Teaching about Terrorism (Spring 2003)
The terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia the death of more Americans provide a sharp reminder that the United States is still threatened by terrorism. Simulations in American cities of radiological or biological attacks remind us that the threat is real and of immediate concern. How should we respond to terrorism? What U.S. interests are at stake in this issue? What values and interests should guide U.S. policy toward terrorism? What should our long-term goals be? What steps should the United States take in the coming months and years?
This lesson plan invites students to explore four divergent policy options on the question of how the United States should respond to terrorism and then to articulate their own considered perspective on this issue.
Responding to Terrorism is an interactive lesson plan that engages students in consideration of divergent policy alternatives concerning terrorism.
This online lesson is excerpted from Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy, a one-week curriculum unit that provides a substantive look at this question.
This lesson includes:
Policy Options: Four Policy Options help students think about divergent policy alternatives, each driven by different underlying values, each with merits and trade-offs. The Options provided have been developed with input from the research staff at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. The Policy Options can be printed for classroom use from the Choices web site.
Lesson Plan: A two-period lesson plan is provided. It is focused on role-play and deliberation exploring the four Policy Options. Teachers are encouraged to integrate the suggested background resources into their courses as appropriate.
Ballot Activity on America's Role in the World: After consideration of this issue, we invite you to give students an opportunity to wrestle with the larger question of America's role in the world using an online ballot activity. What do they think about America's role? What issues are of most concern to them? What kind of world do they want in the 21st century? A 5-day published unit, The U.S. Role in a Changing World, is also available.
Supplemental Materials
See Supplemental Materials on terrorism for links to additional web resources. These resources are continually updated.
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Review a list of Choices publications: In addition to its online resources, the Choices Program publishes a wide range of curriculum units on historical turning points and current issues. All published units include extensive background readings and accompanying lesson plans. Ordering is available online.