1.1 B: The changing world map Duration: 45 minutes Instructions: Level of complexity: 1 1. With the whole group watch the video on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymI5Uv5cGU4 showing how borders have changed over time. (Note: The video is 16 minutes long, so we would recommend either speeding up the video via Youtube settings or show parts of it). Knowledge/Subjects: Civics, History, Geography, Politics, Social Studies 2. Divide the participants into pairs or small groups. Instruct them to access http://geacron.com/home-en/ and research how world maps have changed across time. Encourage participants to research the country you are currently in, an area of the world that is of interest to them or an event or period of history that your group is studying. Values/Attitudes: Sense of identity 3. Have the participants discuss their findings. Were they surprised by how borders have changed throughout time? Has their view on borders changed at all? How does the changing of borders affect people? How are border changes decided? What do the participants think borders will look like in 20 years? 50 years? 100 years? 1000 years? Do participants think that borders will still be used in the future? Skills: Critical thinking, Comparative Analysis, Research, Self-Awareness, Spatial Reasoning Objectives: • For participants to explore borders as changing and not static and understand how this could lead to changes in human relationships and belonging – including how it can lead to exclusion. Materials: Internet access (PCs, Laptops, Tablets), Photocopies of the Soviet Union map 4. Next the participants are going to think about the question of how nationality comes into play when borders change. Introduce the following case study with regards to borders and nationality: In 1991, the Soviet Union (also known as the USSR) was dissolved, meaning it ceased to exist as a country. Anyone who was previously a Soviet citizen lost their citizenship because the country no longer existed. The land which had been previously recognised as the Soviet Union was now held by a number of different groups wanting to form independent countries. Fifteen of these were recognised as countries at some point after the end of the Soviet Union. a. Take a look at the map handed out to you which outlines the area of land that formerly belonged to the Soviet Union, and the countries that arose from the Soviet Union. How was the citizenship of individuals who lived in these areas influenced by the dissolution of the Soviet Union? • People who had been citizens of the Soviet Union were now required to get the nationality of the new country they were in. Most of them did, but some, even today, have no nationality because each new country set its own rules and some people were not included. b. How is an individual recognised as a citizen of a country? Who decides that and what options exist for determining citizenship? What if a person doesn’t meet the criteria? Can someone lose their citizenship and how? • Each country has its own rules about how you can become a member: rules (or laws) that set out which people are granted nationality. Some countries give nationality to anybody born there. Other countries give nationality to anybody who has a parent from the country. Most countries allow people who have lived there for a long time or married someone from the country, to apply for nationality. In this way the real-life connections that a person has with a country form the basis for becoming a national. 16