Sem2, 2015-16
CHY 4U Essay Topics
Historical Roots of Current Issues
The essay you will work on during this course should be on a non-western topic that you are really curious about. You’ll be tracing the historical roots of a current issue.
The structure of the essay would focus not on merely identifying what happened in the past, but on drawing out the similarities (continuities) and differences (changes) between past and present as well as cause-consequence relationships. Student will be expected to examine the patterns and relationships in depth. That means critical thinking will be required. An essay is not just a list of facts.
The topics below are suggestions. If you would like to do something else, please pitch it to the teacher. Your own research will guide to you toward your own specific sub-topics. The most important habit of mind you need in order to start and sustain this process is curiosity!
While there is much information about current issues online, this is a history essay and no more than 30 per cent of your essay content should be about the current issue. That means that you should use book sources for the majority of your research.
TOPICS:
1. No viable state in Libya
2. Mali and terrorist incursions
3. Boko Haram in Nigeria
4. Stability at what cost in post-genocide Rwanda?
5. Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the stalled peace process
6. After the Arab Spring in Egypt
7. ISIS in Syria and Iraq
8. Saudi Arabia vs. Yemen’s rebels
9. Saudi Arabia vs. Iran – struggle for dominance in the Middle East
10. Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey
11. Taliban vs. gov’t in Afghanistan
12. Taliban in Pakistan
13. Women’s rights in Saudi Arabia
14. Lifting of sanctions on Iran based on nuclear inspections
15. Russia’s return to “authoritarianism” under Putin
16. Crimea: Ukraine-Russia relations
17. Turkey’s secularization in question
18. Gap between rich and poor in today’s China
19. Conflict between China and Japan over territory in South China Sea
20. China’s desire to return to its past greatness
21. Myanmar/Burma’s return to democracy
22. Japan’s post-WWII pacifist constitution and tensions surrounding changing it
23. Colombia’s rebels
24. Mexico’s drug cartels
25. Thaw in Cuba-US relations
26. Brazil: indigenous peoples fight development