These primary source excerpts are broken into 2 groups: Cuban perspectives and American perspectives of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Consider having students work in pairs or small groups to read, discussion and answer the questions for their perspective. Then have students from both perspectives share observations. Consider using a guided question such as "Why are views so different for the same event, especially of those who fought at the Bay of Pigs?"

 This unit leads students to create an overview of the Cold War, from 1945-1991. Students will work in groups of four, reading and researching the texts and web address provided. They will develop a timeline of the unit followed by generating Quizlet flashcards. The teacher will include Quizlet Live as a formative assessment by using links to each groups’ Quizlets for Quizlet live games. 

Host Harry Kreisler welcomes UC professors Herbert York and Susan Shirk for a discussion of the role of research universities in meeting today’s national security challenges. York, the first director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and founding director of the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and Shirk, Asian security policy expert and current IGCC Director, compare the Cold War and the Post 911 world. Highlighting the importance of regional contexts and the need for well informed diplomacy, they evaluate the U.S. response in managing these threats and offer recommendations for the future. (55 minutes)

This set of primary source documents is compiled as a DBQ (document based question) assignment. DBQs are used in all AP history courses to get students to group and analyze documents and authors' points of view into an essay. Students should be able to use the provided documents and prompt to group similar documents together and then write a 5 paragraph essay.

On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army, effectively ending the Vietnam War. In the days before, U.S. forces evacuated thousands of Americans and South Vietnamese. American diplomats were on the frontlines, organizing what would be the most ambitious helicopter evacuation in history.

The logistics of issuing visas and evacuating these Vietnamese and American citizens were not glamorous but were essential. American diplomats were behind every detail. Some diplomats showed exceptional bravery saving Vietnamese citizens who would have faced persecution under the new regime.

These artifacts and photos in our collection offer a glimpse of what diplomats and refugees experienced during the Fall of Saigon. More broadly, they show the challenging and dangerous circumstances diplomats may encounter while performing their work.

The Suez Canal was completed in 1869 to connect the Mediterranean and Red Seas, creating an essential waterway for global trade, as ships no longer had to navigate around the Horn of Africa.

At the time it opened, the canal was 164 kilometers, or roughly 100 miles, long. Without the canal, the circumnavigation around Africa is 9,654 kilometers or 6,000 miles. For most of its existence, the canal was managed by the Suez Canal Company which was owned by Great Britain and France.

On July 26, 1956, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nassar nationalized the canal, intending to take control of the canal’s operation and its revenue.

The world was still recovering from World War II with new national border conflicts and the onset of the Cold War. Many nations depended on the Suez Canal, especially Great Britain and France.

How would they manage their economic and political interests while avoiding conflict?

How would the United States and the Soviet Union support Nassar’s quest for Egypt’s sovereignty and Israel?

How would Great Britain, France, the United States, Israel, and the Soviet Union manage their own economic and political interests while avoiding military conflict?

How would Egypt preserve its national sovereignty?

In this historical scenario, students will have to overcome differing national interests to maintain global security and peace. The exercise will develop skills in leadership, collaboration, composure, analysis, communication, awareness, management, innovation, and advocacy.

The space race was a decade long battle bettween the USSR and the US to see who landed on the moon first. In the end, the US reached the moon first, and the war ended with the Soviet Union nad the United States deciding to work together instead of fight.