The diaries, letters, and guidebooks written by the emigrants who crossed North America on the overland trails during the mid-nineteenth century reveal a new awareness of the animals that journeyed with them. Often written as advice to those who might follow them, the travelers worried about their animals in ways beyond what theologians and…

The recent bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's "Corps of Discovery" created increased interest in commemorations of this event along the entire course of the expedition's travels. In advance of the bicentennial, a number of states established Lewis and Clark commemorative commissions, museums at both national and local levels planned…

People confront stereotypes every day, both in and out of the classroom. Some ideas have been carried in the collective memory and classroom textbooks for so long they are generally recognized as fact. Many are constantly being reinforced by personal experiences, family discussions, and Hollywood productions as well. The distinct advantage to…

As debate continues around the development and adoption of common standards in English and mathematics, several states are independently wrestling with rewrites of standards in a content area largely absent from that national discussion--social studies--and encountering their own shares of controversy. Flash points in the social studies debates…

When Midori Funatake came here to the University of Oregon in 1940, she never suspected that she would not get her degree until Sunday, April 6, 2008. Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, during her second year. Fellow students and campus officials expressed sympathy to her, she says, but "the newspapers said anybody of…

An ilkak'mana called Multnomah once lived near the river where New England merchants chopped Portland, Oregon, out of a Douglas-fir forest. With a bow and shield slung behind his back, the chief stood imperiously in Hermon A. MacNeil's 1904 statuette inscribed at its base with his name. Nearby tribes preserved Multnomah in words, but years later…

The relationship of professionals with families of children and adults with intellectual disabilities is a key component in the planning and delivery of effective and enduring support services. Yet, the history of such relationships is not well understood. After briefly describing the context for these relationships in the early 20th century, a…

Oregon's statewide social-studies assessment (a randomized, multiple-choice maze) is part of a "democratic" national standards movement that threatens good teaching and multicultural studies. If multiculturalism's key goal is accounting for historical influences on current social realities, then Oregon's standards and tests earn a…

Reports on interviews with 18 Oregon social studies teachers about what justice is and how they teach it. Provides 13 recommendations on where to include justice in the curriculum. Concludes that adolescents should be taught about the difficulties of setting standards for social justice and to value the struggle to do so. (CFR)