In Harry Potter it was the Order of the Phoenix versus the Death Eaters. In Star Trek, before the peace treaties, it was the Federation and the Klingons. It doesn’t matter what time, place, or year, there will always be an “us and them”. In Teaching Towards the 24th Century: Star Trek as a Social Curriculum (Anijar, 2003), the author illustrates that even in the 24th century, there will be a class and race distinction as well as the superiority of the ruling or dominant class.
So how might I use Star Trek and Klingons as a resource in the classroom? Similar to Harry Potter, I would compare the house system in HP to the different alien races in ST and their rank in society. If the new alien races conform to ST society - things work, but if they don’t, will they be allowed in? We could certainly have a great discussion about diversity and multiculturalism in ST and compare it to our world today. I would ask questions to see if we should celebrate just our current recognized holidays, or celebrate holidays from “the alien” world. Should they have to speak our language or keep their own? How might we live together in one society in peace? I would be interested to hear their answers. We could design some sort of immigration policy to welcome aliens to our planet!
I think the use of ST and MIB to teach about treatment of aliens from outer space and “aliens” from other countries would be an approachable way for students to learn more about these types of laws and rules especially with the current refugee crisis. In terms of race, the Klingon species (different colour and physical features) is different than the dominant one and therefore, they are not viewed as positively, in fact - they don’t smell as good:) They are seen more as savages than as an honourable warrior race.To see that the Klingons represented the Soviets of the cold war, I would like to see how students would apply them to any of our global enemies we might have today, for example terrorists. Would this stereotype still work? Why or why not? Also this made me think of the youth series Divergent and how in a futuristic society there would be a groups of people according to character. Of course the “warrior race” are the “Dauntless” who are the protectors and very similar to the Klingons. Since all are still human, species wasn’t as issue.
I think it would be fun to teach students the Klingon language as it might help encourage empathy to our second language learners and what they experience. But I’m not sure I agree that other languages are not viewed as positively. For example, any language in addition to English is most beneficial because of the global nature of business and our world. In fact, Mandarin, Spanish, and Hindi are very popular language classes that can bring benefit to all students.
Overall, I enjoyed the article; it’s a fun way of using a great show like Star Trek and other films to teach how life might be like in the future and how we need to teach our students critical thinking so they can see how these different characters all play a part in our world.
So how might I use Star Trek and Klingons as a resource in the classroom? Similar to Harry Potter, I would compare the house system in HP to the different alien races in ST and their rank in society. If the new alien races conform to ST society - things work, but if they don’t, will they be allowed in? We could certainly have a great discussion about diversity and multiculturalism in ST and compare it to our world today. I would ask questions to see if we should celebrate just our current recognized holidays, or celebrate holidays from “the alien” world. Should they have to speak our language or keep their own? How might we live together in one society in peace? I would be interested to hear their answers. We could design some sort of immigration policy to welcome aliens to our planet!
I think the use of ST and MIB to teach about treatment of aliens from outer space and “aliens” from other countries would be an approachable way for students to learn more about these types of laws and rules especially with the current refugee crisis. In terms of race, the Klingon species (different colour and physical features) is different than the dominant one and therefore, they are not viewed as positively, in fact - they don’t smell as good:) They are seen more as savages than as an honourable warrior race.To see that the Klingons represented the Soviets of the cold war, I would like to see how students would apply them to any of our global enemies we might have today, for example terrorists. Would this stereotype still work? Why or why not? Also this made me think of the youth series Divergent and how in a futuristic society there would be a groups of people according to character. Of course the “warrior race” are the “Dauntless” who are the protectors and very similar to the Klingons. Since all are still human, species wasn’t as issue.
I think it would be fun to teach students the Klingon language as it might help encourage empathy to our second language learners and what they experience. But I’m not sure I agree that other languages are not viewed as positively. For example, any language in addition to English is most beneficial because of the global nature of business and our world. In fact, Mandarin, Spanish, and Hindi are very popular language classes that can bring benefit to all students.
Overall, I enjoyed the article; it’s a fun way of using a great show like Star Trek and other films to teach how life might be like in the future and how we need to teach our students critical thinking so they can see how these different characters all play a part in our world.