Walled States, Waning Sovereignty Lesson Plan

Why is context important when considering how we perceive and experience walls? Provide some examples, including one from your everyday life.

The context/intention of walls matters because these can shape the way people feel about their existence, whether a wall has positive, negative, or neutral connotations. It can also shape people’s existence in a very real way (like the border wall in Israel). If a wall’s intention is born of racism or xenophobia, that is a lot different than if a wall is meant to block out an unsightly and noisy freeway. Students should be able to easily come up with examples of walls, their intentions, and how we perceive them in their everyday...