In the aftermath of World War II, governments all over the world agreed to outlaw torture, no matter what the circumstance. Said circumstances even go so far as to include times of war and when dealing with acts of terrorism. In fact, international treaties banning torture in addition to other inhumane and cruel deeds are actually among the most extensively ratified treaties in existence. Despite these facts, the reality is completely different. The ban on torture certainly helped to reduce to lessen instances of torture and related incidences, but it still occurs in many places and has since the ban occurred. It is hard to eradicate partially because it is often carried out secretly and behind closed doors, as in the cases that will be examined in this unit.
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Targets of torture often include
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not only terror suspects, armed insurgents, suspected rebels, and their presumed
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supporters, but also demonized political opponents or government critics, members
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of religious minorities, gays, and ordinary criminal suspects, including suspected
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juvenile offenders. Members of unpopular or politically weak groups are
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particularly likely to be subjected to torture.
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Such were the targets of those that were tortured under the dictatorships in the Southern Cone of the late 20
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h
century. Over the four-week duration of this unit, students will learn about a variety of issues relating to the dictatorships and the transition to democracy in the Southern Cone, specifically Argentina and Chile. Although I will be teaching this unit to 10
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grade Spanish 2 and a 10
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h
grade Spanish 3 Native Speaker course, this unit is appropriate for any high school level Spanish course. The content may not be appropriate for the middle school level, depending on the maturity of your students. We will begin by discussing the background histories of these two countries, and then moving on to the specifics of the dictatorships, followed by the transition to democracy. The unit will focus more on what occurred under the dictatorship more than the actual transition to democracy. Other topics will include:
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What exactly are human rights?
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What human rights violations occurred under these dictatorships?
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What were the domestic and international responses?
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What else was going on in South America at the time?
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Whose responsibility is it to intervene in domestic crises?
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How did these countries transition to democracy?
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What were the lasting effects of these grave human rights abuses on these societies?
This unit will also include a host of Spanish vocabulary, specifically including travel vocabulary.
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Students will be able to interpret and produce these vocabulary terms by the end of the four-week unit.
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Students will also be able to interpret and produce pertinent grammar structures, including:
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· Regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs in the preterite
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· Conjugate ir and ser in the preterite
When beginning the unit, students will take a pre-test covering all unit objectives. We will use this pre-test to track our progress of mastery of each unit objective. Students will also begin the unit by brainstorming and answering the following questions:
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What are human rights?
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How do they affect me? Do we have human rights?
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Should we believe everything we read in the news? Why?
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Is it possible for there to be different versions of a history?
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What is retrospective justice?
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How should people be brought to justice for war crimes within a human rights context?
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Is it possible to bring people to justice for war crimes? Why or why not? How?
These are questions that students will be able to answer by the end of the unit, and provide specific examples. Over the course of the unit, activities will include class discussions and a variety of cooperative learning opportunities. Students will work in the same group for the full four weeks of the unit.
