On American Experience: Victory in the Pacific

Description

Filmmaker Austin Hoyt answers questions on his new documentary, American Experience: Victory in the Pacific, which examines the final year of World War II in the Pacific, including the rationale for using the atomic bomb, and features firsthand recollections of both American and Japanese civilians and soldiers. The presentation includes a collage of audio and visual clips from the film.

Audio and video options are available.

Piecing Together Our History

Description

Director of the Center for Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University, Gary Okihiro, delivers the keynote speech for the opening ceremonies of Boston College's Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. He discusses the difficulty of establishing an identity as an Asian-Pacific American and the history of Asian-Pacific Americans and Asian immigration to the U.S.

Manzanar: Desert Diamonds Behind Barbed Wire

Description

According to the Apple Learning Interchange site, "The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the National Park Service present a sobering visit to the Manzanar War Relocation Center. This National Historic Site provides a compelling classroom to relive the experience of Japanese Americans held captive during World War II, as well as the plight of countless nationalities who face discrimination and intolerance still today. This is a tale of the indomitable Issei and Nisei generations. Watchers can learn through the emotional memories of survivors, and the invincible cheers of detainees at baseball games that still echo across the desert valley.

Lesson Plans Library

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Introductory graphic (edited), Lesson Plans Library
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Offers hundreds of lesson plans composed by teachers, on a variety of subjects, organized into three groups—K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Provides 31 plans for grades 9-12 on U.S. history topics, including civil rights, balancing budgets, jazz, opposing views of the Vietnam War, Native American history, the Cold War, Japanese-Americans during World War II, racism, NATO, the Salem Witch Trials, U.S.-Cuba relations, and "The Power of Fiction," focusing on socially-relevant texts. Also includes 33 Literature plans—many on works by American authors—and plans for world history and ancient history. Valuable for high-school level history teachers.