In this unit students are invited to explore, examine and investigate how humans have sought to achieve their goals over time.
Given that humans do not live in isolation from one another, we are forced to interact with other people to create or to achieve our goals individually or collectively. Students will learn that humans either work through cooperative methods or use conflict driven methods to achieve their goals. They will also learn that our choice of goals are influenced by a variety of factors as is our choice of how to accomplish them; through conflict or cooperation
Students are then introduced to three periods in human history where both conflict and cooperation were used to meet an objective. Students will determine that our paleolithic ancestors were interested in the goal of survival and for the most part this was achieved by working with kin groups and through trade, but rarely in conflict. Then they will examine the rise and fall of the Roman Empire as well as that of Western imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The goals of these modern societies were far more complex having political and social objectives as well as economic, hence the methods used to create and to dismantle these empires resulted in both conflict and cooperation
Students are exposed to political and economic ideologies that have dominated the 20th and 21st centuries. The goals of individuals and groups in various societies today are diverse and varied. Students are introduced to the political spectrum and the definitions of left and right wing, as well as to centrist or moderate ideologies. They are exposed to the idea that within a democratic framework, competing philosophies do not necessarily have to lead to open conflict but simply to a respectful political discourse. Extremist ideological views tend to lead to conflict and not to cooperation and students will look at a historical example of this.
Students will then investigate how successful the United Nations (UN) has been in its mandate to address world issues and concerns through cooperation and compromise as opposed to conflict.
Finally, students should select a current international dispute or emerging dispute which continues to have or potentially will have a significant influence on the human experience