by Kaja Andrić | 19 Feb 2024 | Art, Culture, Educators' Catalog, History, Politics
For two centuries Great Britain and Greece have fought over artifacts taken from the Acropolis. In Athens, the matter of the Elgin Marbles is complicated. Ancient stones at the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. (Credit: tilialucida) We climbed to the top...
News Decoder editorial intern Kaja Andrić covers the contested rights to the Greek Elgin Marbles in this text. In our present day, should the Elgin Marbles be returned from England to their historical home in Greece? Help students learn to suspend biases and adopt multiple perspectives in this accompanying classroom activity.
Exercise: Read the article as a class, instructing students to make two lists: (1) why the Elgin Marbles should remain in England and (2) why the Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece. Then, have students draft a resolution to this dispute. If one country gives up the rights to the sculptures, what stipulations should be in place to ensure both sides are satisfied?
by Bernd Debusmann | 14 Feb 2024 | Decoder Replay, History, Politics
Under the United Nations Charter everyone has a right to a life of peace and dignity. But clearly that’s not happening. So what’s gone wrong? Non–Violence or The Knotted Gun by Carl Fredrik Reutersward, UN New York. (Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0)...
by Jonathan Thatcher | 1 Feb 2024 | Asia, Politics
The upcoming election pits employment against the environment. Meanwhile China and the United States wait to see whether the new president will look east or west. Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, right, and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka,...
by Enock Wanderema | 25 Jan 2024 | Africa, History, Politics
The 121 countries of the Non-Aligned Movement agree on one thing: It is time to assert their place in a divided world. A Risk game board of the world with cracks in it. (Illustration by News Decoder) This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s global...
by Jeremy Solomons | 22 Jan 2024 | Africa, Human Rights, Politics
Britain wants to send migrants to Rwanda. The British court says that’s not safe. For our correspondent Rwanda is home — and a place people come to for safety. Home Secretary James Cleverly and Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta shake hands at a...
by Mark Holder | 11 Jan 2024 | Indiana University, Journalism, Media Literacy, Politics
The public is hungry for free online news. That appetite endangers the existence of news organizations that produce it and democracies that nurture them. Big dogs representing Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Google are shown harnessed but not muzzled. (Illustration by...
by Thomas Hickey | 4 Jan 2024 | Middle East, Politics, Syria, University of Wisconsin, Women, Youth Voices
The Kurdish people in North Syria are attacked by Turkey to the north and Syria to the south. No one wants them there but they have nowhere to go. People attend the funeral of four Kurds in the town of Jinderis, Syria, 21 March 2023. The assailants shot the Kurdish...
by Harvey Morris | 28 Dec 2023 | Israel-Palestine, Middle East, Politics
Despite the failure to achieve even substantial cease fires in Israel’s war with Hamas, there are people who still think lasting peace is possible. Workers place sections of a nine-meter (30-foot) high concrete wall to replace a border fence between the northern...
by Helen Womack | 27 Dec 2023 | History, Politics, Russia
Vladimir Putin has held power in Russia since before the turn of the millennium. Political opponents haven’t had a chance against him. Is that still true? Yekaterina Duntsova, second right, submits her documents as a presidential candidate for the upcoming...
by Ammar Nainar | 20 Dec 2023 | Asia, Educators' Catalog, History, King’s College London, Politics
India and Pakistan — both nuclear powers — have fought three wars over Kashmir. But neither will yield in one of the world’s intractable conflicts. Zero Bridge in Srinagar Kashmir. (Credit: P. Kijsanayothin for Getty Images Signature) Editor’s note: On 11...
This Decoder Replay by Ammar Nainar is an excellent complement to history lesson plans about decolonization and the Partition of India in 1947. How does the past continue to inform the present in ways that matter?
Exercise: Read the article with your history class after students learn about the Partition of India in 1947. Discuss how decisions made in the 1940s continue to affect people living in India and Pakistan to this day. What throughlines can students draw between past and present? Then, divide students into groups of 3-4. Each group will come up with a resolution to the dispute in Kashmir. Resolutions should consider: Who gets control of Kashmir? Which countries should be involved in negotiations? How feasible is Kashmiri independence?
