Human and physical geography
Population pressures and poverty (China, India, Africa, and Latin America)
a. One-child policy—China
b. Family planning—India
c. Mother Theresa
d. Cycles of poverty and disease
Migration
a. Urbanization
b. Global migration Suggested case studies: Turkish, Italian, and Russian immigration to Germany, North African immigration to France, Latin American and Asian immigration to the United States, and Hutu and Tutsis immigration
Modernization/tradition—finding
a balance
a. Japan
b. Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Algeria)
c. African
d. Latin America
Scientific and technological advances
a. Treatment of infectious diseases
b. Improved standard of living
Urbanization—use and distribution of scarce resources (Africa, India, Latin America)
Status of women and children
a. Economic issues, e.g., child labor
b. Social issues, e.g., abuse and access to education
c. Political issues, e.g., participation in the political process
Ethnic and religious tensions: an analysis of multiple perspectives
a. Northern Ireland
b. Balkans: Serbs, Croats, and Muslims
c. Sikhs and Tamils
d. Indonesian Christians
e. China—Tibet
f. Indonesia—East Timor
Students should be able to investigate the characteristics, distributions, and migrations of human populations on the Earth’s surface.
What patterns of migration are emerging in the late-20th/early-21st century?
To what extent are these patterns global?
What is the relationship between the migration of people and ethnic tensions?
What is the relationship between ethnic tensions and nationalism?
What opposition has arisen to migration? Why?
To what extent are current migrations similar to early migrations? How are they different?
TEACHER’S NOTE: In most societies there is a tension between tradition and modernization. Traditional societies that are modernizing frequently develop conflicts regarding the secularization of the political system and the assumption of nontraditional roles by men and women. Non-Western nations often look to technology to resolve their social, political, and economic problems and at the same time they want to maintain their traditional culture and values. You may want to examine industrialization in one or two developing nations in depth.
What impact did the scientific and technological advances of the period have on life expectancy, war, and peace?
What would Thomas Malthus have said about these changes?
To what extent is the process of industrialism similar from one nation to the next?
What role does democracy play in Latin America?
What problems are posed by increased modernization and urbanization in developing nations?
Urbanization and population pressures are issues facing all nations. Students need to understand how nations use and distribute scarce resources. Urbanization, modernization, and industrialization are powerful agents of social change in developing nations.
What factors determine whether or not a nation is overpopulated?
What strategies are nations taking to overcome the adverse aspects of urbanization and overpopulation?
To what extent has the status of women advanced throughout the 20th century?