Dreaming of a Better Life: Utopia as a Focus for Thematic, Interdisciplinary Instruction.

Throughout history humans have dreamed of a better life. This concept of utopia can be used as a central focus for thematic and interdisciplinary instruction. This approach has three key advantages. First, students recognize that certain themes are consistent across time and place and that realization can lead students to explore their own dreams and how those dreams reflect the realities of their own cultures. Second, this thematic approach encourages interdisciplinary connections among economic and social history, literature, geography, and culture. Finally, students critically analyze a wide variety of primary sources, including songs, prose, poetry, and images. This article outlines utopian dreams of everyday working people from the Middle Ages to the present and presents a variety of student activities related to the utopia theme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]