2004 PIER Summer Institutes
Fulbright-Hays GPA Curriculum Development Program to Ghana
China in Transition: Tradition in Change
The Cold War in Context
Portraits of Brazil
Understanding Islamic Societies
The Fulbright-Hays GPA Curriculum Development Program to Ghana
July and August 2004
In place of our annual summer institute, "The Teaching of Africa," the
two-week intensive introductory course in African Studies, PIER-African
Studies is instead proposing a Group Projects Abroad (GPA) program
for curriculum development in Ghana to be held during the months of
July and August 2004.
China in Transition: Tradition in Change
July 6-16, 2004
This two-week institute
will focus on recent social changes in urban and rural China, and study
the impact of economic development on ordinary Chinese and their communities
in the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan during the last two decades.
Catering mainly to teachers/educators with no previous knowledge
of China, the
course will introduce the most basic knowledge and issues on ethnic
identity, local customs, labor patterns and living conditions of
ordinary Chinese,
especially the minority communities, and observe the dynamic interactions
between economics, geography and local histories as they take place
at the grass root level
Sponsored by PIER-East
Asian Studies and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies with
support of the Freeman Foundation.
The Cold War in Context
July 6-16, 2004
An intensive look
at aspects of the Cold War – political history,
cultural impact, economics – focusing on Europe. Among the topics
covered: Stalinism, World War II, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin airlift,
the Cold War and literature, the Hungarian rebellion, the Cold War and
art, economic competition, the space race, the Prague Spring, the Cold
War and film, Perestroika, and the fall of the Wall. For context, we’ll
also touch on global aspects of the Cold War: the fall of China, the
Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, and the Sino-Soviet split.
Because they are less known to Americans, we will pay particular attention
to European and Soviet points of view – such as Willy Brandt’s
Ostpolitik – but American views will not be neglected. Among the
controversies we’ll address: What caused it? Who started it?
Who ended it? Followed by an optional field study trip to Berlin, Prague,
and Moscow.
Sponsored by the Council on European Studies, the YCIAS, and the U.S. Department of
Education through a Title VI National Resource Center grant.
Portraits of Brazil
July 6 - 13
As educators, how do we accurately teach about Brazil, the sixth largest country
in the world with a population of over 175 million?
In this intensive introductory course, participants explore the expansive
history of Brazil, from the earliest indigenous settlers, to the Portuguese
and enslaved Africans, to the European and Asian Immigrants of the
19th and 20th centuries. Participants also analyze some of the challenges
facing Brazil today: poverty, education, the legacies of slavery, land
and labor movements, and the deforestation in the Amazon Basin. Finally,
participants experience the rich culture of Brazil through its music
and dance, literature and film, and its pop culture, including the
Brazilian soap opera and the samba schools.
The program includes several hands-on cultural and artistic activities complemented by a
half-day trip to a Brazilian community in Danbury,
Connecticut and a full-day field trip to Boston, home to the second
largest Brazilian community in the United States.
Sponsored by PIER Latin American Studies, YCIAS, Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study
of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, with support
from a U.S. Department of Education Title VI program.
Understanding Islamic Societies
July 6 - 13
This one-week institute is designed to introduce the geography and the
diverse cultures of the Islamic world. What is the influence of geography
on the spread of Islam? What differences exist between state-based
and transnational Islamic groups? What is the political organization
of Islamic
groups and their geographic spread? This institute examines these questions
within the context of history, literature, the arts and sciences, and
twenty-first century social, political, and economic issues. The program
explores the diversity within Islam, the Muslim culture in the United
States, and commonalities with other belief systems. The field study
to Morocco and Spain has been postponed.
See related article: Educators
Immersed in Islamic Studies and More at PIER Summer Institutes.
Sponsored by PIER International Studies, the YCIAS, and the Connecticut Geographic
Alliance.
