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Archive: 2002-2003

Spring 2003

Culture Clash: Indigenous Groups meet the Modern World
Thursday, March 20, 2003
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Today indigenous cultures make up the majority of the populations in a number of Latin American countries, with many of these groups still occupying their original lands. With modern society rapidly approaching these native “territories”, indigenous populations throughout Latin America and the world, are being forced into submission by powerful governments and even more powerful multi-national corporations. Through struggles over land, water, and minerals, indigenous groups are now being pushed out of their ancestral lands by governments and corporations seeking to monopolize their often rich natural resources.

In this workshop we will discuss definitions of culture, how it is being preserved, and why it is important; define the term indigenous; give numerous examples of indigenous populations; focus on ways to use indigenous groups as case studies in order to address a variety of content standards. We will also look at teaching materials available to educators who wish to teach about indigenous groups and the many problems these groups are encountering.

This workshop is ideal for teachers of the following courses:
History
Economics
Science
World Geography

Objectives and outcomes to assist educators in:

  • Develop concern for indigenous issues.
  • Discuss the many definitions of culture and indigenous.
  • Introduce educators to problems facing indigenous groups as a result of globalization.
  • Learn how to incorporate indigenous groups and issues into the classroom.
  • Discuss methods of how to use case studies to promote academic enrichment.

What is the purpose of teaching about indigenous groups?

  • Students will gain an understanding of what culture means and how it can be interpreted.
  • Students will be able to define indigenous groups
  • Students will use an indigenous group as a case study for meeting economic and history standards.

 

How Louisiana Social Studies content standards will be met:

  • Who is indigenous? What is culture? G-1B-E2 – identifying and describing the human characteristics of places, including population distributions and culture; H-1C-M1 – describing the earliest human communities.
  • Where do indigenous people live? G-1C-E3 – describing and explaining the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations; G-1C-E4 – identifying and comparing the cultural characteristics of different regions and people.
  • These groups are under constant threat from the state who are seeking control of their land and natural resources. G-1D-E4 – describing the use, distribution, and importance of natural resources; G-1C-M3 – describing the characteristics and patterns of human settlement in different regions of the world and analyzing the impact of urbanization; G-1D-H3 – analyzing the relationship between natural resources and the exploration, colonization, settlement, and uses of land in different regions of the world.
  •  How does location influence culture? G-1B-H4 – explaining and evaluating the importance of places and regions to cultural identity; G-1D-H4 – evaluating policies and programs related to the use of natural resources.
  • How did colonialization effect indigenous peoples? How has globalization affected them? What were some of the major drive forces between the conquest of the new world? H-1A-M5 – identifying issues and problems from the past and evaluating alternative courses of action; H-1B-M5 – analyzing the impact of European cultural, political, and economic ideas and institutions on life in the Americas; H-1A-H6 – analyzing cause-effect relationships; H-1B-H1 – analyzing the significant changes that resulted from interactions among the peoples of Europe, Africa, and the Americas; E-1A-E1 – recognizing that limited resources require people to make decisions; E-1A-M1 – describing how the scarcity of resources necessitates decision making at both personal and societal levels; E-1A-M9 – using economic concepts to help explain historic and contemporary events and developments; E-1B-H4 – analyzing the causes and consequences of worldwide economic interdependence.

Latin American Identity through Music
Spotlight: Afro-Peruvian Music
Thursday, April 24, 2003
1:00 – 4:00 PM

For any musical innovation is full of danger to the whole State, and ought to be prohibited. So Damon tells me, and I can quite believe him; he says that when modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the State always change with them”.
—Plato, The Republic, Book IV

In the face of political repression and discrimination, Latin American cultural groups have often found a voice through music. During the 1960s, the New Song developed in Latin America, which was a combination of traditional folk music and socially relevant lyrics. In countries like Chile and Argentina, this form of social protest was banned leaving many of the artists to be forced into exile. In this workshop, Tulane ethnomusicology professor Javier León, will lead a discussion on ways to use music in a k12 classroom in order to teach about the history, culture, and traditions of Latin America.

This workshop is suitable for:
Foreign Language
Social Studies
Language Arts
Music

Objectives and Outcomes:

  • Discuss ways to use music to teach history, culture, and tradition.
  • Develop methods of incorporating Gardner’s Musical/Rhythmic and Interpersonal/Social Intelligences.
  • To teach students how to extract information from such common means of expression as music, story telling, and dance.
  • Discuss ways in which music has served as a vehicle for social mobilization and protest.
  • Discuss stylistic differences between different types of music in a particular country that can be used as a way of highlighting ethnic and cultural differences within that nation.
  • Tracing the musical development of a particular genre of music over several decades can serve as a good foreground with which to discuss the broader social history of a particular country.

This workshop will focus on many of the Louisiana Content Standards Foundation Skills:

  • Communication: A process by which information is exchanged and a concept of “meaning” is created and shared between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior. Students should be able to communicate clearly, fluently, strategically, technologically, critically, and creatively in society and in a variety of workplaces. This process can best be accomplished through use of the following skills: reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing.
  • Resource Access and Utilization: The process of identifying, locating, selecting, and using resource tools to help in analyzing, synthesizing, and communicating information. The identification and employment of appropriate tools, techniques, and technologies are essential to all learning processes. These resource tools include pen, pencil, and paper; audio/video materials, word processors, computers, interactive devices, telecommunication, and other emerging technologies.
  • Linking and Generating Knowledge: The effective use of cognitive processes to generate and link knowledge across the disciplines and in a variety of contexts. In [Order] to engage in the principles of continual improvement, students must be able to transfer and elaborate on these processes. “Transfer” refers to the ability to apply a strategy or content knowledge effectively in a setting or context other than that in which it was originally learned. “Elaboration” refers to monitoring, adjusting, and expanding strategies into other contexts.