Canadian Arts and Entertainment

This weeks Blog discussion has two parts:

Part A: The 1920's say the coming of age of Canadian artists with the Group of Seven gaining international recognition for their images of the rugged Canadian landscapes. Since this time Canadian artists, musicians, writers and performers of all types have continued to gain international recognition for their work. Today Canadians such as The Tragically Hip, Mike Myers, Leonard Cohen and Jim Carrey are household names throughout the world for their work in the arts and entertainment industries.

Who is your favorite Canadian artist (this includes musicians, actors etc) and how do you think their work gives Canadians a sense of national pride?

Part B: The twenties in Canada saw an upswing in the economy that meant Canadians were searching for was to spend their "extra" money and fill their leisure time. As a result the 1920's gave birth to a number of "fads" that became wildly popular only to pretty much disappear in a few short years. Take a look at the following video to get a better sense of 20's entertainment.
The Flappers
The Jazz Age

What types of popular activities today do you think may turn out to be just "fads. Personally, while they called the 1920's the Roaring Twenties, I think they may end up calling the 2000's the iPod 2000's.

Do not forget to finish your post with your initials and the period of your socials class or else I cannot give your credit for your response.

Rights of the Child

Read pages 309 - 312 of your Counterpoints textbook discussing Children's Rights.

What year did the United Nations adopt the Convention on the Rights of the Child? Why do you think this convention has become the most universally accepted human rights document?

Visit http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm and read through the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Why do we need a separate this document when we already have the Unversal Declaration of Human Rights (Counterpoints p. 295)?

Check out some of these photo essays http://www.hrw.org/doc/?t=photoessays

In May 2002, two Optional Protocols were adopted to strengthen the existing provisions within the Convention. These protocols included new guidelines on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and new guidelines on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

New protocol on armed conflict: The Convention states that no child under fifteen years of age should participate in armed conflict; the new protocol raises this age to eighteen. Currently, over 300,000 children worldwide are engaged in armed conflict.

New protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography: This protocol gives special emphasis to the criminalization of serious violations of children's rights - namely sale of children, illegal adoption, child prostitution and pornography. Similarly, the protocol seeks increased international cooperation, public awareness, and education campaigns in order to better protect children from the violations of these rights. Currently, an estimated 1 million children are employed in the commercial sex-trade.

What do you think is the most important issue facing children around the world today? Where do you think the United Nations should center its focus in coming years? What kind of steps should be taken to combat this problem?

Visit http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/index.htm to see more information on child soldiers.

Personal Rights and Freedoms

Choose a song of your choice that you consider expresses personal freedoms that are enshrined under the Charter. Write a comment with the lyrics and demonstrate rights or freedoms that are important to you. Then comment on why you chose this song, what the message of the song is and how it relates to you and your experience of freedom in Canada.

Exploring Political Systems

Read the following instructions and complete the two activities. These were developed by a friend of mine, Mr. Thielmann, over at DP Todd.

Activity One
Purpose: find out what kind of political views you have and how they compare with world figures and political parties

Instructions:
go to http://www.politicalcompass.org/
read the instructions and complete the quiz
read through your results page to learn about your views
summarize what you learned from the quiz by commenting in response to this posting on the course blog -- http://www.soc11eh.blogspot.com

Tips:
left vs right: left-wing usually means more government control over industry and economy; right-ring usually means less government regulation and intervention (laissez-faire)
authoritarian vs libertarian: authoritarian means powerful government which controls rights and freedoms, sometimes it can be a dictatorship; libertarian means less government control of rights, sometimes less government in general

Activity Two
Purpose: learn about different ways of organizing nations by politics, economy, and values

Instructions:
go to http://www.nationstates.net
read the introduction and sign up to “build” your nation
experiment with the simulation for as long as you need to see how it works, more if you have the time (warning: NationStates can be addictive!)
summarize what you learned from the simulation by commenting on this posting on the course blog -- http://www.soc11eh.blogspot.com

Tips:
See how the choices you make at the beginning affect the kind of country which is generated by the simulator. Look at other countries and issues around the “world” to see what others have done.

I am Canadian!

Read (text below) view or listen (http://canada4life.ca/videos.php?video=1) to the Joe Canadian Molson rant (text below), and some other spoofs.

How do you define being Canadian? Add your own comment to this post with your thoughts on what it means to be Canadian. Create your own Rant about what it is to be Canadian.

Remember to include your initials and the period of your socials class.


MOLSON RANT

Hey,
I'm not a lumberjack, or a Fur trader.
I don't live in an igloo,
or eat blubber
or own a dogsled.
And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I'm certain they're really, really nice.

I have a prime minister... not a president,
I speak English and French, not American
and I pronounce it About, not A-boot.

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack,
I believe in peacekeeping, not policing,
diversity not assimilation,
and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.

A toque is a hat,
a chesterfield is a couch,
and it is pronounced Zed,
not Zee... ZED!!
Canada is the 2nd largest land mass,
the 1st nation of hockey,
and the best part of North America.

My name is Joe...
And I am Canadian!

UNBC: Children's Rights Lecture

UNBC: Children's Rights Lecture

Thursday, Jan 24, 7:00 pm

6-213 (Canfor Theatre)

If you attend this lecture post a comment including the following:

• The names and titles of the speakers.
• A brief summary of each speakers' message outlining their main points.
• The purpose of the lecture, eg. a call to action or informational.
• What was the most interesting thing you took away form the lecture.
• What in your thinking on this topic was either changed, reinforced or confirmed.
• How this lecture ties into the themes and topics we have been examining in Social Studies 11.
• What advice would you give to the speakers regarding their presentation or their message.
  

International Aid

NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) and government agencies play an important role in fighting poverty, famine and disease throughout the world. In recent times many of these organizations have been criticized for having too much overhead and administrative costs while not getting enough of the money directly to those in need. Others say that while there are flaws with some of the organizations any amount of aid that reaches these countries is better than nothing.

Visit the following sites and comment on the work these NGOs are doing. What organization would you donate either your time or money to?

Oxfam
The Red Cross
Doctors without Borders
CIDA
War Child
DATA
Unicef
World Vision