International Studies Resource Guide

THE FOLLOWING is a list of websites that offer a variety of resources for international education, including classroom materials, professional development opportunities for educators, and international programs for students. Far from exhaustive, this list is a sampling of mostly non-commercial and not widely publicized organizations and programs that provide high-quality materials and instructional support for the K-12 audience. Please visit www.InternationalEd.org for a fuller list of curriculum resources, for information on travel and exchange programs for educators, and for updates on state policies and actions related to international education.

Curriculum Materials by Region

Africa

Africa in the Classroom
Michigan State University
http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu
Michigan State University's African Studies Center is possibly the largest research institute on Africa in the United States. The Africa in the Classroom website for teachers and students includes interdisciplinary modules, country profiles, student activities, and more. The center also produces information about Africa for scholars, policy makers, publishers, the media, foreign service officers, and the public.

African Studies Center
Boston University
www.bu.edu/africa
The African Studies Center was established in 1953 as one of the first graduate programs in the United States to offer a multidisciplinary African Studies curriculum. Over the past decades, it has achieved international recognition for its commitment to teaching, research, and publications. The center offers professional development opportunities for teachers, some classroom resources (such as a teaching poster and bibliography), and an online tutorial that covers the geography, history, and politics of the countries on the African continent.

Center for African Studies
University of Illinois
www.afrst.uiuc.edu
Established in 1970, the Center for African Studies is one of the leading African Studies programs in the United States. It offers curriculum development workshops for teachers, grants, study trips, classroom presentations, a lending library, and downloadable classroom resources on African arts, culture, history, and, to a lesser extent, science. The site also features a virtual trade mission activity.

Americas

The Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP)
www.claspprograms.org
This site has many links to K-12 resources and information on Latin American countries, children's literature (many books in Spanish or Portuguese), and other international resources.

The International Studies Education Project (ISTEP)
University of California, San Diego
www.rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/istep
ISTEP publishes a newsletter three times each year on teaching about Mexico. The site also features annotated links to print and multimedia instructional materials on Mexico.

Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC)
University of Texas
www.lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/k-12
The LANIC website, developed by the University of Texas Institute of Latin American Studies, offers extensive links to K-12 resources on Latin America. It is a particularly good site for student Web searches and research.

Asia

Asia for Educators
Columbia University
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu and www.asiainthecurriculum.org
With contributions from renowned Asia scholars at Columbia and other universities, this site presents timelines, reading lists, and curriculum integration charts for visitors to peruse. The site also features interactive units with primary-source images and titles such as The Mongols in World History and The Tale of Genji. The site is focused mostly on East Asia and is appropriate for those teaching upper-secondary school or college prep.

Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS)
University of Illinois
www.aems.uiuc.edu
AEMS is a searchable database of audiovisual resources on all regions of Asia and on Asia's interactions with other world areas. The site also features a selection of free teaching units, a catalog of selected resources for K-12 education, reviews of new and significant resources, and links to related sites.

AskAsia, Asia Society
www.askasia.org
This site features interdisciplinary classroom resources for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, all of which have been prepared and vetted by scholars or experts and tested in classrooms. The site offers readings, lesson plans, maps, and art images covering a broad range of topics and spanning the 30-plus countries that make up Asia. AskAsia.org also serves as a portal site, linking the education community to resources on U.S./Asia business and current affairs.

Middle East

The Council on Islamic Education
www.cie.org
The Council on Islamic Education provides services, resources, and research-based tools such as curriculum materials and professional development courses for teachers. The site also offers free background materials and teaching units rich with primary-source texts and images.

Outreach World
www.outreachworld.org
Outreach World is a new online community of the federally funded National Resource Centers on Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, and International Studies. Currently a pilot site focused mainly on the Middle East, outreachworld.org has a searchable library of teaching and learning materials.

General International

CyberSchoolBus
United Nations
www.un.org/cyberschoolbus
The CyberSchoolBus provides lesson plans and ideas for projects that emphasize social responsibility on global issues. Through the site, classrooms from around the world can work collaboratively on these projects. The site also includes links to UN documents and other sites for both teachers and students.

Foreign Policy Association
www.fpa.org
This site provides access to the Great Decisions curriculum, which includes annually updated facts, background information, and impartial analysis on current global issues — including weapons of mass destruction, Middle East reform, Islam, the relationship between the United States and Europe, and the role of the media in democracies. Great Decisions is written by experts and edited by the Foreign Policy Association.

Globalization 101
www.globalization101.org
Globalization 101 looks at the definition of globalization and the complex, often controversial issues surrounding it. While student-centered, the site includes teacher resources on such broad topics as health, trade, technology, migration, development, and more. The site includes an issues-analysis section as well as an "Ask an Expert" feature.

World in Transition
Southern Center for International Studies
www.southerncenter.org/world_in_transition.html
The World in Transition series consists of instructional guides and accompanying videotapes covering seven world regions from geographic, economic, political, cultural, and environmental perspectives. The units can be ordered from this website of the Southern Center for International Studies, an affiliate of the World Affairs Council. To keep the units current, the center provides free downloadable updates.

Curriculum Materials by Subject

Social Studies

The American Forum for Global Education
www.globaled.org
The American Forum develops classroom resources, publishes reports on issues in international education, and organizes study tours and exchange programs for students and teachers. This site features free downloadable classroom materials.

Center for Teaching International Relations (CTIR)
University of Denver
www.du.edu/ctir
CTIR develops curriculum materials for a variety of subject areas, including social studies, art, the environment, and language arts; conducts programs for middle and high school students; and teaches graduate-level inservice courses for K-12 educators. The center also makes available a wide range of publications, provides support for international schools, and produces the student program World Affairs Challenge. By following the publications link, teachers can preview and download sample lesson plans from some of CTIR's recently released resources.

Choices for the 21st Century Education Project
Brown University
www.choices.edu
This project of Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies strives to strengthen the American public's involvement in international issues. It offers a series of curriculum materials that address current and historical international issues and provides workshops for secondary school teachers.

Economics International
www.ncee.net/ei
The international program of the National Council on Economic Education, supported primarily by the U.S. Department of Education, provides educational assistance to teachers in 21 countries that are transitioning to market economies and translates these experiences into resources to help teach American students lessons about the global economy.

Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR)
www.esrnational.org
ESR helps educators work with young people to develop the social skills and the character they need to succeed in school and society. An important focus of ESR's work is to help students understand national and world conflicts and events. The site offers free lesson plans on the latest world crises and hot spots.

Facing History and Ourselves
www.facing.org
Facing History offers curriculum materials and professional development programs on especially tragic periods of history, such as the genocides that occurred during the Holocaust and in Rwanda and Armenia; injustices toward African Americans throughout U.S. history; and exclusionary acts against Asian immigrants to the U.S. during WW II. The site features multimedia resources, study guides, an online teaching community, and links to other Web and print resources.

National Geographic Society
www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions
Xpeditions is the National Geographic Society's homepage for lesson plans and student activities. With thousands of classroom resources, including maps and images, teaching ideas, games, and homework help, Xpeditions helps learners of all ages understand other peoples, cultures, and places in the world within an overarching geographical framework.

Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS)
University of California, Berkeley
http://ias.berkeley.edu/orias
This is a joint program of the area studies centers at the University of California, Berkeley, that provides scholarly international studies resources and professional development for K-12 teachers. ORIAS offers Web-based resources and curriculum material, free workshops, tuition scholarships for professional development, a lending library for educators, and a visiting scholar program for teachers doing independent research.

Peace Corps World Wise Schools
www.peacecorps.gov/wws
Peace Corps volunteers and alumni contribute learning materials for teachers and students, including lesson plans, reports from around the world, and in-classroom presentations. Educators can incorporate these materials into existing units in subjects such as language arts, environmental education, and international economics or use them as the centerpiece of an interdisciplinary curriculum.

Programs in International Education Resources (PIER)
Yale University
www.yale.edu/ycias/pier
PIER provides summer institutes, travel and field study opportunities, professional development workshops, onsite training programs, curriculum development and evaluation, online lesson plans, resource services, consulting, and clearinghouse services.

Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE)
Stanford University
http://spice.stanford.edu
As a program of Stanford University's Institute for International Studies, SPICE specializes in teacher seminars in curriculum and professional development, which focus on contemporary issues in the context of culture and history. The site offers over 100 curriculum units on Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the global environment, and international political economy. Curriculum materials feature significant primary-source images and texts. The site offers several free, downloadable curricula.

Language Arts

Beyond a Thousand and One Nights: A Sampler of Literature from Muslim Civilization
Council on Islamic Education
www.cie.org
Available on the CIE website, this excellent curriculum unit uses literature and art to explore contributions of Muslim peoples throughout world history. Although part of an online bookstore, this Web page allows users to download free three chapters ready for classroom use.

EdSitement
National Endowment for the Humanities
http://edsitement.neh.gov/tab_lesson.asp?Subject Areas=4
EdSitement catalogues what are described as the best curriculum units and lesson plans available. The website's English language arts section, which is arranged alphabetically, offers a variety of teaching ideas and materials.

Math and Science

The GLOBE Program
www.globe.gov
GLOBE is a worldwide, hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science education program. Scientists, teachers, and students team up with international partners to teach and learn together through collaborative scientific investigations. GLOBE is a joint program of the U.S. State Department, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, and Colorado State University.

The JASON Project
www.jason.org
The JASON Project is an Internet-based, multidisciplinary program designed to stimulate students' analytical skills. Very international in scope, the program allows students to work with scientists who are dispatched to locations throughout the world to examine the earth's biological, geographical, and historical development.

Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development Project (SEED)
www.seed.slb.com
Scientists and engineers share their expertise with students from around the world in grade-appropriate articles and experiments. Students can conduct science projects and share results with international peers in seven languages — Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and English — through this site.

Arts

Asian Art Outlook
www.askasia.org/AsianArt
An online Asian art teaching guide that features masterpieces from Asia Society's Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, III Collection. The site includes downloadable teaching units, high-resolution images, historical maps, and more.

Cleveland Museum of Art
www.clevelandart.org/educatn
The Cleveland Museum of Art's impressive collection includes art and artifacts from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. The site includes an online collection that provides digital access to primary resources, as well as education programs that feature other classroom tools and professional development opportunities.

Japan Society Gallery
www.japansociety.org
The Japan Society Gallery is an excellent source for researching and understanding Japanese art. Its education programs provide broad historical and cultural context for teachers and students. Its K-12-focused Journey Through Japan program offers an online interactive timeline and atlas, with photographs and digital copies of art masterpieces. The site also includes downloadable lesson plans, bibliographies, and other classroom resources.

Metropolitan Museum of Art
www.metmuseum.org/education
With one of the world's greatest collections of art and artifacts from around the globe, the Met offers on its website many programs, activities, workshops, and printed and electronic resources created for teachers and students. The site also includes images of more than 3,500 objects from the Met's collection and a timeline of art history.

Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies
http://smithsonianeducation.org/educators
The Smithsonian Institution's online education center offers programs, services, and resources for teachers and students. This user-friendly website allows visitors to search by topic (see the Art & Design section), academic discipline, grade, or world region.

World Languages

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
www.actfl.org
ACTFL is dedicated to promoting foreign language and cultural studies as an integral component of American education and society. The organization conducts research and helps shape policy but also offers many useful resources for classroom teachers.

The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
www.cal.org
CAL offers an array of services to educators working in bilingual education, English as a second language, and foreign language education. Ñandutí, a CAL program, focuses on language learning in grades K-8.

The College Board
www.collegeboard.org
The College Board has recently announced a number of new Advanced Placement tests in world languages and cultures. Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and Russian courses and tests are currently being developed. Watch the website for more information, including study guides, course materials, and other testing tools.

FL Teach
www.cortland.edu/flteach
The FL Teach website may be the most comprehensive collection of information about K-12 foreign language instruction and related resources available. The site provides an extraordinary annotated list of links to resources, organizations, and materials related to foreign language instruction, including language-specific resources.

The National Foreign Language Center (NFLC)
University of Maryland
www.nflc.org
The NFLC assists with language policy, planning, and model projects for language education.

National Foreign Language Resource Centers (NFLRC)
www.cal.org/earlylang/resnfl.htm
NFLRCs are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and provide information, training, and resource materials for foreign language education. Some of these centers specialize in particular world regions or language groups.

The National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL)
http://nnell.org
NNELL focuses on language learning in grades K-8.

Professional Development

National Consortium for Teaching Asia (NCTA)
www.NCTAsia.org
NCTA is a consortium of university-based Asia Studies centers that works with a broad network of teachers from nearly all U.S. states. The consortium facilitates teaching and learning about East Asia in world history, geography, social studies, and literature courses. The site features professional development and other related opportunities for teachers, organized by state, as well as many useful links.

Primary Source
www.primarysource.org
Primary Source aims to strengthen teacher knowledge of world history through an interdisciplinary approach. The program works with universities and master teachers to provide graduate courses, seminars, and study tours for K-12 teachers and administrators, as well as curriculum development support and materials for school districts.

Title VI National Resource Centers
www.internationaled.org/classroomresources
Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, provides for grants to higher education institutions to establish and operate language and area/international studies centers. These centers are resources for the teaching of modern foreign language; for instruction in related fields to provide full understanding of areas, regions, or countries in which the languages being taught are commonly used; for research and training in international studies; and for instruction and research on issues in world affairs. Although primarily focused on higher education, most centers offer professional development workshops for K-12 teachers.

World Affairs Councils
www.worldaffairscouncils.org/Councils.htm
World Affairs Councils run school programs in conjunction with their local, regional, or statewide school systems. Services include curricular resources, Model UN programs and other simulations for students, teacher professional development, study abroad programs, career seminars, and more.

Technology

Friendship Through Education
www.friendshipthrougheducation.org
This effort focuses on expanding links between U.S. schools and those in Islamic countries, including Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, and Bahrain, as well as in Afghan refugee camps. The program provides information on how students can connect with their peers in these countries to foster mutual respect and greater understanding of cultural differences through letters, e-mail, art, collaborative projects, and exchanges.

Global Nomads Group (GNG)
www.gng.org
GNG helps schools connect with schools in other countries through videoconferencing. GNG can support schools by finding partner schools in other countries, planning curriculum and collaborative project ideas, and providing hardware and technology support. Exchanges can be as short as a one-time, one-hour videoconference or can develop to become a regular communications and learning tool among schools.

Global SchoolNet (GSN)
www.globalschoolnet.org
GSN has facilitated international online school partnerships for over a decade. It partners with schools, universities, and community and business organizations to develop free or low-cost programs to help students become internationally literate and responsible global citizens through international collaborative project work.

International Education and Resource Network (iEARN)
www.iearn.org
iEARN is a nonprofit organization made up of over 20,000 schools in over 100 countries. Since 1988, iEARN has pioneered online school linkages that enable students to engage in educational and service-learning projects with peers in their own countries and around the world. Approximately 750,000 to 1,000,000 students each day are engaged in collaborative project work worldwide.

Student Programs

The Capital Forum, Choices for the 21st Century
Brown University
www.choices.edu
The Capital Forum is an experiential civic education initiative designed to give high school students a voice in debates on current national and international issues, to raise awareness on global issues, and to develop a foundation for long-term civic engagement. The program involves students both within the social studies classroom and at their state capitol.

Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC)
http://epiic.org
Developed in 1991, EPIIC allows high school students to participate in a challenging, intellectual simulation on important international issues. EPIIC staff members work closely with schools to develop both the simulation topic and curriculum materials, covering such themes as "The Future of Democracy" or "Oil and Water." EPIIC has some 30 school partnerships in seven eastern and midwestern states.

Model UN
United Nations Association of the United States
www.unausa.org
In Model UN, students step into the shoes of ambassadors to debate current global issues. Student delegates prepare draft resolutions, plot strategy, negotiate with supporters and adversaries, and resolve conflicts — all in the interest of mobilizing international cooperation to resolve problems that affect every nation.

NetAid World Class
www.netaid.org/projects/worldclass
NetAid World Class is an educational role-play game designed for 8- to 12-year-old students. Each player assumes the identity of a child from India and confronts a number of obstacles in meeting basic needs, such as food, shelter, or attending school. Appropriate for classroom use, each kit comes with 32 child profiles. Also visit NetAid's kids' website at www.netaid.org/kids for student forums and activities.

World Affairs Challenge
www.du.edu/ctir/wac.html
An academic program designed to stimulate interest in and action on global affairs among middle and high school students. Recognized for its depth and substance, the program asks students to focus on real-world issues, spending up to 12 weeks on research and analysis before competing in Challenge events (similar to local and regional Model UN simulations). The program model encourages students to think critically, work collaboratively, and formulate solutions to authentic world problems. — SLK and VS

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