Why study North America?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Students will likely be familiar with the geopolitical influence of North America on the world stage. However, they may be less aware of the physical, political, and cultural diversity of the region. Understanding North America's place on the global stage requires an understanding of this diversity. The current diversity of the region emerges from the history of colonialism within North America and increasing globalization. While this history will be covered in greater detail in Chapter 2, it is worth emphasizing these two concepts here. Because this is the introductory chapter, a good way to begin would be through a discussion of the places in North America that your students have visited or are familiar with through media representations. This discussion could use Figure 1.1 as a reference map. Ask students to volunteer places they have lived or visited. Then follow up with questions about the cultures and ethnicities associated with those places. Responses could be noted on a board to build up a class-brainstorming list. This list would serve the dual purpose of encouraging students to contribute to the class discussion and giving the instructor a chance to begin the process of building students' mental maps of North America. During this session the instructor can mention some of the major groups that settle cities of North America and/or cities that have become major settlement centers for migrants in recent decades. The discussion can be used to begin the breakdown of stereotypes of North America as a region settled by English-speaking Protestants, because the instructor can mention cities or regions (such as the Southwest or Quebec) that were settled by groups of other ethnic and religious backgrounds.

In discussing this chapter it is also important to emphasize the different political systems in Canada and the United States. Figure 1.4 shows the differing governmental structures. More important for students' understanding of the region than simply memorizing the governmental differences, is how these reflect significantly different colonial histories. Canada made a peaceful transition from British rule in 1867, almost 100 years after the American War of Independence. Canada also retains ties with Britain as a Commonwealth country. The Queen of England serves as the symbolic head of state for Commonwealth countries, which are former British colonies such as Belize, Jamaica, Australia, and Canada.