The Empire of Good Intentions

If there had been enough time (but there never is), I would have shown you some or all of this documentary on the British Empire in India and Ireland. Sometime, when you have a free moment (hah!), check it out.

Double Quiz Monday

I've been enjoying some really fine posts and some very nice papers this week. I hope you all had an excellent holiday and will be ready for a lively class on Monday.

Just a reminder that it will be a double quiz on Monday, so chapters 14-22 will be covered. Chapters 23-24 will be left over for our last class on 7/19. No rest for the wicked!

The campus portal is down this weekend, but I will try to have it updated for you on Monday.

This and That

I really enjoyed our class last night! Here's a link to the Napoleonic blunder chart that we couldn't see very well on the screen and an English translation of it. Here's a link to the show about the two Brooklyn guys who retrace Marco Polo's travels--it looks like there's a lot of fun stuff there. Finally, here's a link to the National Geographic program, "How the Earth Changed History," that Mary mentioned. Hope you all have an excellent 4th of July and have a good time with your final projects. Send me a message if you run into any snags.

Syllabus Update

Just a reminder that we agreed on Monday that we would prepare Chapters 17, 18, and 20 for next week's class. You can skip 19!

Reading Analysis #2

In the next section of the textbook (Part 5: The European Moment in World History, 1750-1914), we'll look at the event and effects of the Atlantic Revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, and European Colonialism.

Our second Reading Analysis paper (due 6/28) will be based on primary documents relating to rights: "The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen" (1789) and "The Declaration of the Rights of Woman" (1791).

What questions are raised in your mind when you read these documents, and where will you look for the answers?

Great Posts! Quiz Tomorrow

There have been some really excellent posts in the student blogs this week. I really enjoy the diversity of interests you all show. Everything I read in your blogs shows me the material at an angle I hadn't anticipated.

Just a reminder that there will be another quiz tomorrow. This one will cover material from chapters 8-13 and will have the same format as the last one.

Hope you all had an excellent Father's Day weekend. (Here's a picture of the Columbus family having a rollicking good time).

Great Travelers

In the next section of the textbook (Part 3: An Age of Accelerating Connections 500-1500), we will see the world getting smaller as the interactions between regions, cultures, and peoples increase.

For our first Reading Analysis paper (due June 14), we will work with primary documents in translation, concerning the wonder-filled travels of two remarkable people of this period, Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta.

Have a look here at another example of one of the period's most notable adventurers, Xuanzang. His life reflects many of the themes covered in the textbook with regard to China's history (Confucianism, political disruption, the value of scholarship, and the import of Buddhism from India).

Quiz Monday

Adin asked in one of the comments what to expect for the quiz on Monday. Thought you all might like to know. The quiz will take 20-30 minutes and cover chapters 1-7. The format will be short answer (two or three sentences).

Indus Valley in the News
This link will take you to an article with excellent info and good photos of a very large Harappan city that is news to me. Remember this is the very early civilization with extensive indoor plumbing. Here is a photo of one of the drains!

Social Experiments

One interesting thing about blogging assignments is that everyone in the class can see how well or how poorly everyone else in the class is doing. What will be the net effect of that? Thoughts?

Textbook Part Two Blogging

Hope you all are having an excellent weekend! I am expecting to see a lot of activity on your blogs. If you are unclear about what is expected, check the syllabus. If you are still stymied, send me an email at mfitzgerald@ndnu.edu.

See the blog roll in the green box to the right on this page. Everyone's blog is listed there with a glimpse of their latest posts. You can easily check to see when someone has a posting that you can read and comment on.

Remember that thoughtful comments on each other's blogs is part of the assignment.

Genghis Khan Exhibit

I've followed up with the Tech Museum, and they have assured me that the museum is fully accessible, so I feel I can fully endorse a visit to the new Genghis Khan exhibit: http://www.thetech.org/.

Leave a comment if you are interested in a group trip. Individual tickets are pricey, but a field trip would be about $10/person. I'll also coordinate with the other history section.

Terrific Documentary about the Origins of Civilization

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-lost-pyramids-of-caral/ is a really well done documentary on the origins of civilizations.

Have a look at Ann's blog--she's making good use of video and other links there.

How's the reading going?

Dear Class,

How's your reading going? Please leave a comment here to let me know.

On your blogs, please reflect on the reading--anything you found interesting, surprising, irritating, heartening, resonating, or that generally appealed to you on a gut level of some kind.

I look forward to reading your responses.

AIA Lecture on Tenochtitlan at Stanford Tonight

Looks like your blog building is going along pretty nicely. I'm learning a lot in the process. In the meantime, I received notice of this Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Stanford that I thought some of you might be interested in attending.

**********************

In Search of Tenochtitlan : 220 Years of Archaeology in Downtown Mexico City"

Dr. Leonardo López Luján (Museo del Templo Mayor, INAH, Mexico City)

Distinguished Lecture: Thursday May 20, 2010; 5:30 pm, Piggott Hall
Building 260, Room 113, Stanford University

**********************
Abstract:

"The Proyecto Templo Mayor of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e
Historia was created in 1978, as a consequence of the discovery of a
monolith depicting Coyolxauhqui, the Aztec moon goddess. Since then,
other impressive public monuments have come to light in downtown Mexico
City, in the area occupied by the sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan.
Archaeologists recently uncovered the largest Aztec sculpture ever
found, that of the earth goddess Tlaltecuhtli. After an overview on the
history of archaeology in Mexico City, this lecture will focus on the
new Tlaltecuhtli stone, undertaking a formal, iconographic, and symbolic
analysis in order to unveil its functions and meanings. The
exceptionally rich offerings buried under this sculpture will also be
described. Finally, the possible presence of a royal tomb at the foot of
the Great Temple will be discussed."

Welcome!

Welcome to World History, Summer 2010, at NDNU.

Please follow the Blogger options to create a blog of your own, which you will use as a Reading and Reflection Journal throughout the semester. If you do not already have a gmail account, you will need to create one in order to set up your blog. Both the blog and the gmail account are free.

The url of your blog should follow a standard format so that it is easy to find. Please use the following format when prompted to specify a url for your blog:

http://ndnuworldhistoryfirstname.blogspot.com

For example, if I were a student in the class, my blog url would be:

http://ndnuworldhistorymadeleine.blogspot.com

Once your blog has been created, please post a Comment below, noting your name and the url of your blog.

Later, come back to this page and find the blogs of at least 6 of your classmates. Follow the instructions to "Follow" those 6 blogs. You should spend some time each week reading and commenting on the blogs of your classmates.

Looking forward to meeting you all in class tonight.

Madeleine Fitzgerald