Here's the schedule I showed at the beginning of class:
Once you start the paper assignment, I will be able to help you determine which issues to focus on as well as how to tie your topic together with the material that I've been presenting in class.
***
ENGLISH
OK = okay (not okey)
You can use okey in English, but usually only to write okey-dokey.
***
I have loaded up on Vklass the slides from today's lesson.
I started the lesson by talking about different developments
that can be connected with the printing press:
-criticism
of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century, which then leads
to the Protestant Reformation and the formation of new Churches in Europe.
-the
Scientific Revolution
-the
rise in literacy in Europe, particularly in countries that become Protestant.
I then explained that there is a key connection between the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. During the Sci. Rev., in the 16th and 17th centuries, scholars use rational thinking to try and understand the natural world. In the late 17th century and the 18th century -- primarily in England and France, this same rational thinking is used to try and answer questions and solve problems about society -- specifically, governments and human rights.
ENLIGHTENMENT
Social constructs, such as human rights, are not the same
thing as natural phenomena. All groups of humans experience natural phenomena
and come up with different explanations (for why there are different seasons,
why sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn’t, why volcanoes erupt, why the
stars in the heavens move, why the sun appears to move, why some metal are
magnetic, how the heart pumps blood,etc.)
But the idea of rights is not something that all groups of
people experience or have a common view about. The concept of rights is a
construct. We may argue that we believe in a certain set of rights, but they
are not a natural phenomena.
However, in the 17th and 18th
centuries, intellectuals began to argue that there are natural rights that
humans should enjoy (have) just because they are humans — not because they
belong to a particular class (e.g., nobility /adel), because they have a certain amount of money, because they
belong to a particular profession, or because they are a member of a particular
club.
When these ideas are introduced, they are new. And when they become part
of the founding documents of the American and French Revolutions, they are,
well, revolutionary.
ENGLISH:
incorrect: Me and Bob are going to the library
correct: Bob and I are going to the library.
One way to check whether you should use me or I is to take away the other person and say the sentence with just yourself You would never say "Me am going to the library." Thus, "Me and XX are . . . is also wrong." :-)
Main issues covered in the lesson:
-How
the change in worldviews from the
Middle Ages to the Renaissance is visible
in art (in the Middle Ages when spiritual matters were more important than
human achievements, we see that humans are portrayed in a very stylized manner
(odd proportions, odd positioning of the body, very simplified description of
the body. And in the Renaissance, where worldly matters are much more important,
we see that the human form is portrayed in a much more believable manner. There
is a greater sense that the figures represent beings of flesh and blood that
exist in a believable space (even if the work is 2-dimensional, as in a
painting). (Further discussion of the Renaissance and art: chap. 17, section 1, pp. 470–479)
-How
the printing press played a role in
allowing ideas (of all kinds) to spread. The invention is credited to Johannes
Gutenberg. (chap. 17, section 2, p. 484)
-How
the Protestant Reformation
contributed to new forms of Christianity + allowed some European leaders to
gain more political power (This last point is something I wrote down but didn’t
discuss). (chap. 17, section 4)
-How
the Scientific Revolution saw the use of rational thinking to solve questions
about the natural world. This is exemplified through the development of the
heliocentric theory in the 16th and 17th centuries. This
theory contradicted the geocentric theory that the Catholic Church supported.
But despite the Church’s objection’s, the evidence provided via scientific
methods helped new areas of scientific inquiry and study to expand. (chap 22, section 1)
-Also in the 15th and 16th
centuries we have Europeans setting out to explore the world. They are sailing
around Africa to get to Asia (so as to be able to trade directly with India and
other parts of Asia without having to go through so many middlemen.) They are
setting up trading centers throughout Africa and Asia. And from 1492 onward,
they are setting up industries (primarily agricultural) in the Americas (first
in South American and the Caribbean).(chap. 19, section 1, pp. 527–535 + chap 20,
section 1)
Christian holy book = (the) Bible (always capitalized).
bible = any authoritative book (not capitalized). Example: Zlatan's autobiography is my bible for how to succeed in life.
In the lecture part of the class, we reviewed the build-up
to the Crusades and we discussed the outcomes written below under Monday.
I went on to discuss how the Crusades helped lead to the
Renaissance. The Renaissance represents a number of significant changes that
develop in Europe post-Crusades, and these changes can be seen to be in
-trade
and other areas of economics and finance,
-literature
-philosophy
-education
-art
and architecture
-and
basically everything
The expansion of trade, and the ensuing financial changes
that come about, was partly the outcome of movement of people and goods back
and forth to the areas of the Crusades. But there was also the need for
equipment and goods (from boats, to clothing, to food, to weapons, and so much
more) for the Crusaders, which spawned and expanded many an industry within
Europe.
As a result, cities grew up in places such as Rome, Venice, Genoa,
and later also in northern cities. This wealth and trade in Italy helps explain
why the Renaissance starts in Italy.
As I noted in class, the most important issue at the heart
of all these other changes is a new worldview
that comes about. During the Middle Ages, the Church and religious
teachings/texts are the source of most intellectual pursuit. Questions are all
sorts (astronomy, philosophy, history, biology, and, of course, theology) are
answered through these religious teachings and texts. And as a result, the view
of man and his place in the world during
the Middle Ages is one that essentially says
-man
is sinful
-the
earthly world is something to be suffered through
-human
life lacks significant value except in religious terms
-the
afterlife is the only true worthwhile aspiration
During the Renaissance, this worldview changes, in part
because new sources of knowledge are now being used alongside the religious
texts. Writings from Ancient Greece and Rome — from philosophers, historians,
dramatists, artists, scientists — are also being used as sources of
information. Christian ideas are still important, but they are not the only
source of information.
As a result, a new
worldview develops, one where man and the earthly life are seen through
different eyes. So now
-man
may still be sinful, but he (and she) is capable of accomplishing or achieving
things here on earth (because, after all, man is God’s creation)
-if
all things come from God, then using various forms of knowledge or using human
skills can be understood as a way of celebrating God
As a result of this new worldview, humans start becoming
gradually more individualistic. During the Renaissance they are no where as
individualistic and egocentric as we are today, but take this example: we know
the names of hardly any individual artists and architects from the Middle Ages
— because individual honor and distinction was not important. (And there is a
lot of medieval art and architecture.) Only glorifying God was important. But
once we get to the Renaissance, we now know the names of hundreds of artists
and architects. You know the names of at least some of them: Donatello,
Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
This difference in how man was viewed comes through in the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. We see it in the sort of stories or narratives told through art. But even when the exact same subject is portrayed, we see a very different sort of style.
Here's a medieval portrayal of David and Goliath:
Here's an early Renaissance version by Donatello:
And here's Michelangelo's version, from the High Renaissance:
We'll discuss how these images betray a different worldview. In brief, we can say that if life on this earth is not important, then depicting humans in art in a believable manner is not so important. And if human life and human accomplishment is seen as important, then depicting the human body believably becomes more important.
On Monday, we’re going to continue with the Renaissance and than
move on to the Reformation (Martin Luther), and the Scientific Revolution.
We’ll focus, in part, on the role of the printing press for
these new developments.
If we have time, we’ll also talk a little about the
difference in organization and administration between the Middle Ages and
post-1500. This is a little confusing, so you can look in your book in chapter
13, section 2, esp. p. 361.
During the Middle Ages, as I noted before, the central
organization of the Roman Empire broke apart, and in its place, most Europeans
lived on manors (herrgård) and did
not ever travel far from their farm. Those who worked the land were peasants
(free laborers) and serfs (laborers bound to the land). Serfs weren’t slaves,
but at the same time they could not freely leave and go where they wanted. (Sweden
has a form of serf called träl.)
Most financial transactions on manors were carried out
through the exchange of goods. Very little needed to be bought from outside the
manor
The political organization of the Middle Ages was known as
feudalism. I’ll draw this out on the board in class, but one of the things
important to understand is that it is a system that does not lend itself to a
very large and efficient organization. It can work fine for cooperation among a
limited number of people. But it won’t work well for a large kingdom or empire.
A large and efficient kingdom (or nation) requires a central authority, and
rules that are passed down from the top and are applied to and followed by all.
Monday, 12 September
ENGLISH: God vs. god
I have put up a pdf file on Vklass with slides connected to Monday's lesson. "Middle Ages, w. 37:
Here are some key things to take away from Monday’s lesson:
Throughout the early Middle Ages, Christianity spread throughout Europe (with the exception of Spain,
which was Muslim up until the 15th century (actually, it was mostly
Christian already by the 13th century)).
The Catholic Church
had a clear hierarchy (see the pyramid I did in class and that is also in the
slides from Monday), which allowed for the Church to have a uniform message; it
also allowed for those higher up in the organization to wield power over those
lower in the organization.
The Crusades (a
variety of battles between European Christian knights against Arab and Turkish
Muslims in the Middle East from 1096 to around 1300) are most significant not
because of the military aims but because of other outcomes: The Crusades can be
understood to have contributed to
-greater trade within Europe and outside of
Europe (and this increase in trade helps develop new wealth in Europe,
particularly in centers in Italy to begin with)
-a re-introduction and interest in areas of study,
including math, science, history, language, art, architecture
-an interest in further contact with lands
outside of Europe
-greater competition between European kingdoms
for power and wealth
Thus, there are economic, political, intellectual, social
issues connected with the Crusades that have long-term effects on the world.
*****
Where this will lead us:
Throughout the Middle Ages, the primary source of knowledge
and reasoning was the Church and its texts. Thus, the Bible as well as writings
by key Christian thinkers, such as St. Augustine and Thomas of Aquinas, are
used to try and understand all key questions relating to the world.
After the Crusades and the renewed contact with material
from Ancient Greece and Rome, Europe begins to slowly seek out non-theological
sources of information for answering questions about the world. This new way of
seeing the world (also known as a worldview) allows for new schools of
thinking, new philosophies, and scientific experimentation.
***
Regarding the research you're doing on your topic:
Look for infomration that is relevant to the development of your topic up to this point. Try to find specific information -- not just interpretation or opinion. What are developments that have led to current issues connected to your topic?
It is quite okay if you are a little uncertain here. It is important, though, that you ask questions regularly. If I don't get to you during class, write me. I promise I'll answer quickly. Trust me that this process of thinking and talking with me is an important part of the learning process.
At this point, everyone should have a topic. This topic is
connected to something today that you would like to see change. With this
assignment, you will learn how current issues are the result of various events
and developments of the past.
You will gain a greater understanding of the significance of
various events and developments of the past. You will also learn how different
sorts of developments (e.g., economic, political, technological, religious,
social, scientific . . .) have an impact on one another. So, for example,
issues that we might at first think fit primarily into a religious category may
have been highly influenced by economic factors.
I noted that for this first phase of the project, we will go
back and forth between class lectures and independent research time.
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
We looked at the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and
Rome. And we spoke about the Macedonian Alexander the Great.
Book
As we go through these different eras of European history, I
would like for you to look at the various chapters. I don’t mean that you need
to read everything. But do look at what information is presented — by looking
at the various heading, images, tables & graphs. Knowing what you have in
the book will help you when you’re trying to put together your own narrative.
When talking about the Roman Republic, we introduced three words that you need to learn:
executive
legislative
judicial
When discussing governments, these words refer to different powers and roles within the government. Understanding that there are these different parts of political systems will make it possible for you to understand changes in political power throughout history.
legislative - refers to the part of the government that makes the laws. In Sweden this is the Riksdag, in Great Britain it's the Parliament, and in the United States it's the Congress.
judicial - refers to the court system, which has the function of interpreting the laws. The judges (and juries) have the role of trying to understand how specific cases brought before the courts should be decided using the laws of the land. Laws usually are not so specific that they describe every possible action or possible set of circumstances. The judicial system is there to make decsisions that are based in the law.
executive - refers to the all the organizations and institutions within society that are there to make sure laws are applied and enforced. The government (which at the top includes the prime minister (or president or other head honcho) and her/his ministers (or cabinet)). They oversee a variety of institutions (Skolverket, Skatteverket, Arbetsförmedling, the healthcare system, etc.) which are there to provide the services our laws say should be there. They also oversee the police, who are there to make sure that laws are followed properly.
(Note: In Sa2 there was a reference to the capitals in South Africa. I'll note that the words executive, legislative, and judicial are not a part of the names of these capitals. Rather, South Africa has chosen to place the people and institutions connected with these different powers/roles in different cities. So the presidend and the cabinet (executive or administrative branch) is located in Pretoria; the court system (judicial) is based in Bloemfontein; and the legislative body (Parliament) is based in Cape Town.
There are a number of other countries with more than one capital. Often this occurs when a country is formed out of what was previously multiple kingdoms/states, and it's hard to take power away from a particular place. So rather than strip that city of the status and money that comes from being a capital, a country will choose to have multiple capitals. This helps spread the money and power around. It can also waste a lot of money, since people have to spend more time traveling between the various cities to get work done.)
Fun Map!
This map-video showing the "Imperial History of the Middle East" is one I like a lot. It only takes 90 seconds and is rather impressive.
***** Are you still working with your maps? Can you name the countries that match up with these capitals?
-Cairo
-Ottawa
-Kabul
-Bogotá
-New
Delhi
-Tehran
-Bern
-Ankara
-Buenos
Aires
-Riyadh
-Kuala
Lumpur
-Canberra
-Taipei
-Havana
-Pyongyang
Monday, 5 September
If you missed class Monday, you should contact me about your topic.
ENGLISH
Many nouns are made from verbs, but when this happens, the
words are pronounced differently. For the verbs where the stress was on the
second syllable, such as suspect (as
in I susPECT that the murderer was
Colonel Mustard), the stress moves to the first syllable when it is a noun.
So we say The main SUSpects are Colonel
Mustard and Professor Plum.
This different stressing of words also helps us hear the
different between accepted nouns such as whiteboard (which we call a WHITEboard)
and something completely different but which uses the same words – say, a white
BOARD (a piece of wood that’s white).
As you pay attention to this, you’ll hear how these rules
are used in everyday English.
CURRENT EVENT
With Ek2, we discussed that there was news from India
regarding the rape of an 11-year-old girl. I noted, when we spoke about
processes of change, that the fact that this event is news is gaining attention
both in India as well as in the international community is a sign of changing
attitudes against this type of violence. So we can see this news as evidence of
a process of change regarding definitions of violence, the need to have laws
and to enforce them, expectations of behavior that is not accepted, etc.
I have momentarily forgotten what was discussed with Sa2.
(!)
COURSE PLAN
We looked at part of the course plan, noting that with this assignment, we will be focusing on
-learning
the chronology of major historical European periods and understanding the significance of what happened during these
periods
-understanding
processes of change, including long-term causes and consequences
-and
we’ll try to see these processes of change from different perspectives.
(The course plan is available on Vklass. If you would like a paper copy, let me know.)
We spent the rest of the period selecting a specific topic to
use as the focus for the assignment.
On Friday we'll discuss the first part of the assignment.
