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The United States and the World: Global Connections pp. 8-11

The Gist:

Many Americans believe that global issues are not connected to their daily lives. Americans are tied to global issues and different cultures in multiple ways, and students must understand the United States’s contemporary and historical connections with global issues and regions. This includes studying traditional topics such as U.S. foreign policy and U.S. participation in international organizations, as well as understanding long-term U.S. political and strategic interests.

Usually, United States and world history are taught as discrete courses, but the walls between these subjects are artificial. United States history should be taught in a global perspective and world history should include connections with the United States. Both United States and world history should make connections between past trends and the individual today.

The Gems:

1. All projections suggest that our [|connections] with the world will increase even more in the 21st century (8).

2. In the United States we generally feel that we have personal control over our environment; however, in much of the world people feel that fate determines what they are to do (11).

3. Global education does not just present facts to be memorized or a series of intellectual skills to help apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate knowledge. It should also encourage democratic citizenship, which requires active participation (10).