FSI researchers work to understand continuity and change in societies as they confront their problems and opportunities. This includes the implications of migration and human trafficking. What happens to a society when young girls exit the sex trade? How do groups moving between locations impact societies, economies, self-identity and citizenship? What are the ethnic challenges faced by an increasingly diverse European Union? From a policy perspective, scholars also work to investigate the consequences of security-related measures for society and its values.
The Europe Center reflects much of FSI’s agenda of investigating societies, serving as a forum for experts to research the cultures, religions and people of Europe. The Center sponsors several seminars and lectures, as well as visiting scholars.
Societal research also addresses issues of demography and aging, such as the social and economic challenges of providing health care for an aging population. How do older adults make decisions, and what societal tools need to be in place to ensure the resulting decisions are well-informed? FSI regularly brings in international scholars to look at these issues. They discuss how adults care for their older parents in rural China as well as the economic aspects of aging populations in China and India.
Teaching the geographic concepts of region, cultural boundary, and movement can be challenging. This unit helps students explore these ideas as they learn about the geographic distribution and spread of major world religions throughout Asia.
Students study cultural perceptions in this unit, based on encounters among Europeans, Americans, and the Japanese in the mid-1800s. Historic images from woodblock prints and paintings, journal entries, and other primary sources bring these interactions alive for students as they think about issues such as perceptions and stereotypes.
This unit is a simulation designed to provide students at the intermediate and secondary level with an experimental or discovery exercise in cross-cultural relations.
In this unit, students examine two important episodes in the history of U.S.–Mexico relations: the Mexican-American War and the Bracero Program, created to fill a critical need for farm labor in the United States. This unit is Part I of the U.S.–Mexico Relations bundle.
In this unit, students explore key historical episodes in U.S.–Japan relations, such as the first Japanese embassy to the United States in 1860, the "picture bride" immigration from Japan to the United States, and the U.S. occupation of Japan.