This paper focuses on the play, "Pictures of That Summer ('Ano natsu no e')," which is inspired by the "Paintings of the Atomic Bomb" project in Hiroshima. Through an analysis of its dramatization, the paper develops a theoretical framework for investigating the generation of the collective memory of catastrophes through works…

At the end of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign during World War 1, Lance Corporal William Scurry saved thousands of lives with his one simple invention. As the ANZAC soldiers prepared to withdraw from the disastrous 9-monthlong Gallipoli campaign, Scurry came up with the idea of setting up a large battery of rifles that would discharge automatically…

From climate disaster to the specter of nuclear annihilation to the rise of fascism and destruction of democracy to the advent of AI and other potentially destructive technologies, a number of material threats are matched by symbolic threats that undermine the capacities of people to respond. The war on public and critical education and the public…

In February 2019, two nations with the largest nuclear arsenals announced their withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Russia's interference in U.S. elections and the invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated tensions between the U.S. and Russia. These actions bring renewed attention to nuclear nonproliferation efforts…

In this article I discuss an approach to teaching about the Russian war in Ukraine that uses the war as a focal point for teaching about topics in comparative politics and international relations. I discuss the pedagogical advantages for political science teaching, including meeting the interests of students, introducing students to theories in…

This article is an artful narrative of my transformative experiences as a teacher educator of the Peace Education program, Oleander Initiative 2018 in Hiroshima. Hiroshima is where endless stories are told and retold by many "Hibakushas, the atomic-bomb survivors" in an effort to give meaning to this tragic experience. They both refigure…

This single lesson classroom game is designed to test student knowledge of Realist and Liberal concepts through an imbalanced resource bargaining mechanic. The game is designed for approximately 20 students divided into state teams of three to four students each and uses chocolate to represent the state teams' economic capacity, military…

Why do we teach U.S. history and government to students? The answer is simple: to prepare students for engaged and informed citizenry, the essential ingredient for preserving the American republic. Unfortunately, ACTA's most recent "What Will They Learn?"® survey of the core curricula at over 1,100 colleges and universities found that…

Near the end of World War II, the United States dropped the first nuclear bomb ever used in warfare. The bomb was code named "Little Boy." The fission-type nuclear bomb exploded with the energy equivalent of approximately 13 kilotons of TNT. This article describes a 16 day model-based inquiry (MBI) unit on nuclear chemistry that…

"In the twentieth century, we humans began to transform our surroundings, our societies, and even ourselves. Without really intending to, we have introduced changes so rapid and so massive that our species has become the equivalent of a new geological force. That is why many scholars have begun to argue that planet Earth has entered a new…

A textbook author reflects on the ethical and ideological choices she made in her quest to create a history book that would be relevant to demographically diverse high school students.

Historians of American foreign relations are continuing to expand the ways in which they approach the Cold War. The range of perspectives has evolved thanks to the influence of emerging fields and new emphases in history. The end of the Cold War revealed the many ways in which the conflict was a protracted global war. But it also brought a renewed…

This case provides the opportunity for students to explore marketing and value/supply-chain dynamics in a unique historical context. The West Point Foundry (WPF), located in Cold Spring, New York, was one of the most important manufacturing ventures in the United States from 1817 to 1911. The case outlines the supply-chain details of the WPF as…

In the early 1990s Ruth Howes, a nuclear physicist on the faculty at Ball State University, and Caroline Herzenberg, a nuclear physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, were asked to write a chapter on the Manhattan Project for a volume on women working on weapons development for the military. Realizing that they knew very little about the women…

This essay presents the use-first-and-investigate-later (UFAIL) approach to technological use through two case studies: the atomic bomb in World War II and chemical defoliants during the Vietnam War. The methodology of UFAIL is as follows: despite limited understanding of an array of potential effects (medical, environmental, etc.), technology…