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Early America: Maps and Exploration

Maps, Knowledge, and Power in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Maps are a representation of geographical space. As such, they are valuable as a source of information. Yet their makers can also use them to control or alter perceptions of that same information. In the 14th and 15th centuries, cartography, or the science of map-making, changed rapidly due to the explorations of the Americas. Use the maps below to trace some of these changes.

Primary Sources:

Mappa mundi, Hereford, c.1300 

Early America: New Worlds for All Indians and Europeans in Early America

When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Bay, indigenous peoples on the East Coast had been in sustained contact with European explorers and fur traders for over a hundred years. In the 17th century, however, European colonists began to permanently settle in North America. Indigenous communities found ways to adapt their cultural forms to the regular presence of Europeans, building upon knowledge amassed over the last century.

Islamic Art, Architecture and Literature

Through the carefully examination of the Emerging America Primary Source Set entitled “Islamic Architecture, Art, and Literature’, students become exposed to the physical manifestations of Islam through inquiry and discussion. Students will learn about Ninian Smart’s Seven Dimension of Religion and grow comfortable using the confines of the Smart’s different elements to make sense of complex religious images and readings.

Deformity and Disability in Ancient Greece

This lesson focuses on the study of deformities and disabilities in ancient Greece in relation to their societal norms. Students will compare the images of two Greek gods, Zeus and Hephaestus. They will read excerpts from three ancient Greek philosophers; Plato, Aristotle and Plutarch regarding people with disabilities as well as the myth explaining the birth of Hephaestus on Mount Olympus. Students will be able to analyze a variety of ancient sources to draw conclusions about society’s view of people with disabilities in ancient Greece.

New Accessible Lesson: Ancient Rome’s Veterans with Disabilities: Roman Accounts and U.S. Veteran Comparisons

Published on Tue, 01/08/2019

Teachers have been striving to make their curriculum more fully reflect the history of all members of a community, to tell the stories not only of kings and generals, but of the young and the old, women and men, and those with both extraordinary and ordinary abilities and challenges. The lesson added to our resource library this week is an example of how to bring this perspective to the study of the Ancient World, using the words of writers at that time, as well as images of artifacts, and drawing comparisons with examples from U.S.

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