For our Interdisciplinary Unit in our 9th grade classroom, we have focused on the social justice theme of discrimination. Discrimination can be defined as the unjust treatment of different categories of people or things especially on the grounds of rage, age, or sex. Different forms of discrimination include age, martial status, employment activity, class, and gender identity. Discrimination is still to this day an issue that is evident in our society. The concept of achieving the American dream is highly debated, in part due to the impact of discriminatory practices in our modern world. In today’s classroom, many educators are teaching our students that they have equal opportunities to be successful in our society. However, other factors such as race and socioeconomic status are extremely influential in how successful an individual may be.

For our English Language Arts section, students will analyze themes of class, social status, and gender to analyze differences of power dynamics between the Capulet and Montague families. Students will analyze how Shakespeare changes his tone and language based on the status of the characters in his play. Students will read the text to find the themes of discrimination that may not be obvious to the reader immediately. Students will be asked to compare the language of discrimination during the time of Shakespeare with the language of discrimination in the modern world.

For the World Geography section of the unit, students will evaluate ethnic power differences and see the effects of how cultural discrimination can destroy a romantic relationship. Students will see inter-caste marriages being torn apart due to the issues of discrimination between inter-caste and inter-‘racial’ marriages.