TOK/History in the news
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Fake history is fake news entrenched
In the UK there is currently much discussion over Series 4 of The Crown, which follows the lives of the UK Royal Family under the current Queen Elizabeth. As the Netflix drama has moved towards the near-present,...
If we remove statues, are we erasing history?
A hot debate at the moment in the US is the issue of removing statues of people who are associated with a repressive regime, oppression or racism....
Are conspiracy theories dangerous?
July 2019 sees the 50th Anniversary of the 1969 moon landings. This was an amazing achievement ...Yet, conspiracy theories abound that in fact the US did not actually land men on the moon and that the whole operation was in fact it was an elaborate hoax....
Do we have a Hollywood view of History?
History is a great topic for movies and a great way for people to find out about historical events…or is it?
History Wars
The Polish government has recently passed a controversial law making it illegal to accuse Poland of complicity in Nazi Crimes...
Napoleon in the news
A huge art exhibition will try to convince the French the emperor was more statesman than warmonger....
Nicholas II: Russian history re-written?
There is controversy in Russia over a new film called 'Matilda' which portrays the last Tsar of Russia - Nicholas II - having an affair with a ballerina.
What if the Russian Revolution had never happened?
On the 2017 Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, there are many articles on the revolution in the news. This New York Times article considers what might have happened had the Revolution never taken place...
Who gets to write the History? The world's last colonial museum
The renovation of Belgium’s African museum ‘the last colonial museum in the world’ highlights this question and the issue of how countries try to deal with dark parts of their past...
Are conspiracy theories dangerous?
July 2019 sees the 50th Anniversary of the 1969 moon landings. This was an amazing achievement - the culmination of the 'space race' and the fulfillment of John Kennedy's pledge in 1961 that the US "should...
What is the role of professional historians?
Discuss in pairs any professional historians that you know of from your own country. What do they write about? Why are they well-known? Are they active on television or social media or are they known...
Should scientists use Eduard Pernkopf's anatomy book?
Task 1: In small groups go to the following link and read the article.Eduard Pernkopf created an "atlas" of anatomy by dissecting the bodies of Nazi political prisoners.