Cultural Identity & Archaeology | How Croatia’s Many Borders Influenced the History of the Croats

In this interview with Dr. Domagoj Perkic, he shares his personal story and insights on the history and traditions of Croatian culture, including:

• An overview of Croatian archaeology in caves and the sea, and the importance of cultural preservation
• Life lessons discovered from archaeology
• A description of Croatia’s history and the different civilizations that impacted the country’s culture
• A first-hand story of life as a Croatian soldier during war

Expected Learning Outcome:

This lesson includes clear expected learning outcomes that support students in understanding cultural identity through first-person perspectives, while building intercultural awareness and connections between individual experience and global traditions.

• Students will identify and describe key cultural practices and beliefs from the lesson’s focus community (i.e., Croatian culture).
• Students will articulate insights into their own cultural identities and how those identitiesrelate to what they learned.
• Students will analyze how cultural expressions (like archaeological finds) reflect values, history, and social traditions.
• Students will compare perspectives across cultures while finding similarities and differences through human themes.
• Students will make connections between cultural traditions and broader global contexts (archaeology, preserving past cultures in the present world), showing critical thinking about identity and intercultural understanding.