This summer I tackled two very contentious topics in Cold War history: the El Salvador Civil War and the Vietnam War. For lack of a better term, I dove headfirst into the…
Author: Patrick Basista
A Flipped Lesson Plan: Vietnam War Protests and Bob Begin
Some stories require a large amount of contextualization. Father Bob Begin’s story of his arrest on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is such a story. There are…
Part III – My Conclusions on El Salvador’s Civil War
This Part III post is the conclusion of my “Oral Histories and the Master Narrative” series. I think many would find it advantageous to list the revelations I have uncovered from my…
The Importance of Oral Histories to the Master Narrative, Part II
In part one of this blog post, I outlined historian Dr. Erik Ching’s book, Stories of Civil War in El Salvador: A Battle over Memory. His book’s premise is that one can…
"Just Google It" Using SHEG Lesson Plans
Oh, those infamous words that we all hear in the classroom. Google is simultaneously making us smarter and lazier. I remember when I first encountered Google’s search engine in the fourth grade….
Lesson Plan: Catalyst for Activism – Frank's Story
When listening to Chris Morris’s interview of Father Bob Begin, Fr. Begin mentioned a story about one of his prior religion students, Frank. Frank’s experience greatly impacted Fr. Begin and his enthusiasm…
The Importance of Oral Histories to the Master Narrative, Part I
During my initial research this summer on the intricacies of El Salvador’s Civil War, I stumbled upon historian Dr. Erik Ching’s book, Stories of Civil War in El Salvador: A Battle Over Memory. Within its 262…
Introducing Archive Materials in the Classroom
Hello! My name is Patrick Basista and I am a senior social studies and history double major with an education minor at Cleveland State University. Join us this summer as we take…
