AP HG Course Descriptors:

• Causes and consequences of migration are influenced by cultural, demographic, economic, environmental, and political factors.
• Apply the concepts of forced and voluntary migration to historical and contemporary examples.
• Forced migrations include those involving refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers.

Time: 75 minutes.

I’m having the kids explore either the Syrian or Rohingyan refugee crisis using the VR headsets (they can still do this without the goggles, on their iPads). As they read the synopsis/watch the videos, they are curating a list of 30-40 words that they see/hear/feel/understand about the situation. The idea is to make them feel.

The following class day, we made a graffiti word wall using their list of impacting words that hopefully I can put in the halls (if done well). This is fitting since graffiti wall protests prompted the Syrian crisis.

STEP 1: Read: Choose to read either a synopsis of the Syrian Crisis, or the Crisis of the Rohingya.

STEP 2: Create a list of 15 words, nouns, adjectives, adverbs that describe what you see and feel in your notebook.

STEP 3: Everyone watches the first video (The Displaced), then choose either the next two Syrian or Rohingyan videos.

The Displaced 360 VR Video The New York Times General Refugee Video NYT (11:08)

• War has driven 30 million children from their homes. These are the stories of three of them.

SYRIAN VIDEOS (3):

Life in the Time of Refugee Syrian Refugee War (10:27)

• Omar is a nine-year-old Syrian refugee boy who suffers a debilitating hormone deficiency. Untreated for the three years that he lived as a refugee in Lebanon, Omar was resettled last year to Finland. Join his friend Warda Al-Jawahiry, herself a former refugee, on a journey to Finland to see how he is faring in his new home.

Refugees 360 VR Documentary – Awarded best independent film by scopic (6:39)

• With no signs of the war in Syria ending, people continue to flee while refugees in neighboring countries lose hope of ever returning home. With many refugees being sheltered in the region for as long as four years, it comes as no surprise that the desire of moving west is growing dramatically. After spending years with the inability to work or travel, the lack of education for children, and the overall increasing level of poverty, more and more refugees are taking a leap into Europe; an often expensive and extremely dangerous endeavour where insecurity and desperation are as real adversaries, as hunger and sheer discrimination.  While many European countries deal with internal policy tensions, misinformation and prejudice among its populations seem to successfully spread indifference, fear, and hatred. People quickly turn into numbers when the discourse becomes one of ‘us’ versus ‘they’.

Sea Prayer (Optional) (7:04)

• Inspired by the story of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, Khaled Hosseini, the novelist and Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has written an exclusive story brought to life in virtual reality. The night before a potentially fatal journey, a father reflects with his son on their life in Syria before the war – and on their unknown future.

ROHINGYA VIDEOS (2):

Forced to Flee: The Rohingya Refugee Crisis in 360 (5:02)

• Forced To Flee, a 360 documentary in collaboration with Amnesty International, takes you inside Bangladesh to hear the stories of Rohingya refugees.

I am Rohingya: A VR Documentary from Contrast VR and AJ+ 8:04

• I Am Rohingya is the first virtual reality documentary on the Rohingya refugee crisis and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.  Produced by Contrast VR, Al Jazeera Media Network’s new immersive studio, and AJ+, in partnership with Amnesty International.  The film premiered in headsets during the Vancouver International Film Festival on October 6, 2017.  SYNOPSIS:  Jamalida loves to dance. She sometimes gets the chance at a wedding or a local celebration, even though she lives in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. Experience Jamalida’s life inside the camp and watch an account of how she fled the violence in Myanmar in immersive animation. Jamalida is one of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya muslims who are not considered citizens of their home country, Myanmar, and are not wanted by their host country. “I want to talk to you,” she says. “I hope you can tell others about my story.”  In this immersive VR film by Contrast VR and AJ+, ride with Jamalida around the crowded camp, accompany her inside her tiny home, sit down in the narrow streets with her sons as they play and feel what’s it like to be a refugee stranded in a foreign land.

STEP 4: Tape brick wall paper to the wall (Hobby Lobby). Show students how to use paint markers (purchased from Blick Art Supply). 

STEP 5: Tell students to choose 3 to 5 of their most IMPACTFUL words that they feel reflects the crises they learned about. 

STEP 6: Tell students to Google “Graffiti fonts” in Google images for inspiration.

STEP 7: Give students 20-30 minutes to create their words.

STEP 8: Ask for permission to hang posters in the hallway.

Note: I have some graffiti art paints at home so I made a title for our piece, “To Be A Refugee.”

I created an Instagram inspired timeline of events for the Rohingya and the Syrians and displayed them going up our social studies staircase. We have a large printer at school where I was able to print these out.

I think the installation came out well.

It will also give other students in the school a chance to learn about what AP Human Geography studies, and an opportunity to learn a bit more about major world events that may elude their traditional Instagram feeds.

Let me know your thoughts or ideas.