During the past decade, interest in chocolate and its history has increased significantly. Following on this trend, a vast number of books dealing with chocolate have appeared in different publishing venues, both academic and nonacademic. Similarly, some instructors have included units that study the commodity or, in some rare instances, have…

This unit was developed to give students in grades 7-12 a fuller understanding of the Latin American world, which is a growing part of the multicultural atmosphere in the United States. The unit is used currently in the seventh grade gifted Language Arts program at B. T. Washington Junior High School (Florida). The unit includes; (1) basic…

This lesson plan was designed for students in Montana schools. The objectives for this culture unit are having: (1) students recognize the similarities between their home stat of Montana and the Mexican state of Chihuahua; (2) students learn about features unique to Chihuahua; and (3) students create an advertising brochure marketing Chihuahua to…

This curriculum guide is intended: (1) to expose students to the people and customs of Michoacan, Mexico; (2) to explore the meaning of traditional Day of the Dead customs through hands-on experiences; and (3) to build the self-esteem of second language learners of Mexican descent. During the study, students whose primary language is Spanish read…

This resource book braids together the cultural, political and economic realities which together shape Mexican history. The guiding question for the book is that of: "What do we need to know about Mexico's past in order to understand its present and future?" To address the question, the interdisciplinary resource book addresses key…

This one semester course syllabus entitled, "The Integration of Mexico and the United States: Societies in Transition," is interdisciplinary and taught by the Departments of Geography, Management, Foreign Language/Spanish, and Sociology/Archaeology at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse Institute for Latin American Studies. The course…

This paper profiles representative Afro-Brazilian writers and provides a guide to English language translations and critical studies of their work. The aim is to encourage instructors to broaden the scope of current curricula in black and Latin American studies courses. Recent studies estimate that more than 40 percent of Brazil's inhabitants are…

The second in a three-part geographical education series, this article focuses on human-environmental relations in the geographical area including Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. The article examines how the historical and cultural roots of the people of Middle America have influenced their interaction with and modification of…

These materials are designed to help students bridge the gaps in the news and their textbooks about the country of Haiti and to provide suggestions for further research. The following framework is suggested for studying Haiti today: (1) Haiti's current crisis is best understood in historical perspective; (2) the U.S. government has heavily…

This packet shares general impressions and interpretations of Mexico offered by a participant in a 5-week Fulbright-Hays Seminar. Included are suggestions on how to use this information to open up communication between the school and Mexican students and their parents. In addition to the background information and statistics, the material also has…

These lessons on Mexico have been taught in an integrated fashion within a sixth grade language arts and social studies classroom. Lessons are intended to be easy to pick up and use by any teacher. The material includes: (1) Rationale; (2) "Lesson 1 - I'll Bet You Can Map the Western Hemisphere in a Minute!"; (3) "Lesson 2 -…

In this brief study guide, the focus is on the "maroons," those Africans who bravely threw off the chains of slavery and established independent communities within colonial Latin America. The specific study is of the history and culture of Esmeraldas, a province in northwestern Ecuador and home to one of the most interesting maroon…

In this article, the author points out that in this increasingly visual world, outstanding films can engage classes and lift the curtain on the cultures and modern history of Latin America. He recommends some of the most gripping and perceptive films on this topic, and offers advice on how teachers can provide the background to these dramas and…

This unit is guided by the question "How is history constructed?" In this unit, middle to secondary school students explore a variety of accounts of the clash of cultures that occurred between the Spanish and the Aztecs. Students examine a variety of primary sources and analyze the various perspectives presented. The six activities…

This guide was developed as part of a project to encourage more, and more accurate, teaching about Latin America in U.S. community colleges. The specific purpose of the guide is to survey the range of 20th century Latin American literature in order to suggest various ways in which works from Latin American countries may be integrated into any…