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Merry Wiesner-Hanks

The case study uses information on orphans living under colonial regimes to shed light on issues in early modern history, including maritime expansion, gender norms, and changing patterns of poverty, providing insight into attitudes toward one particular group of children in an era of competition for wealth and dominance among European powers. echo [more]

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A state-funded, secular elementary education system was established in the colony of New Zealand in 1870, but the compulsory attendance provisions for 7 to 13-year-olds were not rigorously enforced, for Maori and Pakeha children alike, until the… [more]

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This Dunedin politician's speech could be analyzed for its tone as well as its (edited) content. Notions of morality and responsibility can be identified, along with an attitude that children should be protected from adverse influences. The proposed… [more]

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Suggestion for handling orphans, devised in 1655 by Manoel Severim de Faria, an official for the bishop of Evora in Portugal. Here Severim de Faria speaks about the role orphaned children could and should play in the Portuguese empire. Students need… [more]

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British colonialism in what became Kenya began officially in 1895 and lasted until 1963, but the Maasai themselves were not effectively under British rule until just before the First World War. This letter is one of a series concerning a riot at… [more]

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Richard Waller

Documents from 1880 to 1973 on the Eastern African Maasai provide a case study with a specifically African and a world history context, in which students examine how this age-set society divides the male life-cycle into distinct stages, and how societies socialize the young and manage generational tension. echo [more]

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The European Commission on Human Rights was the vehicle by which individuals could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, an arm of the Council of Europe and an organization committed to European integration. In 1994, in the context of a… [more]

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The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the American legal system, with the power to determine whether laws enacted by state and federal legislators comply with the American constitution. The following appeal was made, and accepted by the… [more]

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This billboard was erected across the American state of Virginia in the summer of 2004 as part of a state health department campaign aimed at reducing statutory rape (the crime of sex with an underage girl). Napkins, stickers, coasters, and… [more]

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Elizabeth A. Ten Dyke, Ph.D.

The case study examines a source that focuses on youth organizations in East Germany, giving students the opportunity to develop a nuanced view of communist society by analyzing how communist organizations offered positive experiences that supported shared values, paving the way for understanding the enthusiasm with which some individuals lived in communism, and the ambivalence many experienced at its end. echo [more]