Final Quiz

 1) “Hallmark Five: We Embrace The Gift Of Diversity.” In what way does Strayer’s textbook, Ways of the World, reflect Hallmark 5 of the SND de Namur?

 

I think that Strayer does an excellent job of embracing the gift of diversity, as Hallmark Five of the Sister of Notre Dame de Namur states. The first example that comes to mind is the fact that Strayer dedicates a whole chapter to introducing different religions in great detail. Throughout the textbook, he discusses a wide range of peoples and societies and their different traditions, cultures, politics, etc. In the preface of Ways of the World, there is a good quote that talks about the importance of including events from all different groups and societies, while still making sure the book remained coherent and not too confusing or overwhelming for readers.

"The great virtue of world history lies in its inclusivity, for its subject matter is the human species itself. No one is excluded, and all may find a place within the grand narrative of the human journey. But that virtue is also the source of world history's greatest difficulty--telling a coherent story. How can we meaningfully present the planet's many and distinct peoples and their intersections with one another in the confines of a single book or single term?"

 

2) Please refer to the learning outcomes in your syllabus for this class. Did the course meet these outcomes? Were any of the outcomes not met? In answering this question, cite specific course activities or assignments that stand out to you. 

 

Reflecting over the learning outcomes listed in our class syllabus, it seems to me that this course has succeeded in meeting most of them. For example, I'll start with the pretty straight forward ones--learning outcome number seven states that students will conduct primary social science research, which includes the formulation of a research topic and the collection, analysis, and presentation of research. We met this learning outcome when we turned in our research papers on the topic of our choice; the only thing left is to present the information we found to our classmates on the final day of class. Learning outcome number one states that students will "demonstrate knowledge of the political, economic, social, religious, intellectual and artistic experiences of peoples around the world over time." By reading our textbook, reflecting in our blog, coming to class and discussing the chapters, and taking quizzes, we have successfully met this standard. Learning outcome number five states that students will be able to "weigh and interpret evidence and present a sustained argument supported by historical evidence." This standard was met when we did the in-class debates, such as the one regarding whether or not the Mongols should be respected as a significant civilization. For this activity we were required to find valid evidence in our textbook to support our position and orally debate against the opposite position. Even though it is not a listed standard, I also feel that this activity also helped me improve my public speaking and presenting skills, which I can apply to future classes. Learning outcome number four states that students will "demonstrate familiarity with the historical literature and conflicting interpretations of the past." One example I can think of for this standard is the activity we did where we read the Epic of Gilgamesh in order to understand what it meant for people at that time to be civilized.

 

 

4) Are we moving into a new historical era? Do the items listed under “Post-Modern” reflect the world we live in today and the future we seem to be working toward? Why or why not?

 

Yes, I think that we are absolutely moving into a new historical era. I think that the biggest contributor to this is the rapid rise of technology over the past few decades. I was surprised that this was not one of the bullets listed. While I do agree that environmental sustainability is becoming a goal of technology, I think that it should be replaced with something like "Technology greatly increases human productivity and output." Basically, I think it deserves to be a bullet all on its own for this new era. I do, however, agree with the remaining bullet points. I think that the rise and spread of capitalism and "big business empires" that control their own trade, with little to no government interference (a free market) is a significant aspect of our current society. I also agree with the third bullet point that says government is increasingly global with emphasis on cooperation. I took this to mean that governments are getting more involved in foreign affairs and are providing aid to other nations more frequently. I also think that this means that governments are coming together to work towards solutions on global issues that affect everybody, such as global warming. The last bullet for this new era is Western European civilization recognizes co-equality of other peoples. I think that this does reflect the world we live in today when looking at the big picture. Compared to the past, we are definitely more accepting and "tolerant" (we talked about this negative connotation associated with this word--I just can't think of another way to put it!) However, I think there is still plenty of room for improvement. Racism and prejudice unfortunately still very much exist today, and I think that we took several steps backwards on this issue when we elected our current president. I think that this bullet point best presents the big picture of our current era and the future that we want to be working towards.

Week 4: Reading Reflection

This week's reading included Chapters 7, 8, and 10 from Part 3 of Ways of the World.

Chapter 7: Commerce and Culture

I liked the little story at the beginning of this chapter about the man who ordered an iPod from China as a graduation gift for his son, and was surprised at how quickly it arrived on his doorstep. This story was to drive home the point that while the speed and simpleness of transactions like these has definitely increased, we have been buying and trading with people around the globe for a very long time. I had heard of the Silk Road before, but I didn't realize just how vast it was and how many people utilized it, whether it be merchants or people along the road offering services. The reading talked about disease spreading along trade routes due to increased interaction, including the Black Death (a.k.a plague) that killed half of the population. This is astonishing to think about and made me realize how important and advanced modern medicine is today. Without the medicine, vaccinations, etc. that we have today, the spread of disease was catastrophic. I had never heard of the Sea and Sand Roads before this reading. Something that stood out to me about this was the fact that along with other goods such as gold and salt, slaves were also sold along the Sand Road across the Sahara. I also thought it was interesting that long-distance trade never reached the Americas due to geographic and environmental obstacles.

Chapter 8: China and the World

It sounds as if China paved the way for the rest of the world when it came to advancements in technology and economy. Their Golden Age occurred under the Sui dynasty, the first big achievement being a 1,200 mile canal system linking northern and southern China, which was unprecedented at the time. This amazes me; it seems impossible that they even knew where to begin with a project of that magnitude. Even today with professionals trained to do similar jobs, the task sounds daunting. Although it was a Golden Age for China, women were viewed at this time as subordinate to men and were restricted and oppressed. The reading says that it was frowned upon at this time for a widowed woman to remarry, although not against the law. It was considered shameful for a woman to do so. I imagine it would feel horrible for a woman to be judged like this in today's day and age. Women were also held to very high beauty standards, one of which being very small feet. In order to obtain tiny feet, their feet were bound tightly, often resulting in broken bones. It sounds crazy, but when you look at today's society in the United States, things aren't much different--women are still held to ridiculously high standards. We are taught at a young age that as women, we are supposed to look and act a certain way. Foot binding in the Song Dynasty can be compared to plastic surgery in today's day and age.

Chapter 10: The Worlds of Christendom
This chapter was interesting for me because I just took my first religion class last semester, where I learned a lot about Christianity. Before that class, I knew very little about it because I do not practice it, or any other religion. It was interesting to get the "background" information of how it started and spread. I thought it was interesting how quickly it seemed to spread to different parts of the world. I also thought it was interesting that many of the characteristics of Christianity have remained the same, continuing into the modern era that we live in now.

Reading Reflection #1 (Chap. 1-2)

I found the opening chapters of Ways of the World to be extremely interesting because I don't remember learning about the very first humans on Earth in any other history class. In high school, every history class that I took focused on later generations of people and written history. It is pretty cool to go back so far and learn about the start of it all. It is almost unfathomable to think about how old the Earth is, and what a tiny speck I am in its history. When I read that the Paleolithic era accounts for 95% of the time that humans have inhabited the Earth, I audibly gasped. It is crazy how long we were in the Old Stone Age.

It is really fascinating to think about the first humans who walked on this earth. When you look at how far the human species has advanced in a relatively short amount of time, it becomes clear that as a whole we are very intelligent and curious beings. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that Homo sapiens possessed an incredible knack for and capacity for "symbolic language", which made learning possible and allowed us to become who we are today. Such a simple trait transformed us in huge ways. The fact that we were using basic stone tools 2.3 million years ago is mind boggling.

It sounds as if the idea of society and community first came about when humans began settling down and living in villages instead of moving in nomadic groups. (As a dog lover, I appreciated the part of the reading that said these societies had separate burial sites for dogs, which suggests that they were the first domesticated pet and have always been "man's best friend.")66 This is also when agriculture really took off and provided the framework for the ideas and techniques that we still use today. I

Yay, I'm done!