and to understand, respect and accept the identity and heritage of others:

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alameda County Board of Education and the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools do encourage all Alameda County School Districts to commemorate African American History Month with appropriate instructional activities to recognize the countless contributions that African Americans have made in helping our nation achieve greatness.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 12th day of February, 2008 by the following vote:


AYES: ___6___ NOES: _______ ABST: _______ ABSENT: ___1___

ACOE Resolution on Women's History Month

From: Sheila Jordan

Alameda County Board of Education
and
Alameda County Superintendent of Schools

Resolution No. 1844

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH – MARCH 2009


WHEREAS, Women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways; and

WHEREAS, Women continue to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of the nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home; and

WHEREAS, Women have played a unique role throughout our history by providing the majority of the nation’s volunteer labor force and were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in the country; and

WHEREAS, Women have been leaders in every major progressive social change movement, not only to secure their own right of suffrage and equal opportunity but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, and the modern civil rights movement, which attempt to create a more fair and just society for all; and

WHEREAS, The History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve states that the history of community, state, region, nation, and world must reflect the experiences of men and women and of different racial, religious, and ethnic groups and that these studies be integrated at every grade level in the curriculum.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alameda County Board of Education and the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools encourage all educational communities to commemorate Women’s History Month, March 2008, with appropriate instructional activities to recognize the countless contributions that women have made to help our nation achieve greatness.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 12th day of February, 2008 by the following vote:


AYES: ___6___ NOES: _______ ABST: _______ ABSENT: ___1___

Humanities West: Cinematic Art and Reality Television in Modern India

From: Patricia Lundberg, Executive Director [patricia@humanitieswest.ccsend.com]

Dear Friend of Humanities West,

Have you seen Slum Dog Millionaire yet?

Trust me. It's great. Find out even more about Indian Cinema and upward mobility in India at Humanities West's India Rising: Tradition Meets Modernity, Friday evening, February 27 and all-day Saturday February 28, 2009 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.


The Saturday program features a lecture with film clips by Dilip Basu, Founding Director of the Satyajit Ray Film Archives at UC Santa Cruz on the cinema of Satyajit Ray and his cohorts in post-independent India.

Learn how popular cinema, both past and present, uses the modern cinematic medium to the fullest while following the traditional Indian dramaturgy in form and content. And Professor Raka Ray, Sarah Kailath Chair in Indian Studies, Chair of the Center for South Asia Studies, and Associate Professor of Sociology and South and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California Berkeley not only moderates this program but lectures on Reality Television and the New India.

As American Idol again draws high television ratings in February, Professor Ray will discuss the Indian Idol phenomenon, in which the women and the rich men are voted off first in support of upward mobility for the poor Nepalese boy who eventually wins, and in a sense causes the upward mobility of his whole community, generating pride within the regionally underserved.

Get tickets now!

Visit our web site for more information:
HumanitiesWest.org

Visit City Box Office to buy tickets.


RELATED EVENTS

The Enigma of Arrival:
Modern India & Anglophone Literature

Lecture by Stanford University Professor
Saikat Majumdar and
A Conversation with Award-Winning Indian Novelist
Vikram Chandra

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
5:30pm Reception
6 pm Lecture
Mechanics' Institute
57 Post Street, San Francisco, CA

Modern India and its people are increasingly associated with a narrative of achievement and prosperity in the realms of the economic and the cultural. State-of-the-art technology and award-winning literature are two of India's most dazzling ambassadors.

This lecture will briefly overview the field of modern Indian-English literature and raise some questions in the process: Is it possible today to see the phenomenon of Anglophone Indian literature as separate from the new image of rise and growth that currently engulfs this nation? What is gained, and what is lost when an art form gets so closely wedded to tropes of progress and achievement in the national and global public spheres?

Professor Majumdar will end his lecture in conversation with Vikram Chandra, author of Sacred Games and one of India's foremost novelists.

FREE to Members of Mechanics' Institute and Friends of Humanities West
$12 general public

To Reserve Tickets please call
415.393.0100

For more information:
Mechanics' Institute

___________________________


Preview of India Rising: Tradition Meets Modernity

A Fireside Chat with George Hammond

February 24, 2009
7:00 pm
Orinda Library
26 Orinda Way
Orinda, CA 94563
(925) 254-2184
Free to the General Public.


RESOURCES ON THE WEB

Visit our web site to:

> Download the "India Rising" brochure

> Download our newest and archived newsletters

> Suggested reading for "India Rising"

> If you are a contributor to Humanities West or a ticketholder to India Rising and would like a copy of our specially prepared India Reader, you may request your copy by writing to info@humanitieswest.org.

Patricia Lundberg, PhD, Executive Director
Humanities West, P O Box 546
San Francisco, CA 94104

info@humanitieswest.org

"Uncle Toisan" History Alive! Performances

From: judy.hu@gmail.com

Chinese Historical Society of America

Presents...

"Uncle Toisan"

Exclusive school performances to Bay Area public schools this spring

CHSA offered free performances in a similar vein in 2006 with the History Alive! performance of "Chinatown is Burning! Hugh Liang: Eyewitness to the 1906 Earthquake and Fire," the special presentation we had prepared for the Earthquake Centennial celebration.

Performed by Artist-in-Residence Charlie Chin, "Uncle Toisan" features the unique experience of a Chinese American immigrant to the United States. This one-man theater performance has historical relevance to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Angel Island, World War II, and the modern post-civil rights movement.

Performances are offered free to Bay Area public elementary, middle and high schools during May and June this year--just in time for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May.

This Chautauquan performance allows school-age audiences to see history come alive in the form of storytelling in which the presenter takes on the character of an actual person in history, tells that person's story, takes questions from the audience in character, and then finally steps out of the character in order to discuss the character's life.

The "Uncle Toisan" presentation is about one hour long. More detailed information is below. Please contact me if you have any questions; otherwise to schedule bookings of "Uncle Toisan," please contact Michelle Louie at michelle@chsa.org or 415-391-1188 x101.

Judy Hu
Communications Director
Chinese Historical Society of America
965 Clay Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
t: 415-391-1188 x107
e: judy@chsa.org
w: chsa.org


ABOUT "Uncle Toisan"

Uncle Toisan enters the country as a 17 year old "paper son" (immigrants who purchased legal immigration status as a "paper son" of an American citizen), then perseveres through a two-month detention at Angel Island Immigration Station on the eve of its closing in 1939. Angel Island Immigration Station, often called Ellis Island of the West, operated from 1910 to 1940 as a detention center to control the flow of immigrants--largely Chinese, but also Japanese and Russian.

He is then drafted in 1942 to serve in Europe during World War II, returning from the battlefield to face discrimination at home as a laborer in the restaurants and laundries of SF Chinatown. However, he witnesses and experiences the tremendous changes in Chinatown stemming from the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the final lifting of Exclusion, the growth of Asian American political empowerment and the changing demographics of California due to post Vietnam war rounds of immigration.

The premise of the story will be Uncle Toisan playing the Chinese two stringed fiddle called the erhu on the street in Chinatown to make a few extra dollars to supplement his retirement in a small apartment he shares with his nephew's family who recently immigrated from the People's Republic of China. It is the early 1990's and Uncle Toisan is in his late 70's. A group of students from UC Berkeley Asian American Studies class on a walking tour led by CHSA guides, stops to talk to him, inspiring him to share his story.

"Uncle Toisan" is generously supported by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation and the California Council for the Humanities as part of the Council's statewide California Stories Initiative.

Teaching in the Downturn

From: Teaching Tolerance <TeachingTolerance@newsletter.tolerance.org>


From: Teaching Tolerance

Teaching in the Downturn

The economic crisis is a massive problem, but teachers don't have to become its powerless victims. It's true that schools are facing cutbacks, students are being uprooted by foreclosures and teachers' own families are facing hardship. But this is also a teachable moment.

"We Have to Believe We Can Get Through This"
Experts explain where the economy is heading and offer tips for empowering your students to deal with change.

How School Taught Me I Was Poor
A personal account of the "hidden curriculum" that shames and blames students in poverty. With professional development questions by Sonia Nieto.

Chicago Students Rise Up
Even in flush economic times, schools in low-income communities operate on a shoestring. A diverse group of Illinois students is rising up against unequal school funding.

Economic Injustice Affects Us All (Grades 7-12)
Most of us have seen our wages stagnate, but CEO pay has grown by leaps and bounds. This lesson plan lets your students find creative ways to illustrate the facts. From the Viva La Causa teaching kit.

ABCs of Domestic Poverty
What you don't know about poverty can hurt you - and your students. No matter what your economic background, these lesson plans help put poverty in perspective.

• Poverty Lesson for Teachers
• Calculating the Poverty Line (Grades 3 and up)
• Interpreting Wealth Disparities (Grades 6 and up)
• Wealth Matters (Grades 9-12)


Teaching Tolerance
c/o Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Ave.
Montgomery, AL 36104