Standards Index: D2.Civ.13.9-12.

Students will examine contemporary and historical Supreme Court cases dealing with affirmative action.

Students will learn how President Bill Clinton signed a welfare bill to reform a program created as part of the New Deal in 1935; and how the bill has reshaped the relationship between poor Americans and the government.

Students will learn what happened in 1971 when the U.S. Supreme Court authorized the use of cross-town busing to desegregate schools, and why much of the integration achieved through busing has unraveled in the last two decades.

Students will learn about efforts in the early 1970s to enhance environmental regulation and species protections and what happens when those policies lead to conflict – in this case over the wild horse.

Students will learn the history of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for voting rights in Gee’s Bend, Ala., a town whose status today shows both the achievements and unfinished work of King’s movement.

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 examine the nomination and confirmation process for Supreme Court Justices and learn why the judges often reveal so little.

Students will learn the historical context of the AIDS crisis in the United States in the 1980s, and where it stands today.

Students will learn the origin and racial context of America’s multi-decade war on drugs, and the impact the changing demographics of heroin users have had on the debate and public policy.

Students will learn the causes and effects of gerrymandering, and how court decisions authorizing race-based gerrymandering have reshaped American politics and created complex legacies.

Students will learn how Burmese pythons have been multiplying unchecked in the wilds of Florida and what is being done to stop them from devastating the native wildlife populations.

Students will learn how Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s evolving positions on race reveal both the intensity of the white backlash to desegregation during the 60s and the growing political power of the black community during the 70s and early 80s.

Students will learn how Southern voters, once loyal to the Democratic Party, elected Republican candidates in 1966 as the two parties began to sort themselves into distinctly partisan camps.

Students will learn how politicians of both parties used flawed predictions about the rise of a new class of youthful offenders known as superpredators to justify a series of dramatic changes to the nation’s criminal justice system during the 1990s.

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 U.S. government came to develop environmental protection policies and what that means today as we struggle to balance the risk between pesticides and disease.

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

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 the midterm elections, often a referendum on the sitting president’s agenda, can set the stage for future policy debates.

Students will learn how the nuclear arms race impacted different aspects of society – including soldiers who were exposed to radiation during early atomic testing – and how it continues to impact them today.

Students will learn how President Harry Truman’s use of presidential power during the Korean War continues to influence U.S. foreign policy and military engagements around the world today.

Students will learn about how as deportations of unauthorized immigrants rose under President Donald Trump, some churches and cities declared themselves sanctuaries and shielded migrants from immigration enforcement.

Students will learn how the news media contributed to a false narrative about the fate of babies born to mothers with addiction problems, what that narrative teaches us about the role of perspective and historical context, and how that false narrative continues to influence us today.

Students will examine the question of what obligation countries have to refugees. As Afghan and Ukrainian migrants settle in the U.S., this video asks whether refugee resettlement is better now than it was for the Vietnamese 50 years ago.

Students will learn how the United States space program was fueled by Cold War rivalry, and how the U.S. government leveraged the program’s success in its public relations battle with the Soviet Union.

Students will learn about the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota and examine political decision-making as it relates to public works projects.

Students will learn about a little-known story of the civil rights movement told using excerpts from “American Reckoning," a Retro Report and PBS Frontline collaboration.

Students will learn why the 2000 presidential election, a race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, was decided by the Supreme Court, and how that led to changes that continue to influence our elections today.

Students will learn about the case that set the precedent for racially motivated attacks against Asian Americans being prosecuted as hate crimes.

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 Black women have often been at the forefront of activism and advocacy relating to ballot access, voter suppression, and the right to vote.

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 the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spills, as well as examining the long-term effects on ecosystems and coastal communities.

Students will learn about the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan and how decades later, lawmakers and the American public continue a debate over gun control.

Students will learn how the Berlin Airlift helped protect Berlin from Soviet control, contributed to the rise of NATO and set the tone for the Cold War.

Students will learn about housing insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic and how eviction outcomes often came down to what county, or even city, a tenant lived in.

Students will learn about the anti-immigration movement in California in the 1990s, and why it is relevant today.