Special Area

Crime & Justice

Introductory Questions
What is a crime, and who decides how serious a crime is? Who should?

Are there countries in which those accused of crimes are guilty until proven
innocent?

How can someone be proven guilty of a crime?

What acts are considered crimes in some countries but not in others?

To what degree should citizens be involved in law enforcement?

Should a person be held responsible for breaking laws he or she doesnt know

about?

Should non-citizens be tried differently for crimes than citizens?

Should judges or juries be the ultimate arbiters of guilt or innocence?

What is the purpose of sending someone to prison?

Is it ever just to try one person for another persons crime?

Is there a difference between a crime and a crime against humanity?

Is crime more common in certain societies or among certain groups of people?

Can a criminal be a hero?

Is there such a thing as honor among thieves?

What is the line, if any, between justice and the law?

Should the government be allowed to prosecute someone for a crime even if the
victim says not to pursue charges?

What is the difference between terrorism and crime?

Can something be a crime even if it has no victims?

Is anyone who breaks the law a criminal?

What type of acts justify trying someone as a war criminal?

How should countries address crime that occurs across borders?

Should all countries follow the same legal code?

The Bad and the Ugly: Understanding Crime and Criminals

A History of Crime: From Pirates to Phishermen

The Criminal Mind: Insights from Psychology

The Criminal in Society: Insights from Anthropology and Sociology

Crime as Spectacle: Postmodern Perspectives on Criminology

Codes of Misconduct: Prosecution & Punishment

Hammurabi, Draco, and Other Early Approaches

Modern Legal Systems: Common | Civil | Religious | Statutory

Classifications of Crime: Personal | Property | Inchoate | Statutory | Other

Crime Investigation and Criminal Apprehension

Courthouse Party: The Judicial Process Around the World

Types of Punishment: Deterrence | Retribution | Rehabilitation | Incapacitation

The International Criminal Court: Crime in a Globalized World

CSI: The Science of (Examples)

Fingerprints | Genetic Testing | Blood Spatter | Autopsies

Scene Recognition & Examination | Sketches | Evidence Collection

Forensic Entomology | Trace Evidence | Serology | Simulations

DNA Profiling | Offender Profiling | Forensics

Types of Crime to Research (Examples)

Felonies vs. Misdemeanors | White Collar vs. Blue Collar

Theft | Robbery | Burglary | Vandalism

Assault | Laundering | Extortion | Blackmail | Embezzlement

Caper | Heist | Conspiracy | Fraud | Larceny | Hate Crimes

Trafficking | Kidnapping | Classic & Digital Piracy | 419

Notorious Crimes & Capers (Examples)

The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist | The Agricultural Bank of China
Robbery

Fortaleza Banco Central Robbery | KLM Diamond Heist | Lufthansa Heist

Salish Sea Foot Mystery | Great Train Robbery

Notable Criminals to Research (Examples)

Billy the Kid | Robin Hood | Bonnie & Clyde | Al Capone | DB Cooper

Charles Manson | Charles Ponzi | Frank Abagnale | James Hogue

Barefoot Bandit | Los Zetas | Zodiac Killer | Postcard Bandit

Griselda Blanco | Jacques Mesrine | El Chapo | Vassilis Paleokostas

Jonathan Tokeley-Parry | Philippe Jamin | Patty Hearst | Unabomber

Moriarty | Hannibal Lecter | Walter White | Dexter | the Joker

Additional Terms to Learn (Examples)

Cartels | Mafia | Syndicate | Extradition

Jury | Reasonable Doubt | Attorneys | Bail | Witnesses

Types of Pleas | Eyewitnesses | Arraignment | Sentencing

Alibi | Corrections | Corporeal & Capital Punishment

Parole | Rehabilitation | Probation | Appeals | Double Jeopardy

Selected Film: Oceans Eleven

Additional Questions & Cases to Discuss (Examples)

Study the Yakuza as an example of criminal organizations around the world. How
does this so-called "Japanese mafia" differ from its counterparts in other countries? Is
there a role for such organizations in civilized society?

When and how should technology be used to enable citizens to assist police in
solving crimes? Are there ways in which inviting citizen participation could be
counterproductive?

Learn more about the debate over "amber alerts". Some find them to
be effective; others believe they only increase public anxiety. How could they be
improved?

Research the death penalty. Is it legal in your country? Does it help reduce crime
rates? When, if ever, is it appropriate for the state to execute a person, and, if so, by
what means?

Consider the phenomenally successful Serial podcast (season 1). Is it ever

appropriate for the media to sensationalize a crimeor to reopen a seemingly closed
investigation?

Research vigilante justice, including this ongoing Facebook-driven movement in

Peru. Is it ever appropriate for citizens to take the law into their own hands?

Are three strikes laws a mistake?

Does the Internet increase crime?

Is it ever appropriate to use racial profiling to help solve or prevent crimes?

Some studies show that women are committing more crimes than in the past.
What might explain this, and is there a difference in the crimes that men and women
commit?

Do you think crime is getting worse in your country? Why do so many

Americans believe crime rates are increasing in the United States even though they are
lower than ever?

Science
Disease & Public Health
Introductory Questions

What is a disease? What is an epidemic?

What is the difference between epidemiology and public health?

Does globalization increase the spread of disease?

What role should governments play in ensuring public health?

What are the greatest threats to public health in your country?

What are the greatest threats to public health worldwide?

When would it be appropriate to quarantine an entire city or country?

When should you give up on saving a patients life?

Should doctors risk their own lives to treat victims of epidemics?

How can we keep our societies safe from epidemics?

What is the difference between individual and structural interventions?

Are we all ultimately responsible for our own health?

Should we strive for a world without disease?

Is it worth sacrificing a few lives to develop the cure to a fatal disease?

In Sickness and in Health

Purpose of Public Health

Hospitals, Clinics, and Other Health Providers

Medical Education

National and Global Institutions

Private vs. Public Health

Successes and Shortcomings

#Spreadthepwaathogen

From Hippocrates to the Four Humors: Classical Views of Disease

Distinguishing Sickness, Illness, and Disease

Advances in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Agents of Infection & Modes of Pathogen Transmission

Detecting and Managing Epidemics

The Search for Cures and Treatments

Social Responses to Disease

Diseases to Explore (Examples)

smallpox | bubonic plague | cholera | polio

syphilis | tuberculosis | malaria | influenza | dengue

yellow fever | leishmaniasis | hepatitis | mumps

meningitis | HIV/AIDS | cooties | chicken pox

obesity | smoking | type 2 diabetes

Historical Outbreaks to Research (Examples)

The Black Death | Plague of Justinian | Antonine Plague | Plague of Athens

Cholera epidemic of 1854 | Great Plague of London | Ebola outbreak of 2015|

Cocoliztli epidemics | the First and Second Cholera Pandemics

Third Plague Pandemic | 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

Avian Bird Flu of 1957 | H1N1 | SARS & MERS in the 21st century

Terms to Learn (Examples)

endemic | outbreak | pathogenicity | triage

prevalence | incidence | retrovirus | incubation

infectious vs. lifestyle diseases | epidemiological transition

intervention | descriptive vs. analytic epidemiology

risk factors | cohort | zoonosis | fomite | latency | outlier

dependent vs. independent variables | false negative

agent | double blind trials | patient zero | chain of infection

droplet spread | herd immunity | morbidity | comorbidity

infant mortality | heterozygote advantage

Center for Disease Control

Additional Cases & Questions to Discuss

Explore the impact of smallpox on the indigenous peoples of the Americas. How
different would the world look today if humans never got sick?

Consider the treatment of these supposed psychological disorders in the

Victorian Era. Are there diseases being diagnosed today that will someday be viewed as
critically?

Research Beijings so-called Airpocalypse. Do other cities face similar threats?

How would you go about solving this crisis?

Explore the impact of climate change on the spread of disease. What measures
do you think should be taken in response, if any?

Why is mad cow disease both a medical and a political issue?

Look into the shortcomings in the research used to assess a seemingly 100%
effective Ebola vaccine. Should this vaccine be widely administered despite the
imperfect data?
What can the Ebola outbreak teach us?

Is it possible that the Plague of Athens was actually an Ebola outbreak?

Is it a good idea to eradicate diseases that may help prevent other diseases?
Consider the cases ofcystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia.

Study the politics of the zombie apocalypse. What countries would in fact
respond best to such a threat? Is the world prepared for a disaster of this magnitude?

Obesity is on the rise all over the world. Discuss the possible consequences.
Should governments do more to regulate how much people eat and exercise?

Was the Black Death truly the greatest catastrophe ever? How you would react if
an equally lethal (and mysterious!) disease were breaking out in your own community?

Read about the eradication of smallpox (and about its history as a disease and
as an early case study in inoculation). What does it mean for a disease to be
eradicated?

Should hookahs be treated as a public health threat?

What could be causing dramatic increases in the rates

of autism and ADHD among children?

Although today they are obvious threats to public health, radioactive consumer
goods were once very popular. Are there any products on the market now that might be
remembered with an equal mix of scorn and horror in a hundred years?

History
A History of Cheating
Introductory Questions

What is cheating? How is it different from lying?

Is cheating ever justified?

What are the advantages and disadvantages cheating?

How should cheaters be punished?

Are we morally obligated to report any cheaters we encounter?

Under what circumstances is cheating a crime?

Is cheating simply about breaking the rules? Or is it about exploiting them?

Should there be special sporting events for athletes who want to use
performance-enhancing drugs?

Is cheating more acceptable in some cultures than in others?

Do men and women cheat at the same rate?

Do certain institutions encourage cheating?

Are people born with a sense of fairness?

How can schools prevent cheating?

Is it possible to cheat in war?

What is the economic perspective on cheating?

Should cheating disqualify a politician from winning elected office? How about

lying?

Have you ever cheated?

The Business of Cheating

False Advertising

Corporate Espionage

Tax Evasion

Collusion and Price Fixing

Cheating in Sales and Negotiation

Insider Trading

Resume Fraud

Teaching Cheating in Education

Cheating in the United States, India, the United Kingdom, and Abroad

Institutional Cheating

Plagiarism

The Debate Over Neuroenhancing Drugs

Not So Honest Abe: Cheating in Politics

The Politics of Deception

Message Manipulation

Cheating Among States

Gerrymandering: Strategy or Skullduggery?

Gaming the Games

Performance Enhancing Drugs

Match Fixing and the Ethics of Throwing a Game

Video Games: Cheat Codes and Other Exploits

Cheating and Gambling: Vice on Vice?

Art or Artifice?

Counterfeiting and Forgeries

Technological Shortcuts: Cheating the Process?

Borrowing vs. Stealing in Music: Sampling in Hip Hop and Beyond

Lip Syncing, Autotune, and the Limits of the Authentic

Additional Cases to Research (Examples)

Academic Decathlon Cheating Scandal (Optional Film: Cheaters*)

The Wolfgang Beltracchi Fake-Art Scam

Korean SAT Cancellation

The Chocolate Wars

Russian Doping Scandal

Lance Armstrong Doping Scandal

Iran Nuclear Deal Enforcement Concerns

FIFA World Cup: Chile vs. Brazil 1989

Infamous Olympic Cheating Incidents

Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

Additional Terms to Learn (Examples)

Cost/Benefit Analysis | Tracing | Steroids

Nootropics | Cosmetic neurology | Cosmetic infidelity

Fudge Factor Theory | Green Card Marriages

Double cross | Catfishing | Prisoners Dilemma

Crib | Bunco | Hustle | Swindle | Smoke Screen

Additional Questions & Cases to Discuss (Examples)

Watch Dan Arielys talk on Our Buggy Moral Code or read this interview and
excerpts from hisblog. Does his work change your view of cheating?

Explore some examples of corporate espionage. Should they be considered acts

of cheating?

Listen to Lin Miao-Ke lip-syncing at the opening of the 2008 Beijing Summer
Olympics and to Beyonc doing the same at President Barack Obamas Second
Inauguration. What do these two performances have in common, and how are they

different? Explore other notable lip-syncing incidents, and discuss with your team: why is
the practice seen so unfavorably?

Should card counting be illegal? Is it cheating? Research the case of the MIT
students whose card counting techniques resulted in their being banned from Las Vegas
casinos.
Is tracing a form of cheating in art?

When a referee misses an illegal play in a sporting event, as in The Hand of

God, should the offending player report it?

Is it cheating for an athlete to pretend he or she was fouled to draw a favorable

call by a referee?

Is it cheating to use a disabled bathroom if you are not disabled?

What is the difference between lying on a college application and simply

presenting yourself in the best possible light?
Study the online practice known as catfishing. Does the Internet make it too easy

to lie?

Is concealing plastic surgery from romantic partners a form of cheating?

Should students be tested for the use of brain-enhancing drugs before major
exams?
Can computers cheat?

Is it ever justifiable for researchers to fake or massage data, as in this article

published in Science?

Consider the synonyms for cheating listed here. What conclusions can you draw
from them about the social context in which they evolved?

Film contains mature language and should only be watched with teacher consent and
adult guidance.

Literature
Words to Light the Darkness
Poems

A Litany in Time of Plague | Thomas Nashe

Ode to Broken Things | Pablo Neruda

The Stolen Child | William Butler Yeats

Overnight in the Pavilion by the River | Tu Fu (Alt. Translation)

The Ballad of Reading Gaol | Oscar Wilde

Refugee Blues | WH Auden

My Last Duchess | Robert Browning

Sonnet 147 | William Shakespeare

Report to Wordsworth | Boey Kim Cheng

Some Advice to Those Who Will Serve Time in Prison | Nazim Hikmet

Justice | Langston Hughes

Dibs Camp, the Womens Prison | Choman Hardi

Visits to St. Elizabeths | Elizabeth Bishop

To A Lover Who is HIV-Positive | Alfred Corn

Short Stories

The Second Bakery Attack | Haruki Murakami

Arson Plus | Dashiell Hammett

Reasons | John Green

Lamb to the Slaughter | Roald Dahl

Evidence | Isaac Asimov

The Elizabeth Complex | Karen Joy Fowler

The Lottery | Shirley Jackson

Seven Floors | Dino Buzzati

Art & Music

Flawed Visions, Broken Sounds
Pain in the Paint

Death and Funeral of Cain | David Alfaro Siqueiros

The Raft of the Medusa | Thodore Gricault

Triumph of Death | unknown

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Victor Vasnetov

Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Stricken in Jaffa | Antoine-Jean Gros

Victim of Fanaticism | Mykola Pymonenko

Unnamed mural at Supreme Court | Jose Clemente Orozco

Yours, Truly

The Music Lesson | Johannes Vermeer

The Cardsharps | Caravaggio

La Horde | Wolfgang Beltracci

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife | Jan Van Eyck

Hustler | Arthur Sarnoff

Stranger than Fiction

Humans of New York | Brandon Stanton (emphasis on refugee stories)

Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn | Ai Weiwei

Diary of an Empty City | Liu Xiaodong

245 Cubic Meters | Santiago Sierra

The Wait | Edward Kienholz

Project Dust | Brother Nut

Dismaland | Banksy

Little Monsters | Flora Borsi

(Im)perfect Perspectives

Wabi-sabi | Are there artists active today who embrace elements of wabi-sabi in
their work? Is it a healthy mindset for valuing the world, or an excuse to settle for
imperfection?

Nonfinito works (emphasis on Michelangelo) | Are incomplete works by definition

imperfect? Are "unfinished" and "incomplete" the same thing?

Jailhouse Rocks

How to Make Gravy | Paul Kelly

Folsom Prison Blues | Johnny Cash

Laura Palmer | Bastille

Liberty Needs Glasses | Tupac Shakur

Negro y Azul | Los Cuates de Sinaloa

Schindlers List, Main Title Theme | John Williams

On a Pale Piano

The Hurdy-Gurdy Man | Franz Schubert

15th Symphony, 1st Movement | Dmitri Shostakovich

Danse Macabre | Camille Saint-Sans

4th Symphony, 2nd Movement | Gustav Mahler

Totentanz | Franz Liszt

A World of Tears

Stink-Foot | Frank Zappa

Industrial Disease | Dire Straits

Another Day In Paradise | Phil Collins

The Way It Is | Bruce Hornsby & the Range

City of the Damned | Green Day

Papaoutai | Stromae

Sunday Bloody Sunday | U2

Jenny Was A Friend of Mine | The Killers

I Feel Pretty / Unpretty | Glee Cast Recording

Will I | Rent

It Gets Better

Light (from Next To Normal) | Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey

Epilogue (from Les Misrables) | Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schnberg

Proud of Your Boy | Aladdin

Born This Way | Glee Cast Recording

Glory | Common & John Legend

Social Studies
When States Falter
Introductory Questions

How would you define a state? Are nations and states different?

What purposes do states serve in the world?

How different would your life be if you had been born in a different state?

Do perfect states exist in the world?

What are the best and worst states you can think of? How are you measuring

them?

Are democracies better states than non-democracies?

What is the difference between a failed state and a fragile state?

What do failed (and fragile) states have in common?

How much of state failure can be attributed to politics?

How much of state failure can be attributed to factors beyond a states control?

Who should be in charge of measuring a states successits citizens, or other

states?

If you were the leader of a failed or fragile state, whom would you ask for help?

Can there be such a thing as a failed region in a successful state? How about a
successful region in a failed state?

What happens to a state after it fails? What happens to its people?

Has globalization made states stronger or weaker?

Do revolutions and uprisings save states, or further doom them?

Is a failed state a failed society?

Are some states doomed to failure?

Is the traditional concept of the state outdated in an age of globalization and the
Internet?

Do your best to understand the current refugee crisis, also sometimes called the
"Syrian" refugee crisis. Should all nations open their borders to people in need - or are
nations right to reject any, many, or all of them?

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good States?

Factors in State Failure: Civil War | Foreign War | Economic Collapse | Natural
Disasters | Climate Change | Regime Type | Leadership | Colonialism | Disease |
Geography

Select Historical Cases: Biafra | Haiti | Weimar Republic | the Roman Empire |
Yemen | Libya | Zaire | Colombia | the Soviet Union | Somalia

Potential Preventative and Restorative Measures

Total Fail? Tools for Measurement

Human Development Index | Gross Domestic Product

Polity IV | Freedom House | Social Progress Index

Failed States Index | Legatum Prosperity Index

Additional Terms to Learn (Examples)

Weak state | Fragile state | Collapsed state | Catastrophic success

Civil Society | Regime Type | Institutions | NGOs

Development Agencies | Peacebuilding Commission | Post-Conflict Compacts

Democratization | Authoritarianism | Sovereignty | Social Contract

Selected Readings & Speeches

The Coming Anarchy Robert Kaplan

The Social Contract (Book 1, Chapter 6, Pages 6-7) Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Prince, Chapters 5 & 17 Machiavelli

Leviathan, Chapter 13 Thomas Hobbes

Why Do Societies Collapse? Jared Diamond

How to Rebuild a Broken State Ashraf Ghani

New Rules for Rebuilding a Broken Nation Paul Collier

Selected Film: The Lego Movie

Additional Questions & Cases to Discuss (Examples)

Study the Fund for Peace's "Fragile States Index" (formerly the "Failed State
Index"). Why do you think the index has been renamed? Are its metrics appropriate?
Where does your country fall in their rankings and do the rankings of any states
surprise you?

How important are institutions to the success or failure of states? Consider

the examples of Nogales and of the two Koreas in the book Why Nations Fail, by Daron
Acemoglu and James A. Robinson and then read this assessment of their argument
by Jared Diamond.

Is it the duty of other states to rescue or save failed states?

Should Colombia serve as a model for other formerly-failed states?

Is there a failed state cycleand, if so, how can a state break out of it?

Are hermit states more likely to fail?

Can NGOs prevent state failureor help restore failed states? If so, what should
the focus of their efforts be?
What can we learn from fictional failed states such as Gotham and Panem?
Consider the case of Greece. Is economics the most critical factor in state
failure?

To what degree can we blame the failure of states on climate change?

Does terrorism cause states to fail? Or: do failed states spawn terrorism?

Consider the recent catastrophic cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. Was it the main
reason for the governments collapse and did Ebola have a similar impact on countries
in West Africa?

Explore the Rwandan concept of ubudehe. Could it be applied in other failing

states?

Is Belgium a failed state?

Myanmar was until recently an example (for some) of a failing state. Should the
recent elections there change this perception?

Is it premature (or too pessimistic) to label post-war Iraq a failed state?

Consider other recent cases of state failure such as Haiti and the Central African
Republic. In rebuilding a failed state, how important are democratic elections?

In Silicon Valley (and beyond), a conventional wisdom has emerged that it is

good for people and companies to fail fast in order to succeed sooner. Does the same
apply to states?