HISTORY AND THE HEADLINES 2: GLOBAL ISSUES IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT

THE MISSION

To study recent news stories and to place these within an historical context.

PROCEDURE

Choose one of the four following options:

OPTION A:  THE IN-DEPTH NEWS FEATURE

Read the articles included in one of the special reports listed below.  If necessary, complement the featured source with some extra independent research.  Write a detailed entry that 1) describes the issue or theme; 2) provides details about contemporary developments; 3) frames current events against the backdrop of history; and 4) concludes with your own analysis and commentary.

Possible Special Reports

• Climate Change:  A series of articles from the German periodical Spiegel On-Line.

• Burma's Struggle:  A BBC Special Report.

• Burma:  A series of articles from the German periodical Spiegel On-Line.

• South Sudan -- New Nation: A series of articles from the BBC.

• Tension In Tibet:  An in-depth BBC report.

• Zimbabwe -- New Era?:  A BBC Special Report.

• Turkey:  A series of articles from the German periodical Spiegel On-Line.

• Death Of Bin Laden:  A special feature from the BBC.

• Debt Crisis:  A series of articles from the German periodical Spiegel On-Line.

• Inside Europe -- A Guide To The Changing Face of the European Union:  A BBC News special that analyzes recent developments within the European Union.

• 1989 -- Europe's Revolutions:  A 20-year BBC retrospective.

• Muslims In Europe: An in-depth BBC feature.

•   , BBC Special Repor   , BBC Special Report:  Use these two special BBC biographies of the present and former Popes as a window into the Papacy and the contemporary issues confronting the Catholic Church.

• Rwanda Genocide -- Ten Years On:  A retrospective on the 1994 genocide.

• Somalia In Crisis:  An in-depth BBC report.

• Death Of Milosevic:  The BBC uses the death of the former Serbian leader as an opportunity to reflect upon the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.

• North Korea -- Secretive State: A BBC feature.

OPTION B:  AUDIO OR VIDEO NEWS FEATURE

Watch or listen to any of the following in-depth programmes, and write an entry in response.

Possible Audio or Video News Features

• "Wars Of Diplomacy," BBC Documentary Archive, May 17-24, 2011.

• "China -- Shaking The World," BBC Documentary Archive, January-February, 2011.

• "Climate Wars," CBC Ideas, January 2009: Part 1 ; Part 2 ; Part 3.

•   "Press For Freedom, Part One: Government Control," BBC Documentary Archive, December 7, 2007:  A four-part series on freedom of the press around the world.

•   "Six Days That Changed The Middle East: Part One, Brink Of War," BBC Documentary Archive, May 21, 2007: A four-part documentary about the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

•   "India Rising," BBC Documentary Archive, February 1, 2007:  A five-part investigation of some of the contradictions at the heart of today's India.

•   "Forging The Union," BBC Documentary Archive, September 2006:  A four-part series on the history and meaning of the European Union.

•   "Europe's Angry Young Muslimse" BBC Documentary Archive, March 2006: A special three-part documentary from the BBC.

•   "Islam's Furthest Frontier," BBC Documentary Archive, May 13, 2005:  A four-part examination of Islam as manifested in Southeast Asia.

• United Nations Or Not?, BBC Radio 4:  A four-part 2003 BBC series that chronicles the history of the United Nations and identifies issues that confront it in contemporary times.

• Central America -- Legacies of Rebellion : A BBC World Service special that revisits the civil wars of the 1980s.

OPTION C:  INDEPENDENT NEWS RESEARCH

Pick a theme from the list below or pick one of your own.  Using the recommended links at the bottom of this page as a starting point, and complementing this with your own research, find at least five news stories about your topic from any time in the five years.  Write a detailed entry on your topic.

Possible Themes

• Amnesty International

• Biological and Chemical Weapons

• Doctors Without Borders

• Gypsies/Roma

• International Criminal Court

• NATO and Its Future

• Tibetan Independence

OPTION D:  INDEPENDENT NEWS RESEARCH -- NATIONAL COMPARISONS

Pick a theme from the list below or pick one of your own.  Using the recommended links as a starting point, and complementing this with your own research, find at least two news stories piece about your topic from any time in the last five years from three different countries.  Write an entry that uses the following template as a model.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES: NATIONAL COMPARISON TEMPLATE

Possible Themes

• Abortion

• AIDS

• Animal Rights

• Capital Punishment

• Climate Change

• Drug Trade

• Euthanasia

• Gay Rights

• Land Mines

• Nuclear Weapons

• Refugees

• Terrorism

• Torture

• Women's Rights

RECOMMENDED LINKS:

• BBC News:  I recommend starting here if you pick an Independent News Research topic.  Type search terms into the box in the upper-right hand corner of the home page and you will be directed to an index of relevant articles from the last five years.   Try alternative search terms; remember that search engines are not intuitive.  Note that each specific BBC article also includes links to related articles in the right-hand margin.  For those doing a national comparison, try putting in general terms (eg. "Abortion") but then also specific country pairings ("Italy and Abortion;" "Mexico and Abortion;" "China and Abortion;"  etc.).

• See World News Links for my portal to the global media.