Glasnost and Goodwill: The Cold War, Washington State, and the Power of Citizen Diplomacy

On Tuesday, October 24th, the World Affairs Council partnered with The Ellison Center at the University of Washington, Center for Global Studies, and the Center for West European Studies to take a look at how Pacific Northwest citizens helped to thaw the Cold War through grassroots diplomacy. We also discussed how to teach the Cold War in modern classrooms and learned about major US-USSR joint projects and people-to-people exchanges that happened in the northwest, including the Soviet-American Pacific fishing venture, the 1990 Goodwill Games, the International Peace Climb on Mount Everest, and more.

This event was organized in partnership with the Washington State History Museum, whose major exhibit that goes by the same name runs from October 2017 to January 2018.

Global Classroom Director Ryan Hauck introduced curricular connections and lesson ideas for teaching about the Cold War in today’s modern classroom. Our resource packet, linked above, includes full lesson plans, documentary suggestions, printable graphics, photos, and more!