Consider to the other pages for detailed description and study material on all subjects but for the start here's the subjects given to us.. :
Art &
Music
Peering Over the Edge
I.
Post-Structuring the World
II.
Artifacts and Artifictions
III.
The Sound of the Unbound
Special Area
Heroes and Superheroes
·
Are there different kinds of heroes?
·
Do different societies have different views on what a hero is?
·
Are heroic decisions rational decisions?
·
What is the so-called “hero’s journey”? Does it apply in real life or
just in fiction?
·
Is there such a thing as a “villain’s journey”?
·
Is heroism a personality disorder?
·
What is an antihero?
·
How is an antihero different from a villain?
·
Are there villains in the real world—and, if so, do they know they are
villains?
·
Is a superhero just a hero with superpowers?
·
If you were a superhero, would you keep your identity a secret?
·
In real life, do villains ever think of themselves as villains? How
about in fiction?
·
How is a hero different from a leader? Or are they the same?
·
Is society biased in favor of male heroes? How about superheroes?
·
Are there enough stories about women who are heroes?
·
Does it mean something different to be a heroic woman than a heroic man?
·
Can the superheroes of today be compared to the gods of the ancient
world?
·
Are superheroes portrayed differently in different media?
·
Are superheroes more popular than they used to be? If so, why?
·
How different would our world be if we knew that superheroes existed?
·
If we were to discover people with special abilities living among us,
would we celebrate them—or fear them?
·
Are superheroes ultimately an American creation reflecting or serving
American interests?
II.
Origin Stories: Calling All Heroes
·
Prometheus Unbound: Heroes of Ancient Civilizations
·
Medieval Heroes: Long Live the King (and the Rogue)
·
The Golem, the Monkey King, and the Original Superheroes
III.
One for All: Understanding the Hero
·
The Heroic Mind: Insights from Psychology
·
The Hero in Society: Insights from Anthropology and Sociology
·
The Monomyth and the Hero’s Journey
IV.
With Great Power: Superheroes of the 20th and 21st
Centuries
·
Emergence in Comic Books
·
The Comics Code Authority
·
The Social and Historical Context of Superheroes
·
Ascendance of Film Franchises
·
Role of Superheroes in a Postmodern World
V.
Can We Be Superheroes? The Science of… (Examples)
·
Enhanced Vision | Exoskeletons | Human Flight
·
Invisibility | Rapid Healing | Strength and Super-strength
·
Super speed | Telepathy | Telekinesis
·
Teleportation | Time Travel
VI.
Additional Terms to Learn (Examples)
·
Achilles’ Heel | Archetype | Byronic Hero | Comicon
·
Bystander effect | Epic | Everyman | Fatal Flaw
·
Great Man Theory | Hero Worship | Hubris
·
MCU | Paragon | Pulp | Risk-Seeking
·
Sidekick | Trope | Villain | X-Altruist
VII.
Additional Superheroes to Research (Examples)
·
Astro City | Wild Cards | Squirrel Girl
·
Batman | Iron Man | Ms. Marvel (2014)
·
Captain America | Superman | Buffy the Vampire Slayer
·
Goku | Captain China | Wonder Woman
·
X-Men | Spiderman | Sylar
VIII.
Selected Film: The Dark Knight
IX.
Additional Questions & Cases to Discuss
(Examples)
Science
Liberating Technologies
·
How is a technology different from a tool, if at all?
·
Are all technologies liberating technologies?
·
Are there examples of technologies that do more to oppress than to
liberate us?
·
Do technologies come attached to ideologies?
·
Do users need to understand the technologies they use?
·
What are the implications of the Internet for “liberation movements”?
·
Are governments able to suppress liberating technologies?
·
Do people ever willingly buy technologies that reduce their own freedom?
Have you?
·
Do women and girls face extra barriers in their access to technology?
·
Would cheap renewable energy be the ultimate liberating technology?
·
Have Wikipedia and other online sources freed us from the elite
management of knowledge?
II.
Denying the Limits of Nature
·
Freedom from Death & Disease: Vaccination, Antibiotics, and
Sanitation
·
So What if You Were Born That Way?: Transforming the Mind and Body
·
The Walking Alive: Prosthetics & New Techniques for Defeating
Paralysis
·
Seeing What Goes Bump: The Power of the Electric Light
·
To Baby or Not to Baby: The Impact of Reproductive Technology
·
Learning from Dracula: Immortality and the Science (?) of Transhumanism
·
The Lazarus Effect: Pushing the Frontiers of Resuscitation
III.
Defying the Limits of Society
·
Read All About It: The Early Legacy of the Printing Press
·
Machine Wash Only: Household Technologies and Women’s Liberation
·
You Can Get There From Here: The Impact of the Train and Automobile
·
The Tweet Heard Around the World: Social Media and Social Upheaval
·
Learning.com: The Internet and the Open Education Movement
·
The Pocket Veto: Mobile Technology and Democratic Development
IV.
Additional Questions & Cases to Discuss
(Examples)
History
Movements Toward Freedom
I.
Questions to Discuss
·
How do institutions condemned by so many endure for so long?
·
Do civil rights movements require heroic leaders? Do revolutions?
·
Is participatory democracy a grass-roots solution to civil rights
abuses, or a prescription mob rule and the oppression of minorities?
·
Are there lessons other pro-democracy movements around the world might
learn from the relatively successful "People Power" revolution in the
Philippines?
·
Is non-violent resistance overrated as a strategy against oppression?
·
American “founding father” Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “I hold it that
a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the
political world as storms in the physical.” Agree or disagree?
·
Are certain cultures more likely to foment revolution?
·
For each of the uprisings below, be sure to consider its causes,
consequences, and legacies. Would you judge it to have been a success?
·
For each of the original documents below, consider whether and how it
has influenced other people and movements around the world. Would any of their
authors have disagreed with one another?
·
Has the Internet made it easier or harder for rebellions and civil
rights movements to take shape?
II.
Uprisings: Rebellions & Revolutions
·
Long Before Astapor: The Haitian Revolution
·
Triumph from Sort-Of-Below: The Russian Revolution of 1917 (and
contrasts to 1905 and 1989)
·
Uprisings and Downfalls: The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Prague
Spring of 1968
·
Victory of the Mostly Non-Violent: The People Power Revolution & the
Velvet Revolution
·
Movements in the New Millennium: The Saffron Revolution, the Color
Revolutions & the Arab Spring
III.
Unshacklings: The Pursuit of Equality
·
Slavery and Emancipation
·
Women's Suffrage (and Equality) Around the World
·
The U.S. Civil Rights Movement
·
The End of Apartheid
·
Civil Rights Movements of the 21st Century
IV.
Original Documents (and Cases) to Discuss
V.
Current Cases and Questions to Discuss
·
Is slavery still an issue in today's world?
·
Was the recent Scottish vote on independence an example of a failed
democratic revolution?
·
Do revolutions and rebellions generally depend on outside intervention
to succeed?
·
Is it ever justified for one group of people in a society to have fewer
rights than another group?
·
Is it ever justified for one group of people in a society to have different rights than another group?
Literature
Voices of the Unbound
I.
Questions to Consider (Examples)
·
How does each selection relate to this year’s theme?
·
Is poetry more meaningful when it is bound to form?
·
Are stories more difficult to write today than they were a century ago?
·
Is it appropriate to include real living people as characters in works
of fiction?
·
How different would stories be if characters were aware that they were
characters?
·
What is the best medium for stories about superheroes?
·
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay | Michael Chabon (For
Regional Rounds, The Escape Artist and this excerpt only)
Social
Studies
Worlds Held Together, Worlds Torn
Apart
I.
Questions to Discuss
·
What holds a culture together, and what might cause a culture to fall
apart?
·
What culture, or cultures, do you belong to?
·
Is your culture the same as your country?
·
Where did you develop your culture?
·
Are any cultures incompatible with one another?
·
Is it ever acceptable to say one culture is better than another?
·
What might drive a person to abandon his or her culture?
·
Does it mean more to you to see an original artwork than a perfect
duplicate?
·
What makes a place authentic? How about a cuisine?
·
Suppose the original you had died and you were a perfect duplicate who
had been created as a replacement—would you want to be told you weren’t the
original you?
·
Can you think of a symbol or hand gesture that means something to you
but would mean something different to your parents—or to people in another part
of the world?
·
Sources of Cultural Identity
o Frameworks to
Evaluate: The Five Dimensions of Culture | Mechanical vs. Organic Solidarity |
Sociobiology vs. Cultural Selection | Functionalism
o Key terms:
Ethnocentrism | Cultural Adaptation | Social Structure | Symbol | Pluralism |
Ethnicity | Nationalism | Subculture | Enculturation | Rituals | Inversion |
Reinforcement Culture Shock | Deviance
o Examples to
Consider: Festivals | Sporting Events | Political and Other Crises
·
Socializing Agents in the 21st Century
·
Semiotics: The Study of Meaning-Making
o Signs and
Signifiers
o Icons, Indexes, and
Symbols
o Sample Exhibits:
Gendered Bathroom Signs | Hipster Beards| Car and Clothing Colors | Software Design
·
Obstacles to Intercultural Communication and Collaboration
o Trompenaars' model
of national culture differences
o Chronemics and
cultural perceptions of time
·
The Reemergence of Anarchism
III.
Break-Ups and Breakdowns
·
Balkanization and the Disintegration of Nations:
o Exhibit: The
Breakup of Yugoslavia vs. the Partition of India
·
Introduction to Postmodernity and Post-Structuralism:
o Simulations,
Simulacra, and Hyper-Reality
o Sample Exhibits:
The Sims | Las Vegas | Amusement Parks
IV.
Additional People to Investigate (Examples)
·
Michel Foucault | Martin Heidegger | Judith Butler
·
Charles Sanders Peirce | James Scott | Fons Trompenaars
·
Emile Durkheim | Geert Hofstede | Robert Merton | Chie Nakane
V.
Current Cases and Questions to Discuss
·
Is the “World Wide Web” the world’s best example of functioning anarchy?
·
How important is a common language to a shared cultural identity? Should
countries and/or cultures protect their languages?
·
Consider Vaclav Havel’s argument in the speech selected above. Is he
setting forth an effective strategy, or simply coming across as naïve?
·
Suppose a beautiful natural landscape - such as Yosemite in the United
States - were to be destroyed in a freak accident - say, by a satellite falling
out of space and blowing it up. Would it be right to reconstruct that landscape
for future generations to enjoy? Would your answer be different if it had been
destroyed by a natural event (such an earthquake)?
·
Should governments try to preserve their country’s cultures? If so, how?
·
What does the growing popularity of post-apocalyptic fiction (such as
stories of the zombie apocalypse) suggest about today’s world? Is it related to
the popularity of superheroes?
