Overview: The picture above shows Bill Nye (center, red bow-tie) leading a march in the "March for Science" movement. Without understanding the events of recent history, the appearance of movements like the March for Science, Black Lives Matter, and the Women's March might be entirely confusing. At best, a lack of understanding of recent history might leave an average person to ignore or misunderstand the motives of various protests movements. At worst, that same lack of understanding might drive harmful conspiracy theories and foster the creation of radicalized hate groups. The screencast below elaborates on the need for establishing relevance using recent history.
Screencast: Screencast 14
Big Question: How can teachers integrate recent history when it seems like there isn't enough time?
Interactive Site: The interactive site I chose for this blog demonstrates Loewen's point about a curious refusal to touch the recent past. The site is an interactive timeline with primary sources from the World Digital Library and contains a wealth of sources that provide an overview of U.S history. However, the most recent event at the end of the timeline is the 1986 Challenger disaster despite the wealth of events that have happened in the 32 years since and the wealth of primary sources across all media to accompany them. The timeline can be found here.
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