Classroom Materials: Cultural History

• Ethnicity and American Cultures Topics Through the 19th Century

  A syllabus by Leslie Kawaguchi that begins with the peopling of North America and ends with the establishment of the U.S. and the 1790 immigration policy that provided naturalization to “free white persons” despite the cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity of the colonial period.

• Creation Stories and Epics

  This project for undergraduates and instructors offers introductions to the Epic of Gilgamesh, the book of Genesis, and the Popol Vuh. The pages guide readers through a series of basic questions about their origins and meaning. It also provides links to complete or partial translations of each text plus related information on writing, ancient visual arts, archaeology, and other creation stories.

• World Civilizations: The Ancient Period to 500 CE

  In David Smith's project, students use world history methods (Big Picture, Diffusion, Syncretism, Comparison, and Common Phenomena) to interpret secondary and primary materials. Primary material is handled through directed reading questions that focus on three classics: the Odyssey, the Ramayana and the Analects.