OFFICIAL STAR TREK
LAS VEGAS CONVENTION

THE 2008 SALLY MALIN OFFICIAL
STAR TREK CONVENTION "TEACHERS" AWARD

Congratulations to Judy Hoffman, winner of THE 2008 SALLY MALIN TEACHERS AWARD presented by Avery Brooks on August 10, 2008 at The Official Las Vegas Star Trek Convention.

Lessons of History…from the Future (as seen through Star Trek)

I am a child of the 1960's, which means that in junior high school, when a new series called Star Trek came on television, I looked forward to watching it each week, sharing the adventure with my dad and discussing it at school the next day. At first, perhaps what drew me was the novelty—technical effects and futuristic sets—not to mention my family's purchase of a color television by the show's second year. It soon became clear however, that the real wonder of the show was its ability to illustrate and address issues of the decade that would influence my life and my life's work. As one politically awakened early by the Kennedy assassination and the civil rights movement, and later by the events surrounding the Vietnam War, Gene Roddenberry provided a safe way for me to examine and deal with the issues of our time, and did not permit any of us who watched to ignore or dismiss what was happening around us. When I became a social studies teacher in the '70's, I found it shaped not only my worldview, but directly illustrated the issues I wanted my students to examine.

By the time I began teaching American government to 9th graders, Star Trek was in syndication, playing every weekday afternoon and introducing my students, while reintroducing me, to the lessons it had to teach. My first teaching job was in the formerly all-black high school, and the lessons of race, whether from an interracial kiss or the prejudice emanating from which side of one's face is "white" and which "black" had direct relevance to issues faced in the school and community. The lessons of class and race connected with the experience of black students who lived in the neighborhood and the white students bused in from the lower socio-economic neighborhoods alike. When it came to teaching the Constitution, the "Yangs" and the "Kohms" led to discussion of the language and meaning of the ideals upon which our country was based, and our ability to live up to them amid the complications of the Cold War. At the height of the Cold War, a vision of a world where a multi-ethnic and multi-racial crew could work together and even compromise with their enemies at times, gave a sense that the effort to "make it so" is always worthwhile.

When the "Next Generation" appeared on the scene, I had moved to a new school, and was teaching Economics, American History, and eventually a course in Twentieth Century World History to a new generation of students. I use a lot of simulation and role play to make students view topics and events from the perspectives of other places, people and times, and loved the fact that one class of 9th graders chose to create an economics project that was an enactment of "Star Trade", with tall and short aliens representing "long-term" or "short-term" loans and confronted by "Mr. Stock". Of course, the America of the 1920s, visits from Abraham Lincoln, Nazis and discussions that began "what if things had turned out differently for Edith Keeler…" generated some thinking about our history during those years. But a new generation led to a new captain and an era of détente and diplomacy. I brought Model United Nations into my classroom and have continued to use that approach in teaching during the next 25 years, encouraging its spread throughout my school district and at the state level. After all, the symbols used in the emblem of the United Nations bear a striking resemblance to those of the United Federation of Planets—certainly not by accident! I've been filled with pride when students have called to tell me they were serving an internship in Washington, D.C., working for a Non-Governmental Organization for the United Nations in New York, or doing graduate work-study in Zimbabwe. Perhaps one day they will be calling their teachers from the International Space Station…or beyond.

I teach an international curriculum now, full of concepts and terms like "globalization" and "interdependence" with "critical analysis" applied to how my students must think and write. These students will take exactly the same examinations as others the world over at the end of their schooling, something I hadn't envisioned when I began my career, but something that would probably seem as natural to students at Star Fleet Academy as it is to mine. The connection to Trek in my classroom is now more subtle—hanging reading posters on the wall with the series' casts holding books appropriate to their characters, the 1960's bulletin board which of course includes the premiering of the series as a significant cultural event, or even my ability to discuss the science fiction and fantasy novels read by many of my students on a personal level. I still receive the occasional knowing smile from a student when I refer to the "futility" of "resistance" and refer to the Borg when teaching "assimilation" in the context of 19th and 20th century imperialism, or the Maquis resistance in World War II. Sometimes I've been told to "live long and prosper" after such a reference, flashed the Vulcan hand sign or a year later been sent an email by a graduate who, after writing a letter to Walter Koenig, was thrilled to have received a response and wanted to share that excitement. Even in a time where fewer students are familiar with the stories, the opportunities for the lessons are still there, along with the vision. "Far Beyond the Stars" in Deep Space Nine illustrates race relations and social change like nothing else, a topic about which my students care deeply, much as I did when I was their age. What is left out of the history books can be discussed in the context of ideas or excerpts from Voyager's "Remember", or asking the question "Who writes our history—the winners or the losers?" and using parts of the episode "Living Witness" in conjunction with real historical documents to make my juniors and seniors understand the importance of looking beyond the face value of historical evidence. Parallels to the Vietnam War abound in "Memorial". You don't have to be a "Trekkie" or "Trekker" to get the message.

I have the greatest job in the world. Each year that I attend Creation's Star Trek convention I go home to start a new school year. I begin with the LAST chapter of the freshman World History textbook, entitled "Global Interdependence" and beginning with a section on "Science and Technology". The first day's homework assignment is always the same: list what you consider to be the greatest changes in science and technology that have occurred during your lifetime and explain why you chose them, and then ask your parents or grandparents the same question. After the next day's discussion I then ask, "What changes do you foresee as possible in your lifetime?" because history is the study of the decisions and dreams of ordinary people as well as those of their leaders. How can one understand the past other than through the view of how real people dealt with and felt about issues, events and changes during their lifetimes? What possibilities did they foresee in their future? How can those lessons help us address the issues of our times, give perspective and rise to the challenges that face us when we look at some of the incomprehensible events in the world of our own time? So although we begin by examining the implications of science and technology on the lives of people today, my students and I end that chapter with "Cultures Blend in a Global Age", and its last topic, "Future Challenges and Hopes". What greater lesson can young people learn than an understanding of not only how the past affects our lives, but of universal issues that have always challenged us to stretch our limits as well as our imaginations? Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, acceptance of and respect for differences, but recognition of commonalities is something my students must understand when I try to prepare them to take their international exams. And although it may have begun in the 1960s, it still may be the most important lesson for the future of us all in the 21st—or 24th—century. For more than 30 years of my teaching career, the lessons learned from Star Trek have served well as both model and inspiration.

Judy Hoffman

History teacher in the International Baccalaureate Magnet

St. Petersburg High School

St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, Earth…

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