This packet accompanies a slide series designed to introduce students to the changes in the arts of India over time. The packet includes an essay introduction to the early influences on Indian life, maps of the region with classroom activities, a time line of the chronology of India from 2300 B.C. to the present, stories and illustrations of the…

During the age of agriculturally based empires, various conquerors from the western Mediterranean to East Asia brought large population areas under their own centralized authority. Gradually many of these conquerors came to realize that, although military might was necessary to gain control over an area, sheer force of arms was not sufficient to…

Cartoons, text, questions, and activities encourage students to link the present with the past, to look at colonialism from the perspective of the colonized, and to see how the global economy perpetuates the trade structures begun during the colonial era. After exploring colonialism in the past, early contacts by Europeans with other cultures, the…

The past and the present interweave in contemporary India. To understand India, one must know of the traditional stories. Two short pocket books make them accessible and acceptable to students: 1) The Dance of Shiva and Other Tales from India by Oroon Ghosh, published by the New American Library in New York; and, 2) Gods, Demons, and Others by R.…

The teaching and resource guide on India for ninth grade students is intended to supplement and enrich "Social Studies 9: Asian and African Culture." It is designed as a flexible set of suggestions for incorporating concepts, understandings, objectives, strategies, and available materials. Emphasis is upon inductive methods which…

This unit of study focuses on the historic period from 1920 to 1966 when China's Mao Zedong and India's Mohandas Gandhi constructed and applied their social and moral visions to their respective nationalist movements. These leaders developed contrasting methods to achieve social change and to establish the goals set for achieving the ideal…

This text examines India's rich and long history, then uses this perspective to focus on present day problems and aspirations. It forces students to reevaluate their stereotyped images of India by presenting a nation that has striven to recover from a past of colonial domination, is presently faced with regional ethnic discord and disparity, and…

This annotated bibliography on Asia, Africa, and Latin America contains sources primarily for elementary and secondary school students; also included are books for libraries and teachers. The bibliography on Asia is divided into curriculum materials and information books. Some of the countries covered are: Burma; Cambodia; China; India; Japan;…

This packet is designed to reinforce the approach to literary art themes introduced at the "Arts of Asia" workshop, sponsored by the Asian Art Museum. The packet contains: (1) selected reading passages from the Chinese composition, "The Peach Blossom Spring," the Japanese novel, "The Tale of Genji," and the Indian…

As an introduction and explanation of the historical development, major concepts, beliefs, practices, and traditions of Hinduism, this teaching unit provides a course outline for class discussion and activities for reading the classic epic, "The Ramayana." The unit requires 10 class sessions and utilizes slides, historical readings,…

Three hundred and sixteen books dating from 1915 to 1966 with the majority published in the 1950s and 1960s are listed in this annotated bibliography. The purpose of the guide is to identify basic books on Asia which are especially useful for teachers, mature students, and adults who want to increase their knowledge and understanding of Asian…

This is a guide to a series of 8mm loop films on the Indian cities of Kanchipuram, Jaisalmer (two films), Fatehpur Sikri, Chandigarh, Gwalior, Bombay, Simla, Goa, Jamshedpur, and Ahmedabad. Each four to five minute film is a source of material for self-study and for group discussion by students in introductory civilizations courses, comparative…

In this grade 6 interdisciplinary language arts and social studies unit, students are required to assume the role of a team and describe their country's participation in trade along the Silk Road. Countries represented in the unit include Egypt, Italy, Iraq, India, Israel, and China. The team is asked to create a display showing artifacts, journal…

The purpose of this quarterly publication from the Asian Studies Project is to promote increased attention to Asian Studies in elementary and secondary education. This issue of the newsletter contains introductory comment on current affairs as well as two main articles: "On the Study of World Cultures" by Dr. Kishorkant Yajnik of India…