Curriculum Catalog
Afghanistan
The United States in Afghanistan
Students grapple with questions regarding the involvement of the United States in Afghanistan by exploring Afghanistan’s culture and history and then examining the events that led to the Soviet invasion, the role of Osama bin Laden, and the U.S. involvement following 2001.
American Revolution
The American Revolution: Experiences of Rebellion
Students consider the perspectives of various stakeholders—colonists, enslaved Africans, and Native peoples—and explore the factors that led to rebellion, war, and the independence of the U.S.
Brazil
Brazil: A History of Change
The largest South American country has an often surprising and overlooked history. In this unit, students see Brazil as a unique, dynamic country with an important history, diverse culture, and its own path of development.
China
China on the World Stage: Weighing the U.S. Response
Students explore the history of U.S. relations with China and consider the implications of China’s economic growth, societal transformation, and increasing international role.
Civics
Civics Lessons for Student Engagement
These eleven stand-alone lessons have a special focus on civic education. Students explore the founding documents, important Supreme Court cases, and key congressional debates.
Civil Rights
Freedom Now: The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi
Students trace the history of the Black freedom struggle from Reconstruction through the 1960s. Readings and activities focus on the grassroots movement to achieve civil rights for African Americans.
Civil War
The Civil War and the Meaning of Liberty
Students probe the history of the United States from 1830 to 1865. Using primary sources, readings, and lessons, students consider the experiences of people in the United States as well as the issues driving the political confrontation over slavery and the meaning of liberty.
Climate Change
Climate Change and Questions of Justice
Students examine the causes and effects of global warming and delve into questions of who is most responsible for and vulnerable to the changing climate. Students also grapple with how to respond to climate change in ways that are both effective and fair.
Colonization in Africa
Colonization and Independence in Africa
Students explore Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and consider the changes colonialism imposed on African governments, economies, and societies. Students consider some of the ways Africans responded to European colonialism.
Cuba
History, Revolution, and Reform: New Directions for Cuba
Cubans have very different opinions about their country and its history, particularly about the Cuban Revolution that began in 1959. In this unit, students explore Cuba’s history, the Cuban Revolution, and consider the country’s future.
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering Its Place in Cold War History
Students probe the complex relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, and examine the crisis that brought the world to the brink of war. The unit incorporates groundbreaking research on the Cuban missile crisis.
Ethnic Studies
Lessons for Ethnic Studies
This collection of twelve lessons selected from the Choices Program’s curriculum series provides teachers with stand-alone activities that have a special focus on ethnic studies for U.S. history courses.
Foreign Aid
Dilemmas of Foreign Aid: Debating U.S. Policies
Students explore the history of U.S. foreign assistance and institutions that distribute aid today, considering the trade-offs of aid and articulating views on the future direction of U.S. policy.
French Revolution
The French Revolution
Students trace the history of France during this epoch and explore France’s political and social organization, as well as its competition for empire, its financial crises, and the efforts to reshape French society.
Genocide
Confronting Genocide:
Never Again?
Students explore the evolution of the international community’s response to genocide and examine how the U.S. has responded to multiple cases of genocide.
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution
Students trace the development of the American colonial world and one of the greatest wealth-producing colonies in world history. They consider the groups involved in the conflict and reflect on the legacies of one of the most successful revolts of enslaved people in history.
Human Rights
Competing Visions of Human Rights: Questions for U.S. Policy
Students probe the history of human rights and consider options for defining and protecting rights.
Immigration
Immigration and the U.S. Policy Debate
Students explore the history of immigration to the United States and recent U.S. policy as they consider the complexities of the U.S. immigration debate and prepare to articulate their own views about this issue.
Imperial America
Imperial America: U.S. Global Expansion, 1890-1915
Students explore the historical connections between the United States’ creation of a settler colonial empire in North America (what is often called “westward expansion”) and the nation’s acquisition of an overseas colonial empire following the War of 1898.
Indian Independence
Indian Independence and the Question of Partition
Students examine the history leading up to the British withdrawal from the Indian subcontinent in 1947 and the legacies of partition that remain today.
International Trade
International Trade in a Globalized World
Students explore the controversies surrounding international trade and consider the issues that affect trade including globalization in the United States and abroad.
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution
Students trace the history of Iran from its early dynasties to the present and explore Iran’s cultural history, its efforts to establish a representative democracy, and the role the great powers played in shaping events in Iran.
Iraq
A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq
Readings and activities explore the history of Iraq, help students understand events surrounding the U.S.-led invasion, and examine the effects of the war on Iraq, the United States, and the international community.
Isolationism
Between World Wars: FDR and the Age of Isolationism
Students examine the events in the United States and overseas in the early years of World War II and then recreate the great debate that took place in the United States over the Lend-Lease Act.
Japanese American Incarceration
Japanese American Incarceration in World War II
In this unit (FREE in Digital Editions), students examine U.S.-Japan relations before World War II, experiences of incarcerated Japanese Americans, and ways the Japanese American community and others in the U.S. have remembered incarceration.
Mexico
Between Two Worlds: Mexico at the Crossroads
Students explore Mexico’s economic and cultural transformation and probe Mexico’s complex identity and history, coming face-to-face with the difficult policy choices confronting the people of Mexico today.
Middle East
The Middle East: Questions for U.S. Policy
Students examine oil and geopolitics, issues between the Palestinians and Israel, the Egyptian revolution, Syrian refugees, and other issues that have shaped U.S. relations in the region.
New Nation
We the People:
A New Nation
Rather than taking the usual approach of learning history from only the perspective of the elite political leaders, students consider the opportunities, hardships, aspirations, and questions facing people across society in the United States in its earliest years—from 1783 to 1830.
Nigeria
Nigeria: History, Identity, and Change
Students explore Nigeria’s history—from the precolonial to the present—and consider the future of Africa’s most populous country.
Nuclear Weapons
The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons
Students probe the history of nuclear weapons and the concept of deterrence. They examine arguments for and against nuclear weapons, and the challenges of leftover Cold War arsenals, proliferation, and the threat of nuclear terrorism.
Racial Slavery
Racial Slavery in the Americas: Resistance, Freedom, and Legacies
This unit provides a wide-ranging overview of racial slavery in the Americas and the opportunity for students to consider how the past shapes the present.
Russia
Russia and the United States: Perspectives from History—Choices for Today
Students survey the economic issues and political developments that have shaped the outlook of policymakers in the Kremlin and Washington, D.C.
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution
The second edition of this unit is a must-have overhaul and replacement for first edition of this popular unit. Students explore the events leading up to Lenin and the Bolsheviks’ assumption of power; the political and economic conditions that led to the fall of the Tsar; and the competing political ideologies in revolutionary-era Russia.
South Africa
Freedom in Our Lifetime: South Africa’s Struggle
Students examine the history of South Africa and the development of a race-based society, the effects of apartheid, and the use of violence by some members of the anti-apartheid community.
Syria
The Syrian Civil War
Students explore the history of Syria from the Ottoman Empire to French colonial rule, Syrian independence, and the rise of the Assad regimes as historical background to understand the recent conflict.
Terrorism
Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy
Students consider the changing nature of terrorism, the motivations of terrorists, and the policy challenges for the United States.
Turkey
Empire, Republic, Democracy: Turkey’s Past and Future
Students trace the final years of the Ottoman Empire, the struggle for independence, and Turkish resistance against European imperialism.
U.S. Role in the World
The U.S. Role in a Changing World
Students identify global issues, assess national priorities, and decide for themselves the role the United States should play in the world.
United Nations
The United Nations: Challenges and Change
Students consider the record of the United Nations since its founding and examine the UN’s role in the world through an evaluation of three areas of UN work: the Security Council, peacekeeping, and human rights.
Vietnam
The Vietnam War:
Origins, History, and Legacies
This unit tells the “long history” of the destructive, deadly, and divisive U.S. war in Vietnam. Students examine the war’s long-term origins, investigate its complex history, and explore its lasting legacies.
Westward Expansion
Westward Expansion:
A New History
Students explore the transformation of North America in the nineteenth century and probe this complicated and violent history, considering the major events and policies that accompanied U.S. territorial growth and the effects at a local level.