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Welcome to TIRP |
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Teaching International Relations Program TIRP
is a high school outreach program sponsored by the School
of International Relations and managed by CALIS,
the Center for Active Learning in International Studies. |
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largest TIRP component is undergraduate outreach to local high schools.
Undergraduates sign up as teams of two or three. The team must plan together
and then teach four sessions over four weeks to a social studies class at
a local high school. USC professors in the School of International Relations support TIRP by offering credit options as part of their courses. CALIS recruits teachers to offer one of their classes, usually from the required core program of 10th grade World History, 11th grade U.S. History, or 12th grade Government/Economics. The teacher may give the TIRP team free reign to cover an international relations (IR) issue of their choice or may ask the team to cover a specific topic. The teacher reviews each session with regard to the team's level of apparent preparation, use of active learning strategies, and the students' response to the lesson. Every TIRP volunteer must write a journal report for each session. Reports are posted to a webboard and reviewed for approval by CALIS staff - who are themselves USC students and IR majors. |
CALIS'
USC student staff began managing TIRP
in 2000. When we took advantage of technology and launched the Activities
Database and webboards, the program mushroomed in 2003-04. We successfully
supported 212 USC
volunteers in 76 classrooms,
working with a group of 28 partner teachers
across 16 high schools. At a conservative average of 35 students per class, the total number high school students involved in TIRP outreach each year is over 2500. About 150-200 of these students are part of TIRP in Spanish. |
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CALIS
is a joint project of the East
Asian Studies Center (EASC) and the School
of International Relations (SIR) at the University
of Southern California
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