Curated OER
Land Use and Lawmaking in California
Learners read writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson to analyze transcendentalism and analyze photographic essays depicting environmental issues. In this art and history lesson, students read excerpts of Nature by Emerson to identify...
Curated OER
The People and Philosophy Behind Our National Parks: A Biographical Curriculum Unit
Learners discover the interaction of American Literature, politics and the environmental movement. They explore the changing concept and philosophy of wilderness, and explain the development of The National Park System. They read...
Walden Woods Project
19th Century Lessons for 21st Century Lives
The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...
Curated OER
A Different Drummer
Eighth graders investigate philosophy and meditation techniques by discussing Emerson and Thoreau. In this philosophical traditions lesson, 8th graders identify the men Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, their work, and...
Curated OER
Zen Buddhism and Modern Utopia
Learners work collaboratively to analyze the various religious beliefs of Zen Buddhists. Emphasis is placed upon class discussion and the ideal of a Utopian environment or society.
Curated OER
Territorial Expansion
Eleventh graders brainstorm a list of characteristics of adolescence. They use selected websites and draw a parallel between the characteristics of adolescence and the characterisitcs of Romanticism, as seen in visual art and literature.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Excerpt From "Self Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Transcendentalist movement of the 1820s-1830s promoted the ideas of intuition, independence, and inherent goodness in humans and nature. This excerpt comes from Emerson's most famous essay. "Self-Reliance," which discusses similar...
Digital History
Digital History: American Transcendentalism
A detailed look at the philosophy behind American Transcendalism, and a discussion of many of those who practiced it.