The Scout Report -- Volume 22, Number 33

In the 1930s, what could the average American citizen learn about the Nazi persecution of Jewish individuals and other minorities from reading American newspapers? How did the U.S. press report on these atrocities? How did American domestic politics, social movements, and prejudices influence press coverage? The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has launched the History Unfolded project to facilitate exploration and conversation around these important questions. The museum has invited researchers and students across the United States to collect and digitize U.S. newspaper articles to include in the museum's growing online database. In Spring 2018, these archives will be incorporated into an exhibition about Americans and the Holocaust. Meanwhile, visitors to this website can learn how to participate in the project or browse through the articles currently in the database. There are a number of Teacher Resources here, including a detailed lesson plan and links to online newspaper databases that will help history instructors facilitate classroom research projects. [MMB]

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Mathigon provides a series of free, interactive, online courses that are designed to complement 6th grade through college level mathematics instruction. The website was founded by Philipp Legner, who studied mathematics and the University of Cambridge and mathematics education at the London School of Economics. Legner, who currently works at Google, wanted to design a website that enabled learners to examine mathematics concepts by actively engaging in problem solving. Each course explains key concepts and skills through a series of short explanations, helpful visualizations, problem sets, and quizzes. Learners receive feedback as they work their way through each course. Visitors to this website can find courses by browsing through the course library, which sorts available courses by grade level (6-9; 10-12; College, Fun and More) and by topic (Geometry; Functions and Equations; Probability and Statistics; Calculus and Mechanics; Applied Mathematics, etc.) [MMB]

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Savage Minds is "a group blog dedicated to 'doing anthropology in public' - providing well-written, relevant discussions of sociocultural anthropology that everyone will find accessible." Since its establishment in 2005 by a group of anthropology scholars and students, the blog has been recognized as one of the best science blogs by Nature and has been enthusiastically praised by American Anthropologist. Frequently updated, recent posts include a consideration of how anthropological principles can be utilized to help businesses and organizations resist the "silo effect"(when information and expertise is not shared throughout the organization), and a reflection by a medical translator about how the field of anthropology informs her work. In addition, this blog includes Around the Web Digest features, which highlight online articles that may be of interest to anthropologists. While this blog is specifically aimed at anthropologists, much of this content may also be of interest to scholars in other fields, including bioethics, medicine, and sociology. [MMB]

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Art history fans and scholars will want to check out Journal18 an online publication about eighteenth century art and culture, which debuted in the spring of 2016. Founded by art historians at the Getty Research Institute, New York University, and Queen Mary University of London, Journal18 describes itself as "an online, open access, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the art and culture of the long eighteenth century form around the globe." Each biannual issue presents several articles related to a unifying theme. The current issue, Multilayered, features an examination by Harvard doctoral student David Pullins about a single 1760s painting that features the contributions of three artists; a consideration of graffiti created by eighteenth century artists by Charlotte Guichard of the National Centre for Scientific Research in France; and an analysis of the artistry of painted travel invitations from early nineteenth century India by NYU art historian Dipti Khera. The journal's second issue, Louvre Local, will be coming out soon. Visitors to this website will also want to check out Notes and Queries, a collection of regularly published shorter pieces. [MMB]

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What can we learn about diversity in our ecosystem by examining and comparing different sites, one cubic foot at a time? The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's educational web page Biocube: Life in One Cubic Foot (which accompanies an ongoing exhibit of the same title at the museum) is a resource designed to help science educators facilitate student exploration of this question. On this site, visitors can learn about the current Biocubes exhibit, which emerged from a partnership between a group of Smithsonian scientists - including biodiversity scientist, Chris Meyer -and photographer David Liittschwager. Liittschwager and this team of scientists set up one hollow cube around the world and examined and photograph all the species that appeared in this cube throughout the day. These gorgeous photographs were featured in National Geographic and, eventually, published as a book. On this website, educators can find lesson plans and teaching resources to lead their own biocube projects in the science classroom. This site also contains an online interview with Meyer and a link to an article in Smithsonian that features Liittschwager's photographs. [MMB]

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Interfaces is a new open access, multilingual, peer reviewed journal dedicated to medieval European Literature. Founded in 2015, Interfaces is edited by scholars around the world and published at the University of Milan. The opening issue begins with an article by the editors that critically examines the terms "Medieval," "European," and "Literature," noting that all three terms are contested. As this opening essay and the site's website collectively emphasize, Interfaces is intentionally interdisciplinary and global in its scope, welcoming scholars of history, literature, codicology, philosophy, and other fields who study the middle ages through text or examine intellectual and aesthetic traditions with roots in the middle ages. In this spirit, the first issue features a wide variety of articles, including an examination of twelfth and thirteenth century French-language texts produced outside of France; a consideration of different classifications and historiographies of Czech literature in nineteenth century academe; and an analysis of Italian poet Petrarch's Rerum vulgarium fragmenta that draws on Theodor Adorno's conception of "late style." While this journal is multilingual, all abstracts (although not all articles) are in English. [MMB]

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Today, college students are taking on more and more loans in order to pursue their education. What factors impact their ability to pay off this debt following graduation? In July 2016, the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment (CAPSEE), released a working paper entitled "Early Labor Market and Debt Outcomes for Bachelor's Degree Recipients: Heterogeneity by Institution Type and Major, and Trends Over Time." Authored by Judith Scott-Clayton of the Community College Research Center at the Columbia Teacher's College, this 34-page report examines both the earnings and student loan debt of individuals who graduated from four year colleges between 1993 and 2008. The data for this report comes from the National Center for Educational Statistics Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) Survey. Scott-Clayton conducts a quantitative analysis to compare the financial outcomes of students across type of schools (e.g. public, private, "selective," etc) and majors. [MMB]

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Hybrid Pedagogy Inc. is a non-profit that "focuses on the implementation of critical digital pedagogy in education at all levels" and seeks to "prepare learners, educators, librarians, and administrators to teach, collaborate, and think with digital technology." To further these aims, visitors to the organization's website will find the open-access peer-reviewed journal, Hybrid Pedagogy, as well as the Digital Pedagogy Lab, where there are blog posts, podcasts, and harvested tweets. Hybrid Pedagogy provides a venue for voices in education that might otherwise be marginalized to be published and peer reviewed. For example, academics in the throes of late-summer syllabus writing may be interested in a 2014 article, "Syllabus as Manifesto: A Critical Approach to Classroom Culture." The site can be a little tricky to navigate, and it's hard to tell what portions of the content the site search covers - but a Google search on a keyword or article title + hybrid pedagogy works perfectly. In 2015 and 2016, Digital Pedagogy Lab hosted 3- and 5-day Summer Institutes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Mary Washington in Virginia, and in Canada at the University of Prince Edward Island. For those unable to attend in person, summaries and comments on talks at the 2016 Institute can be found on the website. [DS]

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The title of the group blog, Africa is a Country, is tongue-in-cheek, as its subtitle - "Not the continent with 54 countries" - clarifies. The blog was founded by Dr. Sean Jacobs, a professor of International Affairs at the New School who grew up in apartheid South Africa. Authored by Jacobs and a team of scholars, journalists, and artists, Africa is a Country features a broad collection of engaging essays, interviews, and articles that address subjects including Politics, It's the Economy, Music, and Football is a Country. Articles highlight a diversity of perspectives and topics, giving lie to the myth that Africa is a monolithic "perpetual sob story" (as Jacobs describes Western tropes about the country in one interview). Recent posts include an essay by political science and philosophy professor Achille Mbembe entitled "Africa is the New Century" and an interview with Anjan Sundaram on the state of journalism in Rwanda. Music fans will want to check out the blog's regular Music Break feature, where music producer, DJ, and writer Boima Tucker compiles video mixtapes featuring artists with roots in Africa. [MMB]

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One of the most striking developments in entertainment over the past two decades has been the rise of complex and sometimes experimental serialized narratives on television programs. Jason Mittell, a professor of Film and Media Studies and American Culture at Middlebury College, published a book about this phenomenon in 2015 called The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling. Complex TV accompanies Mittell's book, offering a synopsis of each chapter along with accompanying video clips. Each of these chapters examines a different aspect of the "complex TV" phenomenon - including the rise of complex narratives, character structures, and the "orienting paratexts" that viewers and critics have established to interpret and analyze these shows. Mittell illustrates each of these aspects with annotated clips from a number of shows, including Veronica Mars, The Wire, The Sopranos,and Breaking Bad. [MMB]

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Lady Science is a monthly magazine that addresses the history of women in science and other topics relating to gender and science. The magazine's editors-in-chief, Anna Reser and Leila McNeill, both hold master's degrees in the history of science from the University of Oklahoma. The magazine features contributions from doctoral students and independent scholars, and academics from a variety of fields, including history of science, English, and art. Each issue features two critical essays that share a central theme. Recent issues have addressed the intersections of disability and gender, literary portrayals of female scientists, and an exploration of gender, the modern kitchen, and food at the dawn of the Cold War. Readers will also find a blog here, along with recommended reads and television shows relating to women in science. [MMB]

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Where did the term "cry uncle" come from? Does the phrase "the whole shebang" come from the Irish word "shabeen" ("a disreputable drinking establishment")? What is the odd word out in this group: "bigot," "saloon," "quiche," and "tornado"? If these questions pique your interest, you'll want to check out A Way with Words, an hour long weekly podcast about all things language. Hosted by Martha Barnette, who has penned three books about word origins, and lexicographer Grant Barrett, A Way with Words is centered on the queries of curious listeners from around the world. Anyone is welcome to email or phone in a question about language - whether it is about the origin of a phrase, a linguistic dispute, or the correct term for an item (what are you supposed to call the tube inside a roll of toilet paper?) Barnette and Barrett then select questions to feature on the show. On this website, listeners can check out entire episodes, or browse all featured topics and listen to shorter clips focused on specific questions. Interested listeners can also subscribe on iTunes. [MMB]

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Published by the Creative Writing Department at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois, Punctuate is a new online magazine that features non-fiction pieces including essays, interviews, and book reviews. Established in 2015 and regularly updated, Punctuate publishes work from both established and emerging writers. As the magazine notes, it "publishes traditional and experimental writing side-by-side, showcasing a mosaic of forms that push disciplinary boundaries, including personal essays, flash nonfiction, graphic essays, and journal excerpts." Many of the contributors are current students or young alumni at Columbia College; others, including Bret Lott, Sandy Feinstein, and Douglas Haynes, are published writers. Essays are short and vivid, and describe topics like the experience of walking in New York City or vacationing on the Spanish island of Majorca. The magazine also includes photo essays and long interviews with writers about their craft. [MMB]

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The Pacific Salmon Explorer is an online tool created by the Pacific Salmon Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to conserving salmon populations near the Skeena River in British Columbia. The website describes itself as "[a] data driven look at salmon habitat & populations" and will be of interest to anyone intrigued by the human impact on salmon populations. In the Habitat Status portion of this website, visitors will find a variety of data and useful infographics about factors that impact salmon populations including, for example, water quality and quantity, vegetation quality, and infrastructure development. In Population Status, visitors can examine a multitude of data about 55 different Conservation Units, or regional salmon populations. Visitors can also check out the status assigned to each Conservation Unit based on this data (good; fair; and poor). [MMB]

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Vibrant color isn't always the first characteristic people associate with classical art. However, as the Colors of Classical Art website notes, "there is increasing evidence that the cities and houses of the Greeks and Romans were once full of color." Some of this color, such as those that appeared in textiles, haven't survived over the centuries, contributing to the false notion that ancient art existed only in muted hues. The Indiana University Art Museum and Department of the History of Art, under the leadership of curator Juliet Graver Istrabadi and art history professor Julie Van Voorhis, have teamed up to create Colors of Classical Art, a fantastic online gallery. Visitors to this website can browse by artifact type, including Ceramics, Personal Luxuries, and Colors of Metal. Each section includes striking photographs accompanied by an explanation of each artifact's origin and how artists have used technology and available resources to incorporate color into their work. These descriptions also analyze what the use of color represents and contributes to each item. [MMB]

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"For conscience like a fiery horse, / Will stumble if you check his course; / But ride him with an easy rein, / And rub him down with worldly gain, / He'll carry you through thick and thin, / Safe, although dirty, to your Inn." These poetic words of advice are attributed to Charles Ignatius Sancho in the eighteenth century. It is one of over 14,000 metaphorical pieces available on this website, curated by Brad Pasanek of the University of Virginia English Department. Visitors to this website can search for metaphors by a variety of criteria, including by literary period, by metaphor category (examples include "Government," "Body," and Impression"), or by the genre of literature these metaphors appear in (e.g. poetry, prose, drama, etc.). Visitors can also browse by the nationality of the author. Graphs of the ebb and flow of metaphorical topics - government, machines, population - over time provide insight into the evolution of culture and language. Fans of this website will also want to check out Pasanek's book by the same title. [MMB]

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Looking to brush up on your geography? If so, check out Seterra. Originally created in 1998 for Windows computers, Seterra is freely available online or for purchase as a mobile application. Users can test their knowledge of countries, states, provinces, rivers, lakes and cities through interactive quizzes, all of which are browsable by continent. Once visitors select a quiz, they will be asked to locate an item (e.g. state, river, city) on a blank map. When users click on the incorrect area, the correct name for that region will be shown - allowing users to learn as they go. Each attempt to fill out a map is timed and graded for accuracy. [MMB]

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Opinion Stage is an online tool for creating multiple choice quizzes, interactive surveys, and online polls. Users can then embed these items into their websites or forms, along with accompanying videos or photographs. While created in part for commercial use, Opinion Stage provides a useful free resource for educators. One can use Opinion Stage to create an interactive quiz that allows students to check their comprehension of an online reading assignment or video. Alternatively, instructors or facilitators might use this tool to survey students or participants about their interests or goals. All basic features of Opinion Stage are free; users also have the option to upgrade to a paid account. [MMB]

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