Technology Strategies for teaching R ussia and its Neighbors

1. Technology Strategiesfor teaching Russia and its Neighbors Kate Althaus CSEEES M.A. RUES candidate UNC Chapel Hill

2. 6billionothers 6BO contains thousands of short videos featuring people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and nationalities speaking about various aspects of their lived experience in their native tongue (most also have English captions). Application in the classroom: Students are each assigned one speaker from the Russian, East European, and Central Asian region to watch. Afterward, they will research the community he or she is from as well as the average statistics for someone of that demographic. Students can then share their findings with the class, and compare and contrast life in each region with each other, as well as with our own here. • Excellent resource for: • Comparative studies of global cultures • Examining attitudes toward one topic (such as the environment) across civilizations and age groups • Understanding global perspectives • Helping students become comfortable with other cultural norms www.6milliardsdautres.org

3. www.gapminder.org • Countless graphing options • Interactive timelines • Easy, free download to computer for offline use • Ability to save custom graphs • Best resource for offering a comparative statistical analyses of nations www.gapminder.org • Application in the classroom: • Students can select the graph variables they think will be best to test • Before viewing each graph, students can predict which nations might be the highest, explain why certain nations have similar patterns • Pause interactive timelines during years where a nation experienced a noticeable jump in numbers, and ask students to hypothesize about this jump using historical knowledge

4. www.soviethistory.org • Examines the entire history of the Soviet Union through multiple lenses • Easy-to-read passages • Excellent image resource • Short primary source videos(w/English captions) organized topically • Feature which allows viewer to add section of interest to a stored “syllabus” for quick recall 17 Moments of Soviet History

5. LIBRARYOFCONGRESS Prokudin-Gorskii Collection Nearly 3,000 stunning images of everyday life in Russia taken by the official tsarist photographer, Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii from 1905-1915. Brumfield Collection Landscape photos from across Russia, with subjects ranging from beautiful Russian Orthodox cathedrals to dismal Soviet-era remnants. Taken by American professor William Brumfield.

6. Lessonidea: TheBerlinWall context: Constructed in 1961, the Berlin Wall was designed to keep residents of East Berlin, which had become Soviet territory postwar, from fleeing to the west. Because this wall divided a city, it not only has political and historical context, but geographical and environmental as well. It serves as an interesting segway into discussions about how Europe was divided after WWII, as well as about the steps taken to ensure conflicts are resolved after wars in general. In addition, it directly affected both German and US history, which allows it to be relatable to an assortment of nations.

7. TheBerlinWall: content 6BillionOthers A few videos of older German men discussing the impact of the Wall on their lives Newseum: The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall Excellent virtual exhibit on various aspects of the Wall and its impact on the people of East and West Germany. Newseum also contains an assortment of front page stories regarding its construction and fall that are great primary sources to look at, and to compare each country’s coverage of the event www.6milliardsdautres.org ABCWorldNews: Peter Jennings covers the Berlin Wall as it falls, shows the amazingly energetic and peaceful environment, and discusses the power of freedom www.newseum.org fallofthewall HistoryChannel: The Berlin Wall Deconstructed Quick video overview of the construction, existence, and deconstruction of the Berlin wall. The History Channel website also contains a number of other, longer, videos on the Wall. www.history.com

8. Lessonidea: Chernobyl Context: On April 25, 1986 in the town of Chernobyl, Ukraine, the world’s biggest manmade disaster in history occurred when reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant failed during testing, causing the reactor to explode and deadly amounts of nuclear waste to be released. This nuclear fallout was made worse by the fact that the Soviet government chose not to report it for 4 days after, going so far as to encourage the residents of Chernobyl and neighboring towns to resume their daily lives during that time. Chernobyl is a grave example of human impact on the environment, as well as of government energy and environmental policies and their consequences on a society. It is particularly relevant today, as the recent nuclear catastrophe in Japan has left many wondering and debating about the costs, benefits, and risks of nuclear power everywhere. Also, because North Carolina is the home of Progress Energy—one of America’s largest nuclear power companies—a discussion of nuclear energy fits well within our own state’s history, geography, and ecology.

9. Chernobyl: content 6BO: Video of older Ukrainian woman discussing life in her village post Chernobyl 17MomentsofSovietHistory Excellent blurb on the events of Chernobyl, along with photos, external links to primary documents, and a quick primary source video (w/captions) taken via helicopter immediately after the explosion www.6milliardsdeautres.org TimmSuess: photographer who recently went to the area and took hauntingly beautiful images of the now ghost town www.soviethistory.org www.timmsuess.com NatGeo: complete Chernobyl lesson plan which offers good ideas on how to effectively convey the significance of the disaster depending on subject matter and age groups Timeline: Museum of Communism Soviet Timeline www.nationalgeographic.com

10. Mitch Epstein: Photographer who captures images of power plants in America. Provides a comparitive view of energy sources that will allow students to further examine human impact on the environment, the impact of energy on societies, and the impact of societies on local geography through the lens of our own nation. Chernobyl: content Paul Fusco: Writer and photographer who created virtual exhibit on the children of Chernobyl residing in Belarussian orphanages and asylums today. Warning: Images are very emotional and graphic, and may be too much for certain grade levels to handle. www.mitchepstein.net PaulFusco EnergyJusticeMaps: Site which features maps of America that contain color coded dots for each power plant and energy source. You can selectively chose which type of energy to appear on the map, as well as having the option to zoom into your local area to specifically look at all the energy sources in your region. A great tool for showing students the types of energy we have depending on the geography, climate, and population density of an area. www.energyjustice.net

11. Thanks so much for your time and attention. If you would like further information or to stay connected with my ongoing research and education ideas, please visit: teachrussia.wikispaces.com Photo: Berlin Wall graffiti