1.

introductory Questions

o Is there a difference between a mystery and an unanswered question?

o Are most mysteries solved by individuals, by governments, or by the private sector?
o Are some mysteries more worth solving than others?
o What distinguishes mysteries that are solved from those that go unsolved?
o Why are so many people fascinated by mysteries? What features might make one mystery more
fascinating than another?
o Can you think of any mysteries that are better left unsolved?
o Do people who solve mysteries have an obligation to share the solution?
o How do we deal with questions that we are unable to answer?
o Can you imagine a circumstance in which someone would solve a mystery and then decide to
keep the solution secret?
o Have you ever had something happen in your life for which you lack an explanation? Do you
want that explanation?

Contending with the Unknown

o Investigative Methods
 Guesses, Estimations, Hypotheses, Theories
 Inductive vs. Deductive vs. Abductive Reasoning
 Elements of the Scientific Method
 Hard Evidence: Forensic Science
o Philosophy of the Unexplained
 known knowns | unknown unknowns | epistemology
 Johari window | belief vs. knowledge | intuition
o Contests to Uncover the Unknown: Effective or Not?
 Millennium Prize Problems | Loebner Prize
 One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge
o Additional Terms to Know
 cognitive dissonance | whodunit | John/Jane Doe
 fata morgana | cold case | preternatural vs paranormal

Where Did They Come From?

o Pyramids of Egypt | Stonehenge | Hanging Gardens | Zuni language

o Nazca Geoglyphs | Flying Dutchman | Giant Spheres of Costa Rica
o Terracotta Warriors | Puma Punku | Ulfberht swords

Where Did They Go?

o Dale Kerstetter | Mandy Hampton | Amelia Earhart

o Sodder Children | Edgar Allan Poe | DB Cooper
o Starlite | Roanoke | Library of Alexandria
o Mayan Civilization | Dinosaurs | Lost Tribes of Israel

Do They Exist? Did They Ever?

o Atlantis | tenth planet | Land of Punt | El Dorado | Area 51

o Holy Grail | New Zealand | Fountain of Youth | dark matter

o
o
o

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 o
 What Were They?
o
o
o Monsieur Chouchani | Lori Erica Ruff | Atacama skeleton
o Taured Man | Somerton Man | bog bodies | Sky Object
o Greek Fire | Archimedes Death Ray | Mithridate | Havana Syndrome

What the Heck?

o magnetic pole reversals | Bermuda Triangle | Oak Island Money Pit

o Deep Blue Hole | Dyatlov Pass incident | Hollinwell Showground
o Solway Spaceman | airfares

What Do They Mean?

o Voynich manuscript | Kryptos | Cicada 3301 | Wow! Signal

o Rongorongo | Toynbee tiles | Circleville letters | Linear B | quipu
o Phaistos Disc | Singapore Stone | Rohonc Codex

Mysteries of the Living

o Humans
 function of the appendix | need for sleep | evolutionary Missing Link
 right-handedness | fingerprints | laughter | yawning | dreaming
 interstitium | blood types | altruism
o Non-humans
 vanishing honeybees | white-nose syndrome | immortal jellyfish
 tardigrade indestructibility | animal intelligence | cryptids | baobab death
 zebra stripes | Monarch migration | giant squid
 Consider the case of this supposedly alien skeleton and the process by which its actual origin was
determined. Are there times when people would rather that science leave certain questions unanswered?
 Where did the Neanderthals go? Scientists have proposed several theories to explain the disappearance
of the Neanderthal branch of the human family tree. Discuss with your team: how would you feel if you
discovered you were part-Neanderthal? If the Neanderthals had survived, do you think “modern”
humans could have coexisted peacefully with them?
 Consider the long-awaited discovery of the San Jose. Discuss with your team: who has the right to lost
treasure when it is finally found? Does solving a mystery give you ownership over the results?
 Are lost pets a mystery? How about lost socks?
 Is there an ancient city lost beneath the waters of Fuxian Lake in the Yunnan province of China?
Researchers (and sources) disagree. Discuss with your team: how could we best confirm whether such a
city exists and, if so, its historical origins? Does anyone have a stake in the outcome? Are there other
lost cities of interest around the world?
 Did scientists really just discover a new human organ? What mysteries do some people believe this new
organ could explain? Discuss with your team: what aspects about humans are the most mysterious to
you?
 Discuss with your team: does this explanation of how the ancient pyramids were built make sense to
you, and why does it matter that we know how they came to be? What are some other theories that
people have posited to explain their construction, and do any of them have past or present sociocultural
implications? Are there viable alternatives to scientific research for solving mysteries from so long ago?
Be sure to investigate other architectural mysteries; are some more mysterious than others?
 In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it turns out that the smartest creatures on Earth were not
humans, but mice. While there is no evidence for this particular theory, there is evidence that animals

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 such as dolphins and octopi might be exceptionally intelligent. Is there a way to decipher exactly how
intelligent they are—and would confirming their intelligence make a difference in how we treat them?
 What conclusions might people have drawn (or jumped to) if this had happened in 1976? What if it had
happened in 2016? Discuss with your team: to what extent are mysteries a product of their time? Are
there mysteries today that may seem quaint or nonsensical in the future?
 In 2002, the Secretary of Defense of the United States discussed the existence of "known unknowns"
and "unknown unknowns". What did he mean by these two phrases? Could there also be, as philosopher
Slavoj Žižek has suggested, unknown knowns?
 Evaluate this suggested explanation for the mystery of the Flying Dutchman. Then, consider with your
team: are there other mysteries that could be attributed to "fata morgana" or other tricks of light? To
what degree should we distrust what we see with our own eyes?
 Where did the ten “lost tribes of Israel” end up? One theory is that their descendants now live in
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Discuss with your team: why would governments have an interest in finding
evidence to support (or disprove) such a theory? Why might it matter where the descendants of long-ago
people live today?
 Some mysteries are political: why did the United Kingdom vote for Brexit? What’s the matter with
Kansas? Are political mysteries actual mysteries, or just unlikely outcomes that happen at about the
expected rate?
 Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare’s plays—or did someone else write some or all of them? Explore
other instances in which the authorship of works has come into question. Should the identity of the
writer affect how we appreciate his or her writing?
 Consider these “six strange facts” about an astronomical object named ‘Oumuamua. Do you agree with
the author that these strange facts could launch a whole new age in space science? Discuss with your
team: how would the world react if it were proven ‘Oumuamua was a probe from a distant alien
civilization?
 Some have suggested it was an atomic weapon from outer space, or even a collision of matter and
antimatter; no one knows for sure what caused a giant explosion in Siberia in 1908. Discuss with your
team: was this “Tunguska Event” a cautionary tale from which we should learn a lesson, or was it an
ultimately inexplicable one-off that we should let recede into history?

Louder than Words

Guiding Questions

o What, if anything, can art and music express that other subject areas—such as history and
literature—cannot? What can they express more effectively?
o Do evolving social values mean that we appreciate certain past works more than we once did?
Are there others that we appreciate less?
o Is it all right for works to make people uncomfortable? Are certain kinds of discomfort
acceptable and others not?
o Do we assume too much about the intentions and beliefs of artists? Do they assume too much
about their subjects?
o Do works of art and music express the ideology and values of the individuals most responsible
for creating them, or of the larger group that may have supported them?
o Has it been historically more challenging for members of certain groups to find success as
artists and musicians?

In a Gallery of their Own: Isolation and Separation

o Art
 Office in a Small City | Edward Hopper
 Hiding in the City – Vegetables | Liu Bolin
 Papilla Estelar | Remedios Varo
 Here We Are | Kushana Bush

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  Untitled (Cobweb/Crossings) | Reena Saini Kallat
 Open Border | Atelier ARI
 Self-Portrait with Jewish Identity Card | Felix Nussbaum
o Music
 Songs of a Wayfarer no. 2 | Gustav Mahler
 Viva la Vida | Coldplay
 Therru’s Song | Tales from Earthsea
 Signs | Five Man Electrical Band
 Motorcycle Drive-By | Third Eye Blind
 Other People’s Stories & An Ordinary Guy | Amour
 Get Some Sleep | Bic Runga

A Light in Obscure Places: The Unseen, the Misunderstood

o Art
 Between the Margins | Toyin Ojih Odutola
 Woman Ironing | Vik Muniz
 Seodang | Kim Hong-Do
 Free Period in the Amsterdam Orphanage | Max Liebermann
 The Fourth Estate | Giuseppe Pellizza de Volpedo
 Stag at Sharkey’s | George Bellows
 The Potato Eaters | Vincent Van Gogh
 Hotel, Room 47 | Sophie Calle
 Pacific | Yukinori Yanagi
 Fountain | Marcel Duchamp
 Between the Cracks | Cynthia Decker
o Music
 Me and the Sky | Come From Away
 Three Romances for Violin and Piano | Clara Schumann
 The Way You Make Me Feel (Cover) | Renata Flores Rivera
 Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd | Folk song
 Didge Fusion| William Barton
 Mbube | Solomon Linda
 It’s a Hard-Knock Life | Annie
 Little People | Les Misérables
 Black Man | Stevie Wonder

Unclear Creations: When the Who, How, When, and What Confound

o Art
 The Awakening Slave | Michelangelo
 Isleworth Mona Lisa | Unknown
 Woman-Ochre | Willem de Kooning
 Mike the Headless Chicken | David Herrera
 La Sagrada Familia | Gaudi
o Music
 Symphony No. 10 | Ludwig van Beethoven & Barry Cooper
 Trying to Get the Feeling Again | The Carpenters
 Unfinished Symphony | Franz Schubert
 Requiem in D Minor | Wolfgang Mozart & Franz Süssmayr
 Free as a Bird | The Beatles

The Arts as a Verb: To Help, Mayhaps to Hurt

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 o Art
 Key to the City | Paul Ramirez Jonas
 Harold Whittles Hears for the First Time | Jack Bradley
 A Show of Hands | Htein Lin
o Music
 God Help the Outcasts | Hunchback of Notre Dame
 Is This The World We Created…? | Queen
 YMCA | The Village People
 Wavin’ Flag | Young Artists for Haiti
 We Care A Lot | Faith No More
 Streets of London | Ralph McTell

Behind the Scenes

o Consider each of the following roles in producing a work of art or music. What are some other
occupations not mentioned here but still necessary for us to appreciate the arts?
 curator | handler | restorer | concept artist
 museum registrar | conservator | collection manager
 sound engineer | producer | licenser | backup singer
 orchestrator | record label | roadies | conductor

Additional Cases & Guiding Questions

o Consider this example of what some might term the music of the marginalized: a genre centered
on a traditional Indian drum called the parai. Along with watching the performance, you may
want to read articles such as this one, on its significance. Can music be a way to empower or
ennoble disenfranchised communities?
o Consider instances in which photographers and the media are able to popularize images of
marginalized groups, such as a starving refugee or a victim of violence. Discuss with your team:
when is it appropriate to photograph people in times of pain and crisis? Is it ever acceptable for
such photos to be staged? Should people win awards for taking them?
o Consider the history of jazz music as a case study of the music of a marginalized group
gradually becoming mainstream. Has the same process occurred for other musical styles?
Discuss with your team: do we ever undervalue or overvalue music because of the group of
people with which it is associated?
o You may be familiar with the four most famous Beatles: John, Paul, George, and Ringo. A
number of other contributors have claimed (or been given) the title of the “Fifth Beatle”.
Discuss with your team: what would it mean to "deserve" this title? Do the most famous four
get too much credit for the band’s achievements?
o She’s the most famous Mozart you’ve never heard of. Read through the story of Nannerl
Mozart and discuss with your team: what implications, if any, does this rediscovery of her work
and talent have on our understanding of music history?
o “We are the World” was one of the most famous and successful songs in the history of
charitable fundraising, but its remake in 2010 to help victims of the Haitian earthquake was
much less well-received. Consider the argument in this article, then discuss with your team: was
the remake doomed to fail? What is the best way to raise awareness and funds in the social
media era?
o Consider this program meant to increase access to (and interest in) the arts among those in
Brazil who lack the financial resources to explore them on their own. Discuss with your team: is
this a plan you could support, or would you rather see these funds invested in other ways?
o In Canada, the Canadian Content requirements stipulate that 40% of music played on radio
stations must be created by Canadians. Discuss with your team: should governments regulate
artistic expression to prioritize and ensure representation and inclusiveness, whether of their
own national artists or of marginalized communities?

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On the Edge of Society
Introductory Questions

o What does it mean to belong?

o What does it mean for a group of people to be marginalized?
o Is it always better to be included than to be excluded?
o Who decides who belongs in a certain group?
o Is it always wrong to exclude people from a group?
o Are there any situations in which one might want to be marginalized?
o Should people ever be integrated with others against their will?
o What is the difference between exclusion and inequality?
o Can people ever be “separate but equal”?
o Are there any valid arguments against inclusiveness as a social goal?
o Are there any steps toward increasing inclusiveness with which you would be uncomfortable?
o Are there times when stratification is necessary or beneficial for a society?
o Is the world becoming more inclusive? Is your school? Is your country?
o Is there a difference between being in the minority and being marginalized?
o Are different marginalized groups in the same society natural allies, or are they just as likely to
turn on each other?

People of a Feather: The Sources and Consequences of Groups

o Basic Features of Social Groups

 power structures | roles | communication structures
 similarity | interdependence | injunctive and proscriptive norms
o Entitativity: when does a group think of itself as a group?
 cultural identity groups | crowds vs. mobs
 Tuckman model | seceder model | Homans’ theory
 social exchange theory | swarm behavior | herd mentality
o To Follow the Group, To Go Astray
 informational vs normative vs referential conformity
 social identity theory | self-categorization
 dominant culture | counterculture | high-brow vs. low-brow
 Asch Paradigm | Crutchfield Situation
o Them-ocracy: Understanding Exclusion and Rivalry
 ingroup vs. outgroup | outgroup homogeneity | trait ascription
 intergroup interactions | social comparison | social invisibility
 amity-enmity complex | internalized oppression
 black sheep effect | Robber’s Cave | Stanford Prison Experiment

Here There be ____: Understanding the Margins of Society

o Mechanics of Marginalization
 discrimination | colonialism | slavery | hegemony
 nepotism | endogamy | xenophobia | rankism
 sexism | racism | ageism | ableism | elitism
 bullying | victimization | social dominance orientation
o Poverty and Social Stratification
 Gini index | Great Gatsby curve | Poverty Gap Index
 social class | social mobility | dissimilarity | division of labor
 just-world fallacy | redlining | Davis-Moore hypothesis
 homelessness | slums | favelas | shanty towns | skid row
o Race and Ethnicity

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  segregation | self-segregation | ethnocentrism
 tribalism | supremacism | reverse racism | eugenics
 institutionalized racism | “race traitor” | “passing” | reparations
o Gender and Sexism
 institutional sexism | objectification | masculinity vs femininity
 mansplaining | pay gap | gendercide | heteronormativity | glass ceiling
 gender identities | LGBTQ+ | toxic masculinity | intersexuality
o Additional Terms to Explore
 second-class citizen | dehumanization | vagrant | alien | untouchable
 homo sacer | lumpenproletariat | baekjeong | burakumin
 cagot | ragyabpa | bui doi | tanka | osu | akhdam | bitlaha

Additional Cases & Guiding Questions

Merging with the Masses

o Consider the so-called Asch Conformity Experiments and the conclusions drawn from them
about how and why people might conform to the opinions of those around them. Are there ways
in which you might critique the original experiment or the resulting paradigm? Discuss with
your team: when, if ever, is it good to conform?
o Look into the work of Project Implicit. Should its findings be applied in everyday life, and, if
so, how? How might someone critique their work? If you have time, try taking one of the tests
on this page, and, if you feel comfortable sharing the results, discuss the experience with your
team afterward.
o Fashion (voluntary and involuntary) is strongly linked to group formation and membership.
Does the rise of the often unisex “normcore” movement in recent years point toward a more
inclusive fashion industry, or is it just another way for the “ingroup” to spend money to
differentiate itself? Discuss with your team: does fashion perpetuate perceived differences
between genders, races, and cultures?
o Have you ever known someone who didn’t want to dance—whom someone else tried to force
onto the dance floor? Consider this article by the scientist Henry Reich, then discuss with your
team: when is it right to encourage someone to do something they don’t want to do? Would you
ever pressure someone to go to a party? Should we always let people opt out of social activities,
or are there times when it is appropriate to intervene “for their own good”? You may also want
to look at expectations around cosmetics, marriage, and vacation days.

Beyond the Norm

o Consider schools dedicated to the education of highly gifted children—such as the Mirman
School in California, which admits only children with IQs of at least 145, and its many highly
selective counterparts around the world, from Kazakhstan to Israel. Then, discuss with your
team: should high-achieving learners be separated, in whole or part, from other students? Is
there a difference between exclusion and exclusivity, and is one more acceptable than the other?
Are people too quick to judge programs of this kind - and, if so, what might be motivating their
judgments?
o Consider the phenomenon of self-segregation on school campuses. Do you see it at your own
school? Is it something administrators should take measures against, and, if so, what kinds of
measures? Does it matter what the reason for the self-segregation is—for instance, among
gender, ethnicity, religion, age, or other values?
o For every superstar in the NBA, a player is warming the bench. Do such players deserve more
credit than they receive—and is it ever right for them to ask for more recognition or for more
playing time? Are there similar hierarchies in other sports, or in the professional world, and are
they ever unfair? Discuss with your team: should special talents lead to special treatment?
o Explore social programs in countries with very low rates of homelessness and destitution, such
as Finland, Denmark, and Japan. What is particularly effective about their approaches? How

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 would you advise countries—or cities, such as San Francisco—that are experiencing very high
rates of homelessness?

Toward a More Integrated World?

o Some researchers have concluded that companies (and even countries) are more likely to select
women for positions of leadership when they are already in decline—making it more likely that
these women will fall off what they term the “glass cliff” of failure. Discuss with your team: to
avoid such a phenomenon, should companies and countries be required to alternate regularly
between male and female leaders?
o Is Canada really inclusive, or does it just have excellent branding? Discuss with your team: what
is the best way to measure the inclusiveness of a country or society? What countries would you
consider to be the most inclusive, and what do you think has made them that way?
o In a world in which many countries (including the United States) are highly religious, atheists—
nonbelievers—arguably encounter challenges fitting in with mainstream culture. Consider this
article about the rise of an atheist rights movement, then follow up on its claims. Is such a
movement justified?
o Ancient Greeks mocked people with physical differences; today, we have disability rights
movements and disability studies. How have people with disabilities such as deafness,
blindness, and lack of mobility advocated for inclusion in mainstream society? Discuss with
your team: do you support those who may wish to resist that inclusion?
o Are women held to different standards than men in the pursuit of elected office? Discuss with
your team: can elections ever be counted on to produce fair results, if people have underlying
prejudices toward one or more groups?
o In India, a woman just scaled a mountain that until now had been reserved for men only.
Discuss with your team: is it ever right to restrict access to a place to members of one gender?
How about to one age group, or to one religion or culture? If your answers are different for
different categories, what makes one restriction okay and another not?
o Do computer algorithms - such as those that power Google search - perpetuate harmful or
undesirable views of the world? Consider the work of Safiya Noble and other researchers with
similar concerns. Then, discuss with your team: should private companies regulate or censor
search results and the results of other algorithms to achieve goals such as racial and gender
equality? Should governments?
o Sometimes, people are excluded from society for (ostensibly) the common good; for example,
criminals are placed in prisons. In some of Norway’s prisons, however, the criminal justice
system aims to keep prisoners as part of society. Discuss with your team: to what degree should
we prioritize reintegrating prisoners with the rest of the world?
o Marginalized communities are often those with the least access to the Internet - and, in at
least one case, their access is intentionally limited by those with power over them. Discuss with
your team: should prisoners have the right to free and unfettered Internet access? Would no
access at all be more fair than the scheme described here?
o Consider this introduction to "defensive" designs, many of them meant to prevent loitering by
homeless or otherwise challenged populations. Then, discuss with your team: are critics justified
in describing these as examples of "hostile" architecture? When, if ever, might such designs be
warranted? Or should all public places and spaces be made equally comfortable for all who
might need them?

History
Neglected Histories
Introductory Questions

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 o What is the difference between history, prehistory, and historiography?
o Who decides what history is taught in school?
o Do all history books tell the same story? If not, what leads them to tell different stories? Do
these stories ever contradict one another?
o Do you learn the same history that your parents learned in school? If not, why and how has it
changed?
o Along these lines, explore the concept of historical revisionism. Discuss with your team: are
some reasons for “revising” history better than others? What are common criticisms of
revisionism?
o Are there episodes in your country’s past that are not frequently taught?
o Are there episodes in your country’s past that you would prefer not be taught, or that you
believe should be taught differently?
o Is the idea of “history” biased against cultures and groups of people that keep fewer written
records? If so, how can historians tell their stories?
o What matters more: the history of people who needed help, or the history of the people who
helped them?
o What do you think historians will write about the year 2019 a hundred years from now? Are
there groups of people you think they will neglect?
o When everyone around you chooses to believe in a story that contradicts what you have learned
about the past, should you contradict them, stay quiet, or do your best to find common ground?
What if “everyone” includes your history teacher—or your parents?
o Is it more important to study the history of one person who made decisions that affected a
million people—or of the million people whom those decisions affected?

Invisible Children

Investigate historical debates on what it means to be a child

o A question to consider: are children omitted from so many histories because they did not matter
as much as adults—or because they did not have the chance to speak as loudly?
o “Being” versus “Becoming”: Explore the thoughts of Aristotle, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques
Rousseau on the nature of childhood. Which philosopher do you think has had the most impact
on how we think about childhood today?
o Consider the work of Phillipe Aries, who argued in Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of
Family Life that the modern notion of childhood was “invented” in the 17th century. What
evidence does he use to back his claims, and what are some criticisms of his work? Discuss with
your team: does childhood need to be reinvented in the 21st century?
o The idea of “teenagers” as a special group between children and adults emerged at
the beginning of the twentieth century. Discuss with your team: is the concept of teenagers one
that took too long to come about? Is it already outdated? Would you agree, as this article
suggests, that the United States invented teenagers?

What would it be like to be a child in or among (examples)...

o Ancient Egypt | medieval Europe | colonial America | 19th century England

o Dynastic China | the !Kung | the Yanomami | Sparta

Going to Schools

o Where and when did the first schools dedicated to the education of children come about in
different parts of the world?
o Where and when did governments first offer public education?
o When did the first “boarding” schools emerge?

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 o Explore historical alternatives to schools, including tutors and apprenticeships. Discuss with
your team: do these alternatives still have a place in the world today? If a child asked to become
an apprentice to a computer programmer rather than attend school, would that be okay?
o Where and when were the earliest academic competitions? Is the concept of “extracurriculars”
something that only came about in the 20th century?

A History of Orphans

o Explore the historical treatment of orphans around the world, from ancient Greece to the 21st
century. Discuss with your team: if you had to be an orphan in the past, where and when would
you most want to be? Least?
o Consider the Nigerian proverb “It takes a village to raise a child”. Are there societies in which
children are routinely raised in group settings? Discuss with your team: does mainstream society
overemphasize the importance of parents raising their own children?
o Some orphans still have one or two living parents. Discuss with your team: under what
circumstances would it be appropriate to separate a child from his or her parents? Do different
societies answer this question differently?
o Research “the Stolen Generations”—a time in Australian history when indigenous children were
taken from their families to assimilate them into “white” culture. Australia’s government
has apologized for these policies. The Canadian government has issued a similar apology for a
similar policy. Discuss with your team: is it ever possible to make adequate amends for the
mistakes of past generations? Are there other countries that have followed similar policies but
have yet to apologize—and does it matter if the policies were official or unofficial?
o Many people assume orphanages are bad, but others argue that they are the best solution for
children in need. Skim this positive perspective on orphanages, then discuss with your team:
what would the perfect modern orphanage look like?
o Learn more about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. What led to its passage, and is
it being upheld in your own country? Are there other UN Conventions that you believe still need
to be created and signed—for instance, a UN Convention on the Rights of Online Gamers?

Rites of Passage

o Explore different rites of passage for children to adulthood, today and in the past. How different
are they across cultures and across history? Are they less important today than they used to be?
o Rites to research (examples):
 kahs-wan | sweet sixteens | krypteia | quinceañera
 guan li/ji li | seijin shiki | chudakarana | “vision quests”
 okuyi | bar/bat mitzvah | first car | walkabout
o Discuss with your team: do rites of passage create an artificial divide between childhood and
adulthood, or are they important for helping children find their place in the adult world?
o If you could design a rite of passage for our world today, what would it be?

Additional Discussion Questions

o How does a child’s gender, race, nationality, or class affect his or her experience of childhood?
Are there some cases in which it is good for children to mature quickly and to skip ahead to
adolescence and adulthood?
o For much of history and even today in many places, poor and working-class children have been
expected to work. Discuss with your team: should children be economic assets for their
families? Do they have a debt to their parents—and, if so, is that debt different now than it
would have been a hundred years ago? Is it child labor if kids become famous on YouTube or
other social media platforms?
o Should histories of childhood (and thinking about childhood in general) focus more on
unconventional childhoods—for instance, the experience of those with physical disabilities or
developmental differences?

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 o Research the modern use of the word “adulting”. Discuss with your team: what does it suggest
about childhood and adulthood today?
o Every so often, a child has found himself or herself in a position of great power: King Tut,
Joffrey, Puyi, Ivan the Terrible, King Oyo, and many others. Have such children shown
themselves to be resilient in the face of the challenges of leadership? Have they been subject to
exploitation?

The Stories of Those Who Serve

The Homemakers

o Adam Smith is one of the most important economists of all time. But who was cooking his
dinner? Henry David Thoreau retreated to Walden to become self-sufficient—but his mother
still did his laundry. Batman has had myriad Robins, but only one Pennyworth. To what degree
should we study those individuals (frequently women) who supported the individuals
(frequently men) most featured in our textbooks?
o Explore the history of domestic labor in (examples)…
 Colonial India | Latin America | Pre- and Post-World War Britain
 South Africa | the United States | Indonesia
o Historical and Modern Institutions (examples):
 au pairs | nannies | butlers | amahs
 ayahs | governesses | house girls
 house elves | housewife vs. stay-at-home mother
o Discussion Questions
 In a 2011 speech, American comedian Amy Poehler thanked the nannies who care for
her children and those of other working women. Discuss with your team: is domestic
help common in your country? If so, is it a sufficiently regulated industry?
 In many countries, domestic workers are migrants from poorer countries. Does this
migration represent an economic opportunity for the migrant workers, or are they being
misled into jobs that shortchange them?
 In the 1970s, some feminists around the world argued that women should be paid for
housework. Explore the history of the “Wages for Housework” campaign. Discuss with
your team: should homemakers be paid—and, if so, by whom?
 Read this article about a school for butlers and discuss with your team: would butlers in
modern society play a different role than in the past? If so, does the same apply to other
kinds of domestic help? Was there a “golden age” for servants?

The Enslaved

o Explore the history of slavery around the world. Questions to consider: how and when did the
institution of slavery begin in each of these regions? When, why, and how did it end—or did it?
 the Americas | sub-Saharan Africa | the Russian Empire
 ancient Greece and Rome | the ancient Near East and Egypt
 Dynastic China | the ancient Middle East | Haiti
o Types of Slavery
 chattel slavery | indentured servitude | debt bondage
 forced labor | pawnship | slaves vs. enslaved people
 domestic slavery | military slavery
o Research enslaved people who rose to fame and/or power. Below are some examples. Did they
find their way to success despite their subjugated origins, or because of them?
 Harriet Tubman | Aesop | Bilal ibn Rabah | Epictetus | Jean-Jacques Dessalines
 Juan Latino | Leo Africanus | Miguel de Cervantes | Ng Akew | Qutb-ud-din Aibak
 Spartacus | Toussaint L’Ouverture | Olaudah Equiano
o Discussion Questions

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  Historically, many industrial workers lived in “factory villages” which kept them close
to their work and in which they might even be pressured to spend their earnings at
company-operated shops. Discuss with your team: would this situation be comparable
to slavery, or would such a comparison be going a step too far? How about the lives of
workers who live in modern-day factory towns, or who work in industrial agriculture?
How about cruise ship workers?
 Should countries make reparations to the descendants of past slaves? If so, should future
generations similarly compensate the descendants of other groups who have faced
systematic socioeconomic limitations—such as women who were underpaid?
 Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery. Why do you think it took
longer than its neighbors? Was the pressure to end slavery gradual or sudden, and
internal or external? How did society adjust afterward? Discuss with your team: what
can we learn from the experience of Brazil about the government’s role in changing
long-time institutions?
 In some parts of the world, slaves were treated as low-ranking family members or could
earn their freedom after a set period. People could sometimes even enter slavery by
choice. Discuss with your team: under what circumstances might someone choose to be
enslaved? Should people be allowed to enslave themselves?

The Poor: Perspectives and Prospects

o A question to consider: what does it mean to be poor? Do we use the term too loosely, and has
its meaning changed over time?
o Explore the difference between relative and absolute poverty. Discuss with your team: If you
live in a society in which everyone has a smartphone and you can only afford a flip phone, are
you poor?
o Consider the commonly repeated trope that poor people lead happier, simpler lives. Discuss
with your team: is this just a myth? If so, what purpose does it serve? If not, should more people
try to be poor?
o Industrialization is commonly seen as a path to economic development, but many historians
argue that it can create a new class of urban poor. What has been the impact of industrialization
on poverty and wealth in your own country?
o Consider the historical factors affecting poverty. Of the following, which do you think have the
greatest impact?
 climate | health and disease | agriculture | natural resources
 access to food and water | education | poverty cycle | geography
o Explore the history of poverty in each of the following countries. Which of these countries has
seen the great reduction in poverty—and is it a model that other countries could follow? Which
ones are the poorest countries in their regions?
 Nigeria | the Congo | India | China | the United States
 Mexico | Norway | Ireland | Haiti | the Soviet Union
o Consider some of the following strategies for battling poverty in different parts of the world.
Have some proven more effective than others?
 population control | welfare | dole
 minimum wage laws | food stamps
 donation | tithe | alms | zakat | harambee
 dāna | ukusisa & ukwenana | tzedaka

Case Studies in Poverty and Philanthropy

o Look into the English Poor Laws. What inspired them, and were they effective? Do you and
your team find any aspects of them objectionable - and is there anything in them that you would
want to see implemented more widely today?

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 o Consider the common saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to
fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Discuss with your team: how true is this statement? Does
it make too many assumptions about the supply of fish?
o Along the lines, the poor are especially susceptible to the consequences of drought and famine.
Consider the circumstances of some of the deadliest famines in recorded history, then discuss
with your team: if you had to choose between teaching people how to fish and teaching them
how to read, which would make the most sense?
o One historian at Duke University has argued that the experience of the Ottoman Empire teaches
us that when the courts protect a group of individuals from the consequences of business
mistakes—whether the elite or the poor—that group’s economic prospects can suffer, because
no one will want to loan them money. Discuss with your team: do you agree with this
argument? Should there be special protections for anyone in an economy, or do they inevitably
backfire?
o Some people believe that governments should help the poor; others argue that we should turn to
philanthropy and private charity. Discuss with your team: who is most responsible for looking
out for the well-being of those in need?
o Consider some of the world’s best-known historical philanthropists, from Andrew Carnegie to
Cornelius Vanderbilt. Critics would argue that their philanthropy, like that of individuals such
as Bill and Melinda Gates today, is inherently undemocratic, as it over-empowers wealthy
individuals who can invest huge resources to pursue their own agendas. Discuss with your team:
should the government (or a coalition of governments) take a more active role in administering
privately funded charities?
o Check out the Free Rice initiative, then discuss with your team: is adding a game-playing
element to this donation program a good strategy for increasing engagement, or should the
United Nations Food Program simply be donating all the rice they can at any given time?
o Four Americans were recently sentenced to prison as a result of their leaving food and water for
migrants in a protected wildlife refuge. Discuss with your team: should they have been allowed
to go free because of their motives? Should the laws ever limit or regulate charitable giving?
o Does the value of a charitable act or donation depend on the motive of the person (or persons)
behind it? Are anonymous donations more virtuous than those for which people take credit?
Explore some of the many writings on this topic, including the linked piece by the ethicist Peter
Singer, and then decide with your team: would you turn down a donation from someone who
had earned their money in ethically questionable ways? If so, would you refuse to accept an
anonymous donation unless you knew its source?

Concluding Questions

o Who lives, who dies, who rewrites the story? Spend time with your team researching instances
when some would argue that history has been (or should be) "rewritten" to erase - or promote -
the struggles and achievements of certain people or peoples. Are some reasons for rewriting
history better than others? In looking at the past, who should be the ultimate arbiter of what
really happened and who really mattered? Below are some examples to help launch your
exploration.
 Deleting the Holodomor
 Revisionism in Malaysia
 Hindu Nationalism
 History Classes in Texas
 Christopher Columbus

o The simple story is that Rome fell to the "barbarians". But who were the "barbarians" - why
were they named that, and by whom? Is it what they called themselves - and, if not, what did

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 they call themselves? Can you think of any times when a group has embraced a label you might
have expected it to reject?
o Published in 1980, Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States retold American
history through the lens of those whose voices had been left out of standard textbooks:
indigenous populations, women, enslaved people, and immigrants. Research the history of this
book to understand what has made it so controversial. Then, discuss with your team: does your
nation’s history need a similar retelling? Is it possible for such efforts to go too far?
o Sometimes, a large event can be lost in the shadow of even larger one. Such was the case of
the Spanish Flu, which occurred after World War I and may have killed even more people. Are
our methods of recording history to blame for this mass forgetting? Can you imagine any
overlooked events today gaining more recognition over time?
o In recent decades, there has been a backlash in some regions against what critics call “politically
correct” language. Explore the history of this phrase, then discuss with your team: is it ever all
right to use language that might demean or offend groups of people? If so, what should the
standard be for acceptable versus unacceptable language?
o Consider the story of someone who may have helped prevent the end of the world. What leads
some important people (and moments in history) to be less widely known than others?
o They may not have saved the world, but they helped make a difference in it: read through these
stories of lesser recognized co-founders of famous companies. Why are Mark Zuckerberg and
Bill Gates household names while Eduardo Saverin and Paul Allen aren't? Is it usually a case of
one co-founder ultimately earning (or wanting) most of the credit, or are there larger social
forces at work?

Science
Enabling Technologies
Guiding Questions

o Make two lists.

 First, list ten technologies you use every day before school starts. These technologies
can be gadgets—such as toasters and foldable Samsung phones—or larger works of
infrastructure, such as the pipes that bring hot water to your shower.
 Second, list ten technologies that make you better at things, from calculators to running
shoes.
o Now, consider the lists you have made and ask yourself the following questions about the
technologies you listed.
 Which ones depend on other technologies? A fitness tracker might be less useful
without access to GPS, but a watch could keep time on its own—at least, until its
battery runs out.
 How do they work? Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that “Any sufficiently advanced
technology is indistinguishable from magic”—but, in some ways, so is any
insufficiently understood technology. Take some time to consider technologies you may
have taken for granted. Is a quartz crystal vibrating on your wrist 32,768 times per
second? Is a heated ceramic plate breaking the hydrogen bonds in your hair—on
purpose? Most technologies require energy; if yours do, where does that energy come
from?
 How different would your life be without each of the technologies on your list? Your
answer and your teammates’ may vary. Someone with diabetes may struggle without a
blood sugar monitor, whereas even without access to a rowing machine the captain of
the rowing team might still be able to row on a nearby lake.
 Where did they come from, and how long ago? Your parents may have used calculators
in school, but their parents probably kept slide rules in their desks.

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  How widespread is access to them? Some enabling technologies are far from life-or-
death yet make a daily difference in your routines and experiences. Are there people
who would want to use hair dryers to dry their hair quickly, but are forced to wait for
time and sunlight to take their course? Are there those who would benefit from
prosthetics but must make do without anything to replace their missing limbs? Are there
schools where children might be able to study more effectively if they had access to air
conditioning—or electricity?
o As you explore this subject area, ask yourself: is there a difference between an enabling
technology and a technology of convenience? And, where do we cross the line from
empowerment to dependency?

Empowering Technologies

o Some technologies require no power source, but many, if not most, do. In general, the more
portable a technology, the more likely it is to use a battery—although there are exceptions, such
as some vacuum cleaners, which must be plugged in wherever you want to use them.
o With your team, conduct some basic research into the science of batteries. How do they work?
What makes a rechargeable battery different than a standard battery?
o Be sure to consider key terms such as:
 anode | cathode | electrolyte | capacity | discharge
o How does wireless charging work? Discuss with your team: is there anything to fear from
wireless power?
o Speaking of fear: not long ago, the batteries in certain phones gained notoriety for
spontaneously exploding. A few years earlier, MacBooks were blowing up. Why do
batteries explode? Is it ever safe to depend on a technology that can sometimes be dangerous?
o Explore the future of batteries, then discuss with your team: how would better power sources
affect our everyday lives? Would they mostly just make our phones last longer between charges,
or would they have impacts on access to technology for, say, underprivileged populations?
o Many technological prognosticators have forecast an “Internet of Things”—in which everything
around us is connected to the Internet, from the clothing we wear to the chairs on which we sit.
Yet these devices would probably require batteries. Consider this potential battery technology,
which uses freeze-dried bacteria. Discuss with your team: is it acceptable to use living creatures
to generate electricity, or is this a form of exploitation? Would it be different if the bacteria were
horses, or tardigrades? Does the calculation change if the creatures are dead?
o Not all devices use batteries. Some are autonomously powered, through sunlight and other
means, and others we still plug in to the electric grid (a.k.a. mains electricity) through outlets in
our walls. But not all plugs are the same. Explore with our team: why does a “British” plug look
different than a “European” plug—where did these differences originate, and does it mean the
electricity behind them is different, too? Be sure to learn the difference between alternating and
direct current, and between adapters and converters.
o Sometimes large groups of people behave in predictable ways; we all laugh when an alpaca falls
off a surfboard. But we may be moving into a Bandersnatch era in which technologies enable a
more fragmented social experience—and the consequences may even include changes in how
we consume electricity. Discuss with your team: should we find ways to use technology to
spread out different kinds of social burdens, from when people commute to work to when they
eat their meals?

Home is Where the Smart Is

o Companies such as Amazon and Google are competing to develop (and sell products for) the
“smart home”—but the truth is that homes have been getting “smarter” for generations, and
more comfortable for even longer than that. Discuss with your team: is there a limit to how
smart and comfortable we should want our homes to be?

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 o Consider the temperature control technologies that enable many of us to live even in climates
that may be outside our comfort zones. How do homes stay warm when it is cold out? How do
they get cold when it is hot out? Explore how indoor heating and air conditioning work. Is it
worse for the environment when we warm a cold place or when we cool a warm one? Discuss
with your team: to save resources, should governments regulate how much people can control
the climate in their private spaces?
o Some homes are found in areas with significant pollution. Here, people who can afford it may
rely on air purifiers to try to breathe cleaner air indoors, whether at home, at school, or even in
hotels and other public spaces. What are the different ways in which these filters work? If you
found yourself in Beijing on a smoggy day in June, would you rather have an ionizing filter or
one based on activated carbon? Discuss with your team: will increasing access to indoor air
purification cause people of means to disregard increasing pollution outdoors? Should rich
people be forced to breathe the same air as poor people?
o Consider this argument that air conditioning created the modern city. Pay special attention to the
idea that air-conditioned cities separate those who can afford to inhabit air-conditioned spaces
from those left on the inhospitable street. Discuss with your team: is inequality of comfort an
issue for governments to resolve? To what degree does access to enabling technology lead to a
loop in which those who lack access are less able to gain it?
o Of course, there is more to a home than being able to wear sweatpants and a t-shirt in your
living room. There is also the need (or, for some, preference) to keep it clean and orderly. From
washing machines to the FoldiMate, inventors have sought ways to lighten the load of
housework. Look into the following devices and consider them in the context of the emerging
field of home automation, or domotics. Be sure to consider not just how they function but their
impact:
 vacuum cleaners | dishwashers | washing machines | home robots
o Sometimes, you want to eat something delicious: maybe a seafood dinner, maybe eggs for
breakfast. You could order (it is hard to ever say no to Foodpanda) but, if you choose to cook,
you’ll discover that enabling technologies are all over the modern kitchen. Explore how the
following devices work, and discuss with your team: do they have drawbacks? Does the rise of
such devices make it harder for people without them to cope—and does it impact typical
household roles and employment opportunities?
 microwave | toaster | convection oven | rice cooker | coffee maker | juicer
 pressure cooker | magnetic stove
o Consider the technologies of personal grooming: hair dryers and straighteners, shavers, waxing,
cosmetics, even toothbrushes. When were they invented, and how have they changed over time?
Discuss with your team: is a device still an enabling technology if it helps us accomplish that
helps us achieve an aesthetic goal but does not technically make us more “able”?

Dirty Jobs | Technologies of Marginal Occupations

o We often glorify high-profile technologies and those who develop them—but we spend less
time considering the less glamorous technologies and those who need to work with them. For
every computer programmer, there is an electrician who makes it possible to plug that computer
into a wall. Discuss with your team: what are some of the technologies we think the least about
but rely upon the most?
o For instance, consider waste disposal and treatment. Every time you walk out of a bathroom,
you leave something behind. Where does it go, and where does the water you use come from?
Explore with your team: how does plumbing work, and what are some of the latest innovations
in the industry? Be sure to spend some time looking into the world of high-tech toilets,
trenchless sewers, and even paper towel dispensers, including new models in China that
use facial recognition to limit how much you take. But also consider how the legacy of older
technologies can still affect us today—in this case, leaving millions of Moscow residents
without running hot water every summer.
o Sometimes bugs and vermin invade our homes and workplaces, from Argentine ants to weasels
and rats. Is there a way to build a wall to keep them out? Consider the pest control industry and

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 the technologies that enable it. Discuss with your team: do we unfairly criticize traditional
chemical pesticides for their impact on human health, or do they create an artificial world order
centered on unhealthy and unsustainable food production?
o You are probably reading this outline on a device built on an assembly line. Consider the
technologies that make mass production possible, from stainless steel to the conveyer belt. In
the context of industry, what is a “prime mover”? Discuss with your team: do newer
technologies make manufacturing jobs less “dirty” but also less valued? Or does modern
society’s interest in manufactured products mean we respect those who manufacture them more
than ever?

Ennobling Technologies

o We have come a long way from Captain Hook. Take some time to consider each of the
following “assistive” technologies and how it functions, whether by bending light or by limiting
range of motion. Which has been around the longest, and which are evolving the most quickly?
 prosthetics | hearing aids | walkers | wheelchairs (including racing wheelchairs)
 speech recognition | eyeglasses | sign language to speech conversion
 adaptive eating devices
o Look at the origins of the “optophone” in the early 1900s—an optical character recognition
technology that could “sound out” letters and numbers for the blind. If a similar device were
developed for music, would it be more useful for entertainment or for education? What new
applications might devices of this kind make possible?
o Consider technologies that allow us to track and improve our own health—from fitness bands
and glucose monitors to stationary bicycles. Discuss with your team: is it possible for these
health-enabling technologies to be too helpful—and, if so, in what ways?
o Enabling technologies do more than help people overcome physical impediments; they can also
address social and resource limitations. Could 3D printing improve the living conditions of
people without adequate access to housing in their communities, or does it face obstacles that
this article overlooks? Could we one day unpack portable classrooms from our car trunks?
Discuss with your team: what other applications can you imagine for 3D printing that might
help those in need? Be sure to look at its use to create prosthetic limbsand even more
comfortable helmets.
o Sometimes we choose ways in which to limit our own lifestyles, out of concern for health,
religion, or the environment; sometimes those choices are made for us. Either way, a person
might want something that would ordinarily be uncomfortable or out of bounds. A vegan might
crave a burger; a left-handed person might benefit from a mouse in tune with their intuition.
Explore the science and design of vegan meat substitutes and of “left-handed” products, then
discuss with your team: should technology allow people to bypass limits that they choose for
themselves? Why would it be controversial whether genetic engineering could produce kosher
pork? Should the government mandate that left-handed products cost the same as their right-
handed counterparts?

Enabling Transactionologies

o If there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, it might as well be easy to pay for. Recent years have
seen the rise of new technologies for buying things—and for merchants to keep track of what
they are selling. Consider technologies that “smooth out” financial transactions. How
contactless credit cards work—or Apple Pay? In some parts of the world, people even pay for
things with QR codes. Where is this practice most common, and why? Be sure to explore how
each of the following works:
 near field communication | payment terminals | captchas
 EFTPOS | QR codes | chip and pin | magstripe | contactless payments
o Some argue that lack of access to the technologies of the modern financial system are one
obstacle to people finding their way out of poor communities. Discuss with your team: should

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 the government provide every vendor with a credit card reader? Should all cash be made
“smart” so that it knows who owns it—reducing the value of theft in hopes of reducing street
crime in struggling communities?

Concluding Questions and Additional Areas of Inquiry

o
o
o The television show Revolution posited a world in which electricity stopped working. Discuss
with your team: how much would this dramatic development change your life?
o Is easy access to Google making us worse at remembering things? Is Google Maps making us
less able to get around on our own? Discuss with your team: when does the application of
technology become dependence on technology—and is dependence necessarily bad?
o Consider enabling technologies first introduced in works of fiction, such as medical tricorders,
Babel fish, robot servants, and the hoverboard. Is any explanation given for they work? Are we
developing anything like them in the real world—and, if so, what is the science behind them?
Should fans of their imagined versions brace themselves for disappointment?
o Today, someone writing a screenplay can use screenwriting software to ensure they follow the
right template and approach. Such technologies have seemingly transformed the creative
process; it was not long ago that a writer working on the second draft of a novel would need to
retype it from scratch, instead of opening a DOCX file and moving words around. It was not
long before that that there were no typewriters with which to type that novel in the first place.
Discuss with your team: have technologies allowed us to be more creative? How do you foresee
their impact in the future—will every artist use a drawing pad, or will computers take over the
creation of art altogether?
o Consider internationalization (referred to as i18n) and localization in software development.
What kinds of factors do they need to take into account? What are some other ways developers
can take to ensure their tools are accessible by a wider range of people? Discuss with your team:
should all websites and online services be required to exist in multiple languages and with
modifications to account for different cultural norms in different societies?
o Spend some time learning about the technologies that enable learning—from the archaic abacus
and slide rule to newer devices that some schools are phasing out while others struggle to obtain
them at all, such as overhead projectors and whiteboards. How do automated response systems
(“clickers”) work, and how can they be used in non-competitive classroom settings? Of course,
the earliest “automated answers” were in paper form, through scannable sheets popularized by
companies such as Scantron beginning in the 1970s. Discuss with your team: in what ways are
tests that are easier to score good for students and teachers? Do such systems have any
downsides for teachers or students—and in what ways are they vulnerable to exploitation?
o Can the same technology that enables one group disable another?

Literature
Voices from the Margins
Guiding Questions

o How might literature help us understand the experience of marginalized groups?

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 o Should marginalized writers strive to be accepted by mainstream critics? Or should they focus
on their own audiences?
o Explore the idea of a literary canon. Who created the list of literary works that everyone is
expected to study? What voices, if any, do you think are underrepresented in this list?
o Should the canon be updated, or should the very idea of a canon be scrapped?
o Discuss with your team: as more marginalized voices take their place in the list of works we
study in school, how should we decide which traditionally studied works to remove to make
space for them?
o Are modern critics overcompensating by finding too much value in works by members of
marginalized communities?
o Are today’s films and television series doing more to perpetuate or to change the perception of
marginalized groups? Do their creators have a responsibility to do one or the other?

Poetry

o alternate names for black boys | Danez Smith

o Crusoe in England | Elizabeth Bishop
o Goodbye, Sancho Panza | Justin Hamm
o Min Nong | Li Shen
o My Shoes | Charles Simic
o Ode on a Grecian Urn | John Keats
o The New Colossus | Emma Lazarus
o The Octopus | Ogden Nash
o The Raven | Edgar Allan Poe
o The Tyger | William Blake
o the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border | William Stafford
o Those Who Do Not Dance | Gabriela Mistral
o What Kind of Asian Are You? | Alex Dang
o White Boy Time Machine: Override | Hieu Minh Nguyen

Multimedia

o Film | Hidden Figures

o B (If I Should Have a Daughter) | Sarah Kay
o Dandelions | Clayton Valli
o Life of a Perfectionist | Libby Scott
o On Middle School Misery | John Green
o The Giving Tree | Shel Silverstein

Prose

o Fitting In | Max Gladstone

o Invisible Man (Prologue & Chapter 1) | Ralph Ellison
o Lorry Raja | Madhuri Vijay
o St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves | Karen Russell
o The Bicentennial Man | Isaac Asimov
o The Ugly Duckling | Hans Christian Andersen
o The Yellow Wallpaper | Charlotte Perkins Gilman
o Walden (Part 1, Chapter 1) | Henry David Thoreau

Behind the Scenes of the Page, Stage, and Screen

o For each of the occupations listed below, consider its role in producing a work. Should they
receive credit similar to that awarded to authors, actors, or directors?

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  copyeditor | proofreader | publicist | literary agent | critic | producer
 stage manager | set designers | stagehand | casting director | dramaturge
 hair & makeup artist | costume designer | sound designer | stunt double
 cinematographer | grips | gaffers | extra | storyboard artist | showrunner

Case Studies & Guiding Questions

o Consider these examples of ghostwritten books, speeches, and songs. Why might a famous
figure resort to someone else to write for them? Conversely, why might a writer choose to go
unrecognized? Are there times when a different name on a work might affect how people
receive it?
o Consider sidekicks and other characters in the margins of a story—from the Wayward Sisters to
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Discuss with your team: when, if ever, are their stories worth
telling? Is it acceptable for an author different from the original to tell those stories?
o Consider the case of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, which was finished by a
second author. What should happen if an author passes away before finishing a work? Who, if
anyone, should be tasked with finishing the unfinished?
o Research fandom and fan subcultures, particularly as centered on creative works, whether a TV
series (e.g., Star Trek) or even a musical (e.g., Hamilton). You may want to consult this
academic text as a starting point. Discuss with your team: do people who participate in fandoms
choose to marginalize themselves, and do fandoms themselves have internal divisions between
the mainstream and the marginal? Should creators encourage or even participate in fan culture?
o Some critics argue that a new focus on inclusiveness in storytelling has led to the creation of
overly idealized characters from marginalized groups—referred to as “Mary Sues”. Even Star
Wars’ Rey has been criticized by certain fans for being too perfect. Discuss with your team:
should we worry about representations of marginalized communities being overidealized, or is
this concern just a conservative backlash to cultural progress?
o Consider the recent announcement of a "reboot" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a more
diverse cast. The news met with an intense backlash, not unlike that against recent female-led
reboots of Ocean’s Eleven and Ghostbusters. Discuss with your team: do creative professionals
have a responsibility to be more inclusive in their reboots of past works? Are there ways in
which you would want to update other classics, such as Harry Potter or the plays of
Shakespeare?
o Read about Marvel's upcoming Asian superhero film, which is meant to follow in the footsteps
of Black Panther, then discuss with your team: is it appropriate for Marvel to be narrowing their
director search to someone Asian or Asian-American, or is this an example of what some critics
would call "reverse discrimination"?
o English Romantic poet John Keats wrote in a letter to his brothers that the greatest writers
possess a quality he called negative capability—the ability to be "in uncertainties, mysteries,
doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason”. Discuss with your team: how clear
(or unclear) should literature be? Is it possible for a piece of writing (or a movie) to be both
confusing and successful?

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