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History Classes Become Economic Crash Courses
on April 13, 2009
History teachers have long struggled to connect students of today to the events of yesterday. But in these times -- with the economic downturn and Barack Obama's stimulus package -- North Texas teachers have been able to engage students like never before by using the present to examine the past, The Dallas Morning News reports.
In previous history classes, students would interview senior citizens who lived through the Great Depression. But now, the financial crash of the 1930s has a modern-day context, and teachers say they have seen students "experience 'aha' moments as they study 1930s bank collapses, unemployment figures and soup lines."
Recently, one class of students at Mountain View College in Dallas compared Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal with Obama and his stimulus plan. They found a number of parallels: both men were charismatic during their campaigns, used technology of the day -- the radio and the Internet respectively -- to connect with people and responded quickly to the country's financial collapse. The subject has hit home now that students are more likely to know someone who has been laid off or lost a home.
"It makes it just a little more real now," said Liz Nichols, Mountain View's interim executive dean of arts, humanities and social sciences division.
For the complete story, visit The Dallas Morning News.
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