On August 14, 2018, the Jackson School of International Studies hosted a daylong workshop for middle, high school, and community college educators, “100 Years Since World War I: The Making of Modern Europe.” Marking the centennial of the end of the Great War, this workshop brought faculty from departments across the UW together to enrich teachers’ knowledge of the political, economic, and security impacts of the war over the past one hundred years.
Ryan Hauck (World Affairs Council) leads teachers in the curriculum session
An annual fixture of the Jackson School’s summer programming, the teacher workshop is co-sponsored by the Ellison Center, the Center for West European Studies, and the Center for Global Studies, and operates in partnership with the World Affairs Council (WAC) of Seattle. The workshop was very well-attended this year, drawing participants from up and down the Puget Sound area and included one teacher from as far away as Minnesota. On hand to facilitate the workshop curriculum sessions was Ryan Hauck, Director of the WAC Global Classroom and teacher at Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish. Ryan led participants in thinking critically about the presentations they heard, and how those themes and lessons could be incorporated into innovative and engaging curricula for students.
Throughout the day, teachers heard from expert faculty about the effects of World War I and World War II on modern politics and security in Europe.
Professors Steve Pfaff and James Felak discuss the geopolitics of Europe
The presentations began with Sociology Professor Steve Pfaff giving an overview of the political conditions immediately after World War I through 1970. This gave participants a good basis for understanding the contexts that led to some of the institutions and political organizations in modern Europe. Next, Professor James Felak (History) talked about the collapse of the Habsburg Empire and the reverberations felt throughout Europe. This focus on Central Europe was new and welcome to the attendees. After lunch, Jackson School Associate Professor Chris Jones gave an in-depth exploration of the changes in geography and security across Europe as alliances and borders shifted following the Wars. James Caporaso, Political Science Professor and Jean Monnet Chair for the EU Center, finished the faculty presentations by explaining the formation of the European Union and economic transformations that European states experienced post-World War II.
Workshop attendees participate in a learning exercise
After all of the presentations, teachers reflected on how they might interpret these themes in their own classrooms. Using resources put together by the World Affairs Council, Ryan Hauck led participants in a series of curriculum exercises and plenty of thoughtful discussion followed. The resource packet for this workshop contains a multitude of useful learning resources for teachers to incorporate into their classrooms, along with lesson plans and links to articles and interactive websites.
More photos from the workshop:
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- Professor James Felak shows a map of Central Europe
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- Educators try out curriculum activities
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- Educators try out curriculum activities
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- Educators try out curriculum activities
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- Educators try out curriculum activities
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- Workshop attendees listen to faculty presentations
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- Professor James Caporaso explains the European Union
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- Workshop participants networking
