TEACHERS COLLEGE
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
THE READING AND WRITING PROJECT
These social studies text sets attempt to represent not just a topic, but an issue within that topic,
and sides of that issue. The text sets present multiple perspectives on a social studies issue—as
well as multiple levels of texts and multiple modalities. The texts are arranged more or less from
easier to harder. Some articles may need to be adapted for lower level readers, and some website
text you may choose to move into Word and reformat so it is easier to read and has fewer
distractors/ads. Be sure to capture the whole URL, without spaces for line-breaks, when you seek
these online resources. Thanks to all the teachers who shared resources. If you have a
bibliography you‘d like to share with social studies teachers, please email us at:
contact@readingandwritingproject.com.
Please keep in mind that websites are temporal and so might no longer be posted.
Modern Eugenics
Digital text: California’s Dark Legacy of Forced Sterilizations [con/low- explicit]
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/15/health/california-forced-sterilizations/index.html
Link to PDF on The Ashley Treatment from her parents:(pro-mid)
http://pillowangel.org/At-Summary.pdf
http://pillowangel.org/Ashley%20Treatment.pdf
Against Their Will (con
http://extras.journalnow.com/againsttheirwill/parts/two/story1.html
The majority opinion of Justice Holmes in Buck v Bell (Primary source)
http://www.houseofrussell.com/legalhistory/alh/docs/buckvbell.html
Video on the two types of sterilization (information)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjgtNHs5MQ4
Facts about Hysterectomy (con- mid)
http://www.hersfoundation.org/facts.html
Eugenic Sterilization Laws (Legal background implicit con)
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay8text.html
Digital text on the eugenics movement: “Homo sapiens 1900” (Con- high)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Vttg25FmY&feature=related
An article that discusses who has the right to have a baby [pro/high]
Steinbock, Bonnie. "Reproductive rights and responsibilities." The Hastings Center
Report May-June 1994: 15+. Gale Science In Context. Web. 7 Aug. 2012.
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/AcademicJournalsDetailsPage/AcademicJournalsDetails
TEACHERS COLLEGE
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
THE READING AND WRITING PROJECT
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Should the mentally ill be on mandatory birth control or sterilized? [both/midexplicit]
http://socyberty.com/issues/should-the-mentally-ill-be-on-mandatory-birth-control-orsterilized/
Scientists debate China’s law on sterilizing the carriers of genetic defects [may be
unnecessary?]
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/16/world/scientists-debate-china-s-law-onsterilizing-the-carriers-of-genetic-defects.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
"In the patient's best interest? Revisiting sexual autonomy and sterilization of the
developmentally disabled" (pro-high)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071584/