Unit Three - Societies in Conflict

INTRODUCTION

Throughout this unit, students will construct, examine and extend the meaning of literary, informative and technical texts through listening, reading, writing and viewing. 
From this, students will come to understand that conflict is a normal part of human interaction. It is even necessary to a certain degree so as to harvest better understandings. In a world that is increasingly interconnected, many nations and communities are divided by race, religion, ethnicities and socio-economics. People and nations often have differing values and opposing goals resulting in disagreement, tensions, segregations, exclusion and sometimes violence. When conflict does surface, it is often in response to misunderstandings and societies' difficulties in dealing with differences. Whatever the origin of the conflict, it is the manner of handling the differences that either provoke or diminish a situation. 

Watch the following Symbiance presentation, to discover how easily cultural misunderstandings can occur. 

Then, consider to what extent this presentation might represent all cultural conflict? 
Keep these concepts in mind as you begin Unit Three, Societies in Conflict.