Growing directly out of the experiences of a team of historians at Washington State University who designed a new foundational course for WSU's common requirements, the Roots of Contemporary Issues series is built on the premise that students will be better at facing current and future challenges, no matter their major or career path, if they are capable of addressing controversial and pressing issues in mature, reasoned ways using evidence, critical thinking, and clear written and oral communication skills. To help students achieve these goals, each title in the Roots of Contemporary Issues series argues that we need both a historical understanding and an appreciation of the ways in which humans have been interconnected with places around the world for decades and even centuries. Much of the world's politics revolves around questions about refugees and other migrating peoples, including debating the scope and limits of humanitarianism; the relevance of national borders in a globalized world; racist rhetoric and policies; global economic inequalities; and worldwide environmental disasters. There are no easy answers to these questions, but the decisions that all of us make about them will have tremendous consequences for individuals and for the planet in the future. Ruptured Lives works from the premise that studying the history of refugee crises can help us make those decisions more responsibly. Examining conflicts--in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa--that have produced migrations of people fleeing dangers or persecution, it aims to provide an intellectual framework for understanding how to think about the conflicts that produce refugees and the effects that refugee crises have on individuals and societies.

About the Author
Jesse Spohnholz is Professor of History and Director of the Roots of Contemporary Issues program at Washington State University.

Reviews
Some of us love history for its own sake, but for most students the contents of a college history course seem detached, unrelated to their lives, even meaningless. Yet we are surrounded by the legacy of history. Everything around us * policy, population, culture, economy, environmentis a product of the actions and activities of people in the past. How can we hope to address the challenges we face and resolve contentious issuesinequality, health, immigration, climate changewithout understanding where they come from? The volumes in the Roots of Contemporary Issues series are the tested products of years of classroom teaching and research. They address controversial issues with impartiality but not detachment, combining historical context and human agency to create accounts that are meaningful and usable for any student confronting the complex world in which they will live.Trevor R. Getz, San Francisco State University *
This is a truly innovative series that promises to revolutionize how world history is taught, freeing students and faculty alike from the 'tyranny of coverage' often embedded within civilizational paradigms, and facilitating sustained reflection on the roots of the most pressing issues in our contemporary world. Students' understanding of the importance of history and their interest in our discipline is sure to be heightened by these volumes that deeply contextualize and historicize current global problems. * Nicola Foote, Arizona State University *
Ruptured Lives delivers a clear, compelling, and well-written human perspective on the origins, development, and implications of refugee crises in world history. * Rebekah Klein-Pejsova, Purdue University *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190696214
Author Jesse Spohnholz
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions(mm) 152mm * 231mm * 10mm