Standards Index: D2.His.1.9-12.

Students will learn how a scientific theory of “nuclear winter” shifted the debate over nuclear weapons in the 1980s, and how that hypothesis connects to the 21st century challenge of climate change.

Students will learn why much of the school integration achieved through cross-town busing has unraveled over the last few decades.

Students will learn about the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, focusing on the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” and the ensuing calls for accountability.

Students will learn about the development of the nation’s space program, including a seminal event during Ronald Reagan’s presidency: the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger and its lasting aftermath.

Students will learn about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, including surrounding conspiracy theories, to explore the deeply ingrained American tendency to mistrust government – a characteristic of our national political culture that is as old as the Revolution.

Students will learn about the Cold War-era nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, and its connection to the threat of nuclear conflict today.

Students will learn how President Reagan’s administration, trying to stop Soviet communist influence around the world, supported authoritarian regimes, and the impact that had in El Salvador and in the U.S. then and now.

Students will learn how the U.S. military response to the 9/11 attacks led to decades of war and a chaotic ending."

Students will learn how the climate of fear and panic following the 9/11 attacks resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of innocent Arab immigrants.

Students will learn how the Watergate break-in changed the way political campaigns were funded, and what that means for today.

Students will learn about protests in the 1960s among black athletes including Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and members of the 1968 U.S. Olympics team, and how their actions relate to modern protestors like Colin Kaepernick.

Students will learn how the Yellowstone fires of 1988 created a national controversy that challenged long-held assumptions about the role that fires should play in forestry policy.

Students will learn how former President Theodore Roosevelt used the newly created direct primary system to challenge incumbent President William Howard Taft for the Republican Party’s nomination in 1912.

Students will learn lessons from history for dealing with the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic by understanding the connections to previous global public health campaigns to eradicate smallpox and polio.

Students will learn the social and political forces that led schools to adopt “zero tolerance” discipline policies in the 1980s and 1990s, and the racially unequal consequences of these policies today.

Students will learn about historical and contemporary demands for equality by transgender people.

Students will learn how current protests against police violence and racial inequality are connected to the past, and about the White House commission that released a report in the aftermath of the major urban disorders of 1967.

Students will learn about Sept. 11, 2001, and specifically about the experience of some of the more than 2,000 New York City emergency workers who sped toward lower Manhattan.

Students will learn why the U.S. military decided to spray a defoliant chemical called Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, and the lingering effects of that decision decades later.

Students will learn how racial discontent in the 1960s led to the creation of the nation’s first SWAT team, how the War on Drugs of the 1980s caused SWAT teams to be repurposed for drug raids, and how, in recent years, the SWAT approach to policing has fueled a nationwide trend: the militarization of local police departments.

Students will learn about the Cold War-era nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, and how it connects to the likelihood of nuclear conflict today.

Students will learn how the issue of slavery caused a split in the Democratic Party that led to the Civil War and paved the way for 50 years of Republican dominance in national politics.

Students will learn how the wave of extreme cults that swept the U.S. in the 1970s holds surprising lessons for confronting 21st century international terrorism.

Students will learn how the cultural and political trends of the 1960s and 1970s led to heightened political engagement among evangelical Christians and the emergence of a powerful new conservative movement.