Grade+8+-+Language+Arts

= = Langauge Arts - 8th Grade Page Contents: Moot Court / Harlem Renaissance / Holocaust Denial / Holocaust & Genocide

Moot Court - Miss Pope

 * Objective **: Using the First Amendment as a guide, you will explore the concept of academic freedom in today's society and use a moot court format to determine how the Scopes Trial would be decided if it were to take place in 2012.

A moot court is not the same as a mock trial. A mock trial includes witnesses, testimony and cross examinations by the attorneys for the prosecution and defense. A moot court follows the same preparation as a trial, but instead of witnesses, the emphasis is on the oral arguments of the prosecution and the defense. A judge will question the attorneys. It is important to be able to state your case precisely. The Moot Court Honor Society has additional information on conducting a moot court, as well as tips for oral arguments.

Many of the same issues that were a source of conflict in the Scopes Trial are still under debate today in 2012. Your research will need to focus on the current status of the teaching of evolution and the belief in Creationism, or Intelligent Design. Information is provided on the Scopes Trial as way of background, but your primary investigation will consider the First Amendment, the concept of Academic Freedom (both topics will be further addressed when on the Censorship / Banned Books unit in Library class), and the tension that exists between some religious beliefs and scientific fact.

Key words to begin with are "creationism" or "intelligent design". You should know a little bit about Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution (but not the current theory of Social Darwinism) and Fundamentalist religion. Add to the keywords as you develop your research.

Web Links
**Butler Act**
 * Tennessee Anti-evolution Statutes (1925)
 * Butler Act repeal

**Court Cases**
 * There have been many court cases challenging the teaching of evolution in public schools. See the print reference titles. One recent case in particular occurred in 2005 outside Harrisburg, Pa, in the Dover Area School District. Use the links below to for more information.
 * Kitzmiller v. Dover - This webpage from the National Center for Science Education provides a synopsis of the case and the ruling, as well as additional links on the testimony and similar cases. A Google search using the court case as a search term will turn up more information.
 * Intelligent Design on Trial - PBS Nova site that focused on the Kitzmiller case and follow up links


 * Creationism / Intelligent Design **
 * What is Intelligent Design?
 * Intelligent Design
 * Intelligent Designs on Evolution
 * New York Times Topics


 * Education **
 * National Center for Science Education - "Can's and Cant's of Teaching Evolution"
 * National Council of Social Studies Teachers - Position paper on the procedure for teaching Intelligent Design.
 * Intelligent Design in American Classrooms
 * National Center for Science Education

**Evolution**
 * Darwin

**First Amendment**
 * The First Amendment Center -This portion of the First Amendment blog (not a website) specifically addresses evolution
 * The First Amendment Center - This portion of the blog specifically addresses Intelligent Design
 * First Amendment Schools


 * The Scopes Trial **
 * A Monkey on Tennessee's Back
 * Famous Trials in American History
 * Scopes Monkey Trial
 * The Scopes Trial - This Digital History website offers an overview of the trial and the events leading up to it.

Harlem Renaissance
See the Destiny catalog for print and reference materials on the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, UXL's //Harlem Renaissance// reference title is available as an e-book on the Gale Virtual Reference Library. Select "show all" to search specific title. Databases on the Destiny home page also have information on the Harlem Renaissance. Search by subject as well as by individual name.

[|Drop Me Off in Harlem] - "Exploring the Intersections" - From the Kennedy Foundation for the Arts, examines writers, dancers, musicians, artists and activists.

[|The Great Migration] - From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, this site discusses the events leading up to the Harlem Renaissance as well as info on the Harlem Renaissance itself.

[|Guide to Harlem Renaissance Materials] - Library of Congress site that includes links to music, poetry, photographs and online exhibits. [|Harlem 1900 - 1940] - Exhibition, timeline and resources sponsored by the Schomburg Center.[|Online NewsHour] - PBS website focusing on various aspects of the Harlem Renaissance.

Ken Burns Jazz - This is the PBS website that accompanies Burn's documentary.

[|ReadWriteThink] - A pdf doc collection of Harlem Renaissance links.

[|Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance] - Includes text, images and soundbites.

Smithsonian Jazz - An on-line exhibit from America's museum.

= Holocaust Denial - Mrs. O'Donovan=

Holocaust Denial Introduction:
"Despite an enormous amount of evidence about the Holocaust and of the Nazi murder of 5-6 million Jews during World War II, shortly after the war some former Nazis began spreading the lie that the Holocaust never occurred. In this research project, your team will look at who denies the Holocaust and what strategies they use to do this." //source: Research Guide for Holocaust Denial// handout

"Holocaust denial began with the Nazis, who carried out their murderous program in secret and couched it in misleading terminology. But German Nazis, and others of their countrymen later, were not the Third Reich's most credible defenders//.// That task would fall to others, European and and American neofascists who understood that a Nazai revival was possible only if the accusation of Nazi genocide of the Jews - an accusation backed by mountains of evidence - was somehow eliminated.

In 1966, American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell, in a magazine interview, took the argument one step further, saying it was "self-defense" for people to kill the Jews. "Are you implying that Hitler was justified in exterminating 6 million European Jews?" interviewer Alex Haley asked. "I don't believe for one minute that any 6 million Jews //were// exterminated," Rockwell replied. "It never happened. You want me to prove it?" Rockwell then offered up statistics purporting to show that there were more Jews alive after the war than before it." //Excerpted from Kenneth S. Stearn's article "Lying About the Holocaust" in the// Intelligence Report//, Fall 2001, Issue 103, pages 50-55. Find the complete article at The Southern Poverty Law Center.//

Key words for research:

 * "Holocaust denial"
 * Deborah Lipstadt
 * David Irving
 * American Nazi Party
 * George Lincoln Rockwell
 * Institute for Historical Review
 * Historical Revisionism
 * any keywords you develop as you research

Focus Questions:

 * Why do people want to deny that the Holocaust happened?
 * What is in it for them?
 * Who are some of the major Holocaust deniers?
 * What do they say happened?
 * Who are some of the key people who dispute what Holocaust deniers say?
 * How is the Holocaust denial anti-semetic?

Web Links
The Holocaust History Project- Includes information on many topics but with emphasis on refuting Holocaust denial and revisionism. Holocaust Denial on Trial - Provides a transcripts of court cases, the history of Holocaust denial and the myths and facts about the Holocaust. Holocaust on Trial - PBS - Companion to documentary on the //Irving v Lipstadt// trial. Also includes information on the flawed science of the deniers. Irving v Lipstadt - This libel trial took place in London. The trial focused on claims made by a historian who questioned the existence of the Holocaust. The Nizkor Project - This website links to other resources on Holocaust denial and revisionism, as well as information presented during the Nuremberg Trials that refutes deniers.

Genocide
See the Destiny catalog for print and reference materials on the Holocaust. In addition, see the ABC-CLIO and Gale databases. [|American Jewish World Service] - An international development organization motivated by Judaism's imperative to pursue justice. [|Amnesty International] - The organization committed to establishing human rights internationally. [|Anti-Defamation League] - An organization dedicated to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people and combating hate. Includes information on hate groups. [|Cambodian Genocide Program] - Yale University gathered these materials that documented the Cambodian genocide conducted by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in an effort to understand how the event occurred. [|Center for New Community] - A national organization committed to building community, justice and equality. Discusses hate groups and the new Nativism. [|Committee on Conscience] - Part of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum web site that discusses how genocide affects the world. [|The Guardian](United Kingdom) - An academic who questioned the Holocaust loses a libel lawsuit. [|Genocide Watch] - The international campaign to end genocide. [|The Holocaust] (Channel 4) - Includes a chronology, origins and controversies of the Holocaust. [|Holocaust Denial on Trial] - Provides information to rebut arguments that deny the Holocaust. [|Holocaust Educational Resources]- Includes information on reseach guides, the camps, the Neuremburg Trials, people and other special features, including Holocaust denial. [|The Holocaust History Project] - Free archives documenting the Holocaust, including rebuttal of Holocaust denial. [|Human Rights Watch] - Independent organization dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. [|International Crisis Group] - An organization that works to prevent conflict worldwide. [|Prevent Genocide] - Global education and action network to end and prevent genocide. [|Public Broadcasting Network] - Search holocaust / genocide / denail. [|Save Darfur]- The Sudanese civil war has created documented cases of genocide. [|Southern Poverty Law Center] - Information on hate groups. Includes a map documenting hate crimes and reports of recent hate crimes. [|Teaching Tolerance] - A project of the Southern Poverty Law Center that is dedicated to reducing prejuidice and improving inter-group relations in schools. -