Apr 26, 2012

Teaching IR Through Games and Films

Posted by Zara Elizabeth Ricks
in Conferences, International Relations, Video | 0 comments

At the ISA conference in San Diego, I attended a fascinating panel called, “Gaming and Films in the Teaching of International Relations.” Participants presented papers on the various films, books, and games they use in their classrooms to illustrate key concepts in IR. The biggest takeaway for me was how innovative professors can be in reaching out to students to help them better understand the discipline.

Bethany Barratt, Associate Professor at Roosevelt University, presented one of my favorite papers which focused on using the Harry Potter series of novels to teach about

Apr 3, 2012

Spotlight: Making the News

Posted by Zara Elizabeth Ricks
in American Government, New Assignment, Video | 0 comments

What is the job of a journalist really like? And how do television news stories differ from newspaper articles or radio features? Soomo’s two-part original documentary takes viewers behind the scenes with radio, television, and newspaper reporters to explore how news stories are prepared for publication.

We added two Americans Governing assignments that feature this brand-new documentary. Making the News – Part 1 focuses on story selection and news gathering, and Making the News – Part 2 follows up with editing and publication. Email the PoliSci Desk to have the assignments added to your course!

Want to find out what happens next? Watch Part 2 now.

Mar 26, 2012

SCOTUS Considers Constitutionality of Health Care Law

Posted by Mary Jane
in American Government, Public Policy, Video | 1 comment

No doubt you’ve heard that the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The three days of hearings will focus on four separate issues that are nicely explained by C-SPAN on their new Supreme Court Oral Arguments on Health Care site devoted to coverage of these arguments. Surely there’s something here to share with students and get them prepped for some discussion. Here’s the schedule:

Mar 6, 2012

Til We Have Suffrage

Posted by Zara Elizabeth Ricks
in American Government, New Assignment, Press, Teaching and Technology, Video | 1 comment

Just in time for Women’s History Month, Soomo is pleased to announce the release of our new parody music video, Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage. The new video features Alice Paul engaging in the “militant” tactics of the latter years of suffrage movement and the dramatic ratification of the 19th Amendment. The video has such rich content that we feature it in two new assignments for our Americans Governing collection:

• The first assignment,“Til We Have Suffrage: The Amendment,” uses the passage of the 19th Amendment as the context for better understanding the constitutional amendment process. My favorite part of this assignment is the link to the digital copy of the actual letter written by Harry Burns’ mother telling him to “vote for suffrage.”
• The second assignment, “TIl We Have Suffrage: The Movement” focuses on the strategies and tactics of the women’s suffrage movement including the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments, the Suffrage Parade of 1913, Silent Sentinels, and more. Links to archival New York Times articles are fascinating and provide a glimpse into the newsmakers of 1917.

The new assignments are automatically included in all new courses. If you’d like to add them to your existing course just contact the Polisci Desk. If you have ideas for additional assignments featuring this video, please leave a comment!

Read More

Mar 5, 2012

Spotlight: Elizabeth the Elector

Posted by Zara Elizabeth Ricks
in American Government, New Assignment, Video | 0 comments

Ever wonder what it would be like to be in the electoral college? That’s the question we wanted to answer when we interviewed Elizabeth Maroni about her experience as an actual, real-live elector. That 2004 video interview is a central part of our newly revised assignment, Elizabeth the Elector. Part of our Americans Governing collection of online homework assignments, the assignment also features this really nice video by C.G.P. Grey that explains the murky details of the electoral college in a fresh way. All of us here at Soomo love assignments like this one because it brings a human face to a typically flat textbook concept.  To make sure you have the revised version of this assignment, email Maureen at the Polisci desk to have it added to your course.

Feb 15, 2012

Behind the Scenes of the 2012 SOTUS

Posted by Mary Jane
in American Government, Video | 0 comments

I finally watched this video about the making of the 2012 State of the Union speech. Like all videos from whitehouse.gov, it offers a peek into the hallways and cubicles of the West Wing and shows the real work that happens there. I really liked hearing from some of the staff members who worked on the speech. (I counted three with “Speech Writer” in their title.)

Showing how the different agencies are responsible for reviewing the speech and checking the facts was also included, and I wish there were more details about that. Of course, President Obama makes a few appearances, clearly directing the whole process and providing feedback to those working late into the night. We might include this video in our 2012 update of our State of the Union assignment (here’s the current one), but with all the writing and rewriting featured, it seems like it could be great for students learning about the writing process, too.