Heroes and Villains

How do you know when ambition is self-sacrificing and when it is self-serving? Explore the story of Aaron Burr in this video feature of BRI's Heroes and Villains Curriculum to help determine how he exhibited the vice of hubris. Heroes and Villains uses narratives to discuss the concepts of civic virtue in all classrooms. Each virtue narrative includes corresponding discussion guides, journal templates, a toolbox with additional activities, and suggestions for further reading on each topic or virtue.

Why is acting dishonorably destructive to a healthy political system and civil society? Explore the story of Benedict Arnold in this video feature of BRI's Heroes and Villains Curriculum to help determine how he exhibited the vice of dishonor. Heroes and Villains uses narratives to discuss the concepts of civic virtue in all classrooms. Each virtue narrative includes corresponding discussion guides, journal templates, a toolbox with additional activities, and suggestions for further reading on each topic or virtue.

How does an individual’s responsibility to their fellow citizens affect the health of a civil society? Explore the story of Clara Barton in this video feature of BRI's Heroes and Villains Curriculum to help determine how she exhibited the virtue of responsibility. Heroes and Villains uses narratives to discuss the concepts of civic virtue in all classrooms. Each virtue narrative includes corresponding discussion guides, journal templates, a toolbox with additional activities, and suggestions for further reading on each topic or virtue.

How can a leader build trust with the people they lead by taking responsibility for their decisions and actions? Explore the story of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the D-Day invasion. In this video determine how he exhibited the virtue of responsibility specifically during the Eisenhower D-Day speech.

Why is individual courage necessary for the success of the larger community or civil society? Explore the story of Elizabeth Eckford in this video feature of BRI's Heroes and Villains Curriculum to help determine how she exhibited the virtue of courage. Heroes and Villains uses narratives to discuss the concepts of civic virtue in all classrooms. Each virtue narrative includes corresponding discussion guides, journal templates, a toolbox with additional activities, and suggestions for further reading on each topic or virtue.

Why is moderation important in a civil society, leadership, and in the general public? Explore the story of Huey Long in this video feature of BRI's Heroes and Villains Curriculum to help determine how he exhibited the vice of immoderation.

Why is it important in a healthy civil society for individuals to act with integrity? Explore the story of the Schechter Brothers in this video feature of BRI's Heroes and Villains Curriculum to help determine how they exhibited the virtue of integrity.

How can prudence help leaders make decisions in difficult circumstances? Explore the story of Thomas Jefferson in this video feature of BRI's Heroes and Villains Curriculum to help determine how he exhibited the virtue of prudence. Heroes and Villains uses narratives to discuss the concepts of civic virtue in all classrooms. Each virtue narrative includes corresponding discussion guides, journal templates, a toolbox with additional activities, and suggestions for further reading on each topic or virtue.

Through this introduction lesson, students will understand why it is important for engaged citizens to practice civic virtues to build and support a healthy civil society.  

How did Benjamin Franklin’s develop and practice virtue? Help students identify ways they can make being virtuous a habit.

What is the difference between self-serving ambition and noble ambition? Explore the character and career of Aaron Burr.

How did Alice Paul respond in the face adversity? Explore how her choice to act responsibly.

How did August Landmesser display the virtue of courage? Explores the significance of courage in a society built on democratic principles.

What are the dangers of deception and lack of integrity in a civil society? Explore the vice of dishonor by examining the story of Benedict Arnold.

How did the Communist system Che Guevara fought for and helped install lead to great injustice in Cuba and contribute to global communist injustice?

How did Clara Barton dedicate herself to the responsibility for caring for others throughout her life? How can students act responsibly in their own lives?

What are the benefits of humility in leadership? Learn about the vice of hubris through the story of Douglas MacArthur.

What military decisions did Dwight Eisenhower make on D-Day in World War II and how did he take responsibility for his grave decisions of launching the Normandy invasion?

What is the virtue of courage and why it is important in a society that values individual liberty? Trace the experience of Elizabeth Eckford and the Little Rock Nine to explore these questions.

Dive-deep into the life of Frederick Douglass and explore how he demonstrate the virtue of responsibility.

How did George Washington display the virtue of prudence through his life? Explore the influence of his prudence on the early republic and discuss what examples of prudence can be observed today.

How should leaders behave and make decisions in a democratic society?  Explore these questions through narratives and activities that focus on Huey Long.

How did self-deception play a role in the World War II Holocaust? How can ordinary men and women be indoctrinated to commit inhuman evil, and how can we guard against ideologies that lead to these behaviors?

How and when should an individual act courageously? Explore the story of James Armistead Lafayette.

What is the vice of self-deception? Examine whether John Brown deceived himself with self-righteousness by thinking that he could end slavery in the antebellum United States by freeing and arming slaves to launch a racial war in the South.

How can irresponsibility create an unhealthy civic culture of fear and distrust?

How did Jourdon Anderson received justice for himself and for his family from his former owner? Analyze the virtue of justice by evaluating a letter from Anderson to his former slave owner. How can students seek justice on behalf of themselves and others?

What role did Robespierre play in the mass murder of the Terror during the French Revolution? Students will focus on the vice of injustice.

Explore the vice of injustice in this lesson on civic virtue. Examine Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney and the Dred Scott (1857) decision that instituted great injustice against African Americans by arguing that they cannot be citizens. This lesson contains a historical narrative, discussion guide, primary sources related to the majority decision and dissents in the Supreme Court case, and activities that guide students through analyzing the effect of injustice on constitutional principles and civil society.

What struggles did the Schechter Brothers face and how did they refuse to give up their values or compromise their integrity? Students will use this example to think about ways they can be purposeful in their own lives.

What is the virtue of prudence? Use art analysis, secondary source analysis, and guided discussion to help students explore this important virtue.

How did the anonymous individual who refused to yield to a tank during the crackdown on protesters at Tiananmen Square display the virtue of courage?

Explore the vice of immoderation in civil society in this lesson on civic virtue. Examine “Boss” Tweed and his corrupt New York political machine, and how the vice affected politics and civil society.

Explore what injustice looks like in leadership and among ordinary citizens.