Ideas This Week
Ideas This Week is your hub for updates on all things Facing History—from announcements and featured press to expert interviews, impact stories, and essays on the ideas driving our work.
Complicating "Asian Americans"
Facing History explores the complex story surrounding this term to broaden educators' understanding of and ability to teach about AAPI and API histories and contemporary life.
![Asian American graphic.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/AsianAmerican.png?h=69a7c3f8&itok=klCHKqw0)
Why Genocide Recognition Matters
Facing History Sr. Director of Marketing & Analytics Jen Langley reflects on her personal connection to the Armenian Genocide.
![Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of The Armenians cover.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/CAHCGOA.jpeg?h=c58b31e4&itok=04yJPKcV)
On Existing: A Personal Reflection
Facing History staff takes a moment to reflect on personal experiences of being a minority amidst a climate of hate and the ability to use reading as a tool for discovering oneself.
![Photo from trans rights march.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/transreflection.jpeg?h=c6980913&itok=xFqakjYv)
A Brief History of Barbie: From Fashion Model to Ida B. Wells
The introduction of the Ida B. Wells Barbie as part of the Women Series of Barbies marks an opportunity to gain meaningful insight into changing conceptions of gender, race, and education through the emergence and evolution of Barbie.
![Ida B. Wells barbie in court.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/idwbarbie_large.jpeg?h=e188ef2c&itok=DaKAijbC)
Teaching in the Light of Women's History
Women’s History Month not only provides the opportunity to further examine the profound ways in which women teachers, and broader perceptions of women, have shaped the teaching profession itself, but also reveals areas of patriarchal rhetoric we must disrupt in order to cultivate school communities that do right by teachers and students.
![Black and white School House 1870 photo with woman teacher.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Schoolhouse1870_Cropped.jpeg?h=82a2e98c&itok=UherGAUe)
bell hooks Taught Us to Transgress
Like many people of my generation who cut their teeth on the critical insights of bell hooks, news of her passing in December unleashed a wave of reflection for me about the ways she’s impacted me as a person and public scholar. Beyond the many moments of resonance I experienced while reading her writings over the years, her impact on me is most powerfully encapsulated in an experience I had in 2008 when I met her.
![bell hooks standing on stage and speaking while holding a microphone.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/bellhooks.jpeg?itok=jpRETw0k)
African Americans and the History of "Human Rights"
As a United Nations panel of experts is set up to investigate systemic racism and human rights abuses against Black people around the world, we explore a series of African American leaders who have invoked the language of “human rights” to underscore the urgency of their situation here in the U.S.
![Olympians on the podium, bowing their heads and raising a fist with a black glove.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Fist_raised_Olympics_1968public_domain.jpeg?h=96687ce6&itok=yaBd2oCU)
13 Teaching Ideas on Human Rights
During Universal Human Rights Month, in December, we invite you to use any of these Teaching Ideas grounded in social-emotional learning (SEL) that provide ample social and historical context while being concise and easy to integrate into your classroom conversations.
![Paper cut outs of face profiles in different skin tones.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/graphical_diversity_paper_faces_1894061167.jpeg?h=3a5dff94&itok=qAstbdWw)
More Than Monsters: The Deeper Significance of Wendigo Stories
The wendigo stories of Algonquian peoples offer a window into the endurance of cultural resources used to transmit significant moral values, and underscore the power of Native people using these stories to engage in social critique.
![Deer antlers cage a child, burying their face in their hands in fear.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Antlers_2021_poster.jpeg?h=aff6c105&itok=7m2YY2cJ)
The Problem of Archival Silences
Archives play a central role in shaping our perceptions of the past. It is vital that we ask critical questions about what a given archive may exclude, for what purposes it was assembled, and what this means about the stories it enables historians to tell.
![A book with worn blank pages sits open-faced.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/ArchivalSilences_Large.jpg?h=8e4088dc&itok=nsjEvQ59)
Facing History From Day One: An Interview with New Haven Academy
New Haven Academy is an innovative public high school that serves a diverse student population. In this interview, the school's founders discuss the vital role that Facing History has played in shaping their distinctive school culture, curriculum, and pedagogy.
![New Haven Academy school entrance.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/NewHavenAcademy.jpg?h=a47ca1c4&itok=h2iBPAYT)