Primary source research, hiv/AIDS, and GHP classes

One of the tough things about the Governor’s Honors Program is trying to keep it “fresh.”  It’s always fresh for the kids, but for me, when I teach the same class over and over again for, say, seven years, I start to drag.

Now I have a new idea to pump me up:  Primary Sources.  In prepping documents for my AP Language class to analyze, I started researching primary sources on AIDS and GRID this morning, from the 1970s-forward.  All in retrospect, fascinating and frightening.  More on the GHP class after the jump.

 

The hiv/AIDS class has morphed over the years from a look at the history of disease and the way disease is treated (using Camus’ The Plagueand some of Mark Doty’s poetry, and some of Kushner’s Angels in America, as well as medical information) to AIDS in Literature, which is just as it sounds, and then a few years ago to its current incarnation, simply called Angels in America where the focus is solely on the play.

It’s a great class, and one of my most popular- especially with the minors. We study primarily Angels in America, and, as supplements, look at the film And the Band Played On for context, tackle Yann Martel’s “The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios,” (just to get away from the idea it’s a gay disease), an “art gallery,” and finally incorporate a week long journal/roleplay writing activity.

And the Band Played On trailer coming soon.

It’s time for a change, though.  I only deal with AIDS issues on the very periphery of my life, and yet, the class is still emotionally draining for me.   If I don’t keep changing, I get bogged down in my own emotion.  Now, using the primary documents I am finding for my AP Lang class, I will not only be able to add a new aspect to the class (but, *sigh,* what to sacrifice in order to make room for it- the timeline of the class is already packed to the gills), but also rectify a problem I have had from the beginning.

I like And the Band Played On, but have always wanted to the kids to read it rather than watch it.  The film is wonderful, but misses the national and cultural scope of the disease- focusing mainly on the politics.  The primary sources though, on GRID, on the WHO meetings, on the blood bank votes, would allow me to alleviate some of that guilt I feel from not reading the book.  We get as close to a “contemporary” feel on the reaction to the outbreak and plague mentality as opposed to a secondhand retrospect reflecting on its effects.  (Incidentally, if you are interested, here’sa cool link to a video showing hiv proteins coming together to make the virus)

I will continue to look for stuff as GHP approaches.  I’m excited!

*Side note-  funny thing, the way the mind works.  I decided to do the hiv/AIDS unit in AP Lang because of my familiarity with it from GHP, which led me to want to start with an analysis of primary sources on the material, which led me to deciding to change the course at GHP.  Circle of life.  Or something.