Bobcat Stories

Do people control power, or does power control people? What do we need from our government? What are the dimensions of power, and what are the various types of justice? The Comparative Politics class, taught by Humanities teacher Amy Moore, has been asking these questions to analyze the nature of power and its role in society. The semester began with reading ancient political philosophers' thoughts on power, which led to the study of the evolution of the civil rights movement, from civil disobedience to the Black Power Movement. This work culminated in a visit to The New Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance Museum. The Holocaust, the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators, which took place throughout Europe between 1933 and 1945, provides a horrific example of how power can be manifested for evil. At the museum, the students were able to visit with and listen to a talk from a Holocaust survivor. He spoke of his experience as a hidden child and literally discussed how the Nazi use of the dimensions of power impacted his life. 

In October, the class held a Power and Politics Debate to consider two essential questions: Does transformative political change come from the government or the people? Is violent or peaceful protest more effective? Teams developed an opening statement that presented their evidence-based argument, then faced a question and rebuttal round, keeping their focus on solution-based approaches to the question. The class then voted on the strength of each team’s arguments and evidence. They were all winners, in the end, having faced the challenge of questions that lie at the very heart of humanity and society.