Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, March 05, 2015

More video treasures

Ken Halla has found more good material for comparative gov/pol and posted the link on his US Government Teachers Blog.

This time he posted a link to a good three-minute video titled, "Why does Iran hate the US?" This is a bit marginal for the comparative course, but it does help explain a lot about the motivations of political actors in Iran.

The real prize here is TestTube. It's an offshoot of cable TV's "Discovery Digital Networks." TestTube produces a short video each day on topics of current interest.

For instance, I found one titled, "How Powerful is Nigeria?" The Nigeria production is pretty superficial and only a beginning point for a comparative study of the country. But, what can you expect from a 3-minute news item? This report on Nigeria comes from AJ+, a producer of digital content from Al Jazeera America television.

Check these out. Subscribe and get updates. Evaluate and let us know what you find. Assign students to check the library of videos and report on the contents.

Why Does Iran Hate The U.S.?

The U.S. and Iran have a long history of aggression and deceit, but both countries desire to take down ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Can they mend their strained relationship to team up and defeat ISIS? To find out, we take a deeper look into the origins of their tension and distrust.

How Powerful is Nigeria?

Nigeria is expected to surpass the population of the US sometime before the year 2050 - which would put them third in the world behind India and China. Experts expect to see major economic growth during this time. So, how powerful is Nigeria?