Neolithic Age - Guns, Germs & Steel: Out of Eden

This week, as we complete our overview of historical skills, we will use the Neolithic Age (8000 B.C.E. to 3000 B.C.E.) as a case study to practice those skills.  What is living the Neolithic way?  Was it the "worse mistake?" 

• Why since ancient times have some societies progressed faster than others? What allowed the Egyptians to build great pyramids while most of the world was still scratching out a living?  How did the Greeks ever develop such an advanced civilization? Or the Romans?  Or the Maya?  (Minutes 8:25-end). 

Draw out the step-by-step process that answers Jared Diamond's question, Why since ancient times have some societies progressed faster than others? What allowed the Egyptians to build great pyramids while most of the world was still scratching out a living?  What steps did early humans have to take in order to end as wealthier civilizations characterized by high levels of technology?  Step 1 =, Step 2 =, etc.   You could also think of this as a "recipe," meaning what ingredients did some early humans take that allowed them to progress more quickly than others, according to Diamond.

The Danger Of A Single Story

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story#t-938861

GET PAST Slides

Today we recalibrated our minds toward our "world" of 194 countries and 7000 languages. We looked at the "All-American" teenager reading discussing different interpretations.  We then looked at global factoids from the Population Reference Bureau.  We played the shoe game to create patterns from available data/evidence. I lectured on the GET PAST (patterns common in Early World) and you began to classify the global factoids using the GET PAST categories of analysis. Here are the SLIDES.

World's Most Typical Person

Final Epic: Beowolf!

Below are the links to the audiobook for this Seamus Heaney translation of Beowolf.

Part 1 of 2 

(Lines 1-661, 0-28:36, 

lines 661-1250, 28:36-54:04, 

lines 1251-1865,  Part I 54:04-Part II 10:55

lines 2417-end Part II 35:40-end) 

                                                                     Part 2 of 2

(lines 1251-1865,  Part I 54:04-Part II 10:55

lines 2417-end Part II 35:40-end) 

What Is Islam? A Harkness Discussion

 (Mecca 2015)

(Paris, France 2011) 

                                                                                                                                                        

ISLAM HARKNESS DISCUSSION

As a whole class, today, you will draw from Frederick M. Denny's book Islam and the Muslim Community to create a conceptual and spiritual understanding of Islam.  The following questions use particular words and phrases from the text in order to help you construct a more thorough understanding, accessing all parts of the assigned text (7-76). 

• How and why did Islam emerge and spread as a religion outward from Mecca and Medina?

• What makes Islam unique from other Abrahamic traditions? 

• How shall Muslims live in accord with the "Straight Path?"

• How do Muslims define a "successful life?" 

• What are the duties of Muslims in daily life?  

• What do Muslims believe happens to them when they die? 

• How does Denny define the "Muslim community" spiritually and practically speaking? 

• To what extent does the existence of different sub-communities of Islam such as Shi'ites and Sunnis impact the cohesiveness of this "Muslim community?"  What about Sufism? 

Spring Research Paper (Fall of Rome Analytical Research Paper)

• The rubric I will use to grade your paper may be accessed here.

• Your final paper will be no more than five pages, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 point font Times New Roman. A separate cover page is not required, but a clever and relevant title is required.  (I will not take deductions for lengthier papers unless the paper reads more like a description or summary, rather than the required analysis and argumentation.)

• It must feature a specific, debatable, thesis drawn from the evidence you located in FIVE scholarly sources.  You should rely heavily on Rowley Library, striving to locate a minimum of two books, two electronic subscription sources, and at least one source of your choice.  Of course, you may use more than five sources.

• Need reminders of our discussion of effective thesis statements, body paragraphs, supporting evidence, and other feedback?  Our winter writing guide may be helpful to you as you write in remembering the key components: it may be accessed here.

• Weave your sources together.  Try not to rely on just one source in each of your body paragraphs.  Integrate, rather than drop, your quotes. 

• Your paper must have footnotes AND a bibliography.  History papers use Turabian footnote citation and bibliography, not MLA parenthetical citation and work cited pages. Use http://www.citationmachine.net/turabian/cite-a-book to assist you in creating the proper citation. Make sure you include the page number to which you are referring.  Footnotes REPLACE parenthetical citations, and use the shortened citation forms where appropriate.  Here are some examples of what it should look like, along with an entire sample from Rampolla (note it uses endnotes - you should format as footnotes).   Need additional help on typical expectations for introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions?  Review this small section of Rampolla we looked at earlier this year. 

Footnotes:

Bibliography: