Introduction:
By Andrew F. Smith

For some students, the world is a distant, abstract concept. For others it is confusing and filled with threat. For most students the world is peopled with colorful natives inhabiting exotic places. One way of helping students gain a more accurate understanding of the world is by examining the connections students and local communities have with the world. For better and worse, we are all entangled in a web of global interconnections, including: communications systems (the mail, the Internet, ham radios, telephone); social and religious (Boy or Girl Scouts, Catholic church); economic systems (purchasing products made or assembled in other countries); immigration and travel; or the press and mass media (reading newspapers or watching television). Historically, all Americans, excluding Native Americans, migrated from somewhere else and were frequently dependent on their ancestial homelands. European colonies in what is today the United States, were usually initiated, supported and protected by the mother nation. Colonies relied upon trade for survival. Since 1776 United States citizens have been directly connected with others in the world through trade, travel, missionary activities, purchases of goods and other channels. What is new about today’s interconnection is the dramatic increase in quantity and significance for all Americans. Global connections will likely change in the future. What may be significantly connected today may not be of prime significance tomorrow. Hence, students need to develop skills that will help them analyze and evaluate global connections today, and become better able to analyze and evaluate global connections in the future. Understanding past trends and movements is important to understand today’s world. Students should be able to see linkages in their their actions of daily life and how these actions—or lack of action--influence particular global--phenomena. No one knows what the future will bring. Projections of trends into the future have always been filled with speculations and have often been proven inaccurate. Yet, the future is dependent upon actions individuals take today. Often, the collective effects of individual actions will be delayed for years. Students need to know and understand that their own actions--or inactivities--can make a difference to the future. The activities in this Issues in Global Education explore our international connections. Some activities are updated classics; others are newly developed. All have been revised by Donald Bragaw for The American Forum’s Global Literacy: Challenges, Cultures and Connections.