MOJOprofessor

Hiatus

2009-06-27T22:21:00.001-07:00

MOJOprof here is on ice until (or, if?) I get rehired somewhere.

A temporary solution to getting the MOJOprof twitterstream over to the MOJOprof FB page.

2009-05-15T23:18:00.001-07:00

It's in a separate box from the Wall, but it will work for now. Here's the FB page.

Last two lectures posted finally

2009-05-15T23:16:00.001-07:00

Here and here.

Facebook is being pissy.

2009-05-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

It will only run the twitter feed through to my personal page rather than the MOJOprofessor page here, even though the setting is completely set to the MOJOprof page.

Lecture notes

2009-04-30T23:37:00.001-07:00

"Who is on that railroad?!"

Possibility

2009-04-26T23:43:00.001-07:00

How does using a Twitter widget like the one to the right seem? Does it satisfy the anti-Twitter contingent? I'd get to muse easily over at Twitter, and the blog would still be here as well...

Wouldnt that divide the conversation, though?

Are you a "foamer"?

2009-04-24T13:05:00.001-07:00

If you really liked Thursday's lecture, maybe so?

Lecture notes

2009-04-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

The market revolution spreading as a virus. :)

Ok-- the change in MOJOprofessor is on hold. Need some feedback

2009-04-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

OK, not everybody likes me rolling this over to Twitter. For example, Just Some Dude suggests rolling over to Facebook:

"why not make a facebook account for the class?? students in class can add as friends and im pretty sure 99% of us have facebook. not too sure about twitter, i personally dont want to fall for that trap."

I'm open to the idea, especially since I could just mash a twitter stream into a FB page. What do other people think?

Here's one problem, though, as well. I already have a facebook, and-- as far as I understand the Facebook TOS-- you have to use your real name for an account. So how could I set up a page for the MOJOprof stuff without giving up the account I already use?

Overall, what are people's thoughts on this, or on anything related to making classes more interactive by using the good tools out there?

And another thing that came up...

2009-04-22T00:28:00.000-07:00

I mentioned the great naysayer for my thoughts on the "New Cogntion" is Nick Carr. He just posted this blog entry which is excellent and indicative of the drift of his bigger argument that "Google is making us stupid."

Mr. Carr also linked to this satire that directly makes fun of my kind of ramblings!

After it came up in class today, I found this...

2009-04-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

About The Economist.

Speaking of the lecture from Thursday and today...

2009-04-21T21:59:00.001-07:00

Here it is!

Absolutely HILARIOUS and still related to today's lecture!

2009-04-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hat/tip to Corinna for this one. This is the traditionalist/modern value judgement issue summed up:

"Everything's amazing, nobody is happy."

She also wanted me to post one of Louis CK's other videos that's linked there that has the initials B.W., but I am WAY too chickens**t to link to it! Ain't no way.

Changes coming to MOJOprof

2009-04-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

I'm probably going to redirect mojoprofessor.com over to a twitter account soon and retire this blogger account back over to www.mojoprofessor.blogspot.com You'll know when it happens because I'll have this address automatically redirect you to www.twitter.com/MOJOprofessor.

I'm hoping that 1) I'll be more productive at adding things 2) there might be some more conversation because of the ease of using @ replies over on Twitter if people are interested and 3) it might be easier for people if they wanted to just get my stuff texted to their phones instead of having to get to a computer. I get the feeling that nobody uses the RSS feed here, and that texting is more natural to most people now anyhow.

Lecture Notes: The Revolutions That Weren't

2009-04-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

They're here.

Sorry

2009-04-14T13:53:00.001-07:00

Man, I had no teaching mojo at all today. Maybe it's to make me remember everybody has off-days, off-papers, 0ff-what-have-yous. :)

But, anyways, sorry for that.

I'll try to have my mojo back for Thursday when we start the new unit!

2nd paper

2009-04-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in class all last week, it's now due April 23rd.

And we also agreed that, in addition to the way the syllabus phrases the topic, you could also simply put it as "What have you learned about the Americas in the Age of Revolution?"

If you were there for that discussion before class on Tuesday when we were chatting about the AP

2009-04-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

This is the level of cluelessness you get when you have organizations (like....ummmm..... universities?) run by oldsters who do not get the internet and are trying to pretend the world hasnt transformed right around them. Amazing.

How is is related to history, you ask? Well, you can see what happens to people and organizations that try to stand in its way.

The friend that sent it to me asks, "Can an entire organization be a tool?"

Lecture notes: Haitian Revolution

2009-04-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

Have at 'em.

Catching up the lecture notes

2009-04-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Republicanism and the drive for absolute one-ness.

Republicanism in a multicultural society: Tupac's Revolt.

A classic

2009-03-27T10:14:00.001-07:00

How universities are like music reviews, fashion spreads, page-one news reports, action movies, [and] late-night talk shows

2009-03-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

Education stays, but the medium changes.

{H/T Tim F.}

Yep.

2009-03-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

Still have 'em myself

{h/t thejesse}

Grades

2009-03-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

Papers are graded. I'll hit the send button on the emailed papers in the morning.

I graded as easy I ever remember doing, but, because I let the blog experiment go down the easy path, I wanted to bring the papers more in line. So thank the student contributors if you wrote a paper, because your grade is probably higher! :)

In order to make sure my records match, if you did a blog contribution, can you drop me a quick email to make sure I have you properly marked in? I'm worried that one or two people got lost before I figured out how to keep it straight.

Maybe we need this patch for our class.

2009-03-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

The clue-by-four.

{h/t Thejesse}

Hat/tip to Emily S. for this one!

2009-03-14T20:53:00.001-07:00

Make your life easier.

2009-03-14T20:07:00.001-07:00

Hit the "subscribe" buttons (posts and comments) to the right, and get MOJOprof in a reader that sends things to you rather than you having to come to the site.

Now THIS is what I'm talking about (part 2)-- hoisted from the comments

2009-03-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

From this comment thread:

"I think it's fair for you, as the Prof, to be able to 'call bullshit' when there are posts that clearly have very little thought, have nothing at all to do with the subject matter and are an attempt to get out work. This new style of communication is not 'easier' which is what I think a lot of the people in the class are thinking, but actually more difficult. A 5 page traditional paper is a lot of drudgery, but it's really not that hard and by this point most of us know how to do it. But these student contribution posts, in order to be useful, would need to really distill a point down to it's essence and I really haven't seen that a whole lot of that-- because it's really hard work!

Summary: paper writing is a whole lot of boring work, posting should be a faster task but require no less thought. The 'new internet style of communication' needs to not be a dumbing down, but an actual new, more direct and efficient way of communication.

I think it would be awesome to keep the contribution idea, but to raise the standards. Maybe require a little bit of research, even if it's just a link or two. Also, I think if posts had more depth, conversation would be less forced and people would get their 5 comments without resorting to racketeering."

Now THIS is what I'm talking about (part 1)-- hoisted from the comments.

2009-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

From this comment thread:

"Don't know if this is the right place to post this, but here is what I was grappling with the other day :)

After walking outta class a couple weeks ago, I had some thoughts concerniing the whole idea about "republicanism," "virtue," and "liberty" as they were conceived by the revolutionary leaders.

I guess my thought is: With the benefit of hindsight, we can look back and see the hypocrisy in their thinking. Slaveowners talking about slavery, railing against the capitalist system when they themselves benefitted from it, suppressing and oppressing women and indians and then calling them corrupt for it, etc, etc . . .

Should we attempt to even try to adhere to a certain strain of thought that in itself was a perversion of an original ideology?

I dunno if it is even coming out right. I have some thoughts on the idea of living in a society in which one feels is not a liberty-loving society. Why give up your life for a greater society in which you don't believe in or feel marginalized in? Then shouldn't one protest it? Instead of going on for the good of society? Maybe that is why republicanism is flawed... Or is it?"

I see myself as a part of this EXACT SAME process in the world of higher education.

2009-03-14T13:21:00.001-07:00

{Hat/tip to Tim F.}

"When reality is labeled unthinkable, it creates a kind of sickness in an industry. Leadership becomes faith-based, while employees who have the temerity to suggest that what seems to be happening is in fact happening are herded into Innovation Departments, where they can be ignored en masse. This shunting aside of the realists in favor of the fabulists has different effects on different industries at different times. One of the effects on the newspapers is that many of their most passionate defenders are unable, even now, to plan for a world in which the industry they knew is visibly going away."

READ THE WHOLE THING.

Lecture Notes: Taking it to the edge

2009-03-14T13:20:00.001-07:00

They're here.

No decision yet. Gimme feedback.

2009-03-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

OK, like I said in class the other day, the student contribution thing was fun but it just didnt feel natural enough. Grades, papers, and all the other assorted strictures of the current system are so NOT fun that people will give up authenticity and real-ness to get out of them. I know the system is falling, but I NEED to find out how to replace it rather than just praise it's end.

So, if we do a student contribution approach again, then, at the minimum, the new idea will be that it has to be at least 3 (regular-sized) paragraphs related to material from class in order to get comments. And, I would probably have to say that comments can't be anonymous, and that you cant beg for comments, blah, blah, blah.....

But, by the time you have to set up rules like that, then things are no longer that different from the old-school paper option as we will most probably lose the authenticity and naturalness that can come from the voluntarist and conversational model that the internet thrives on.....

What do people think?

Student Contribution (G.C.)

2009-03-12T11:20:00.001-07:00

I remember reading a poster in my high school history class with an African proverb as its caption: "Until the lions have their historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunters." It's almost funny how true that is. The stories of each event in history is always told only through the eyes of the storyteller. As Americans, we learn in grade school about how Columbus discovered America, how Europeans settled on the east coast and founded the thirteen colonies, and how settlers began expanding west to "manifest destiny". Rarely, if ever, has any of this information been put into perspective with the rest of the world. As if enclosed in our own reclusive bubble, the history we are taught as children centers on this single continent.

Personally, being in this class has already made me realize a whole lot more about who we are as a nation. It depresses me that so much of this material is overlooked in grade school because, after all, our nation is comprised of people from all across the world. What happens there will always affect who we are here.

Running behind....

2009-03-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

I'm 36 emails (that includes blog comments and such) behind, but I need to sleep so I can be coherent tomorrow. I promise to get caught up soon if you have emails in with me!

Student Contribution (A.S) {WARNING! Profanity Ahead. Delicate Eyes Look Away ;)}

2009-03-07T12:57:00.001-08:00

"If you are unfamiliar with the phrase "Fuck my life," it is often uttered by someone who has had something unfortunate occur to them and allows them to lament their existence. When we were discussing lolcats and failblog in class, I was reminded of the website fmylife.com where people go to share their "fuck my life" (FML) experiences of the day. The entries go something like this: "Today I had to write a five page paper because I could only get two people to comment on my professors blog. FML" As funny and entertaining as it can be, there is something really human about being able to share with others when you are having horrible day and being able to hear about how other peoples days were just as fucked."

Lecture notes: "Archeology of an Idea"

2009-03-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

Right here.

Student Contribution (N.D.)

2009-03-06T13:36:00.001-08:00

"While listening to the lecture about world history in class, I couldn't help but think about how much media affects world history in the past and present...I mean, I'm sure the world could do without radio and television, but how different would it be if we never had the advantages of those two? How different would history be? Would the world be as connected as we are today?

Early uses for the radio goes back to 1905 during the Battle of Tsushima when the Japanese Navy would scout the Russian fleet, or in World War I when both armies and navies would use radio to pass on orders on both sides. How about television? If we didn't have TV in the 60's how would word get around so quickly that John F. Kennedy had just been assassinated? Today networks like CNN covers stories that happen half way around the world in less than 24 hours, then report them live on television to your home country, so that you know what is going on in a foreign country that you have never even been to. Or what about the presidential inauguration that took place two months ago in Washington DC? Millions of viewers from the US and around the world tuned in live to watch Obama make an oath before he entered into the office of presidency to scream, "Obamarama!" at their TV screens. Without television or radio imagine how different that moment would be for everyone that wasn't in Washington DC. Whether it be for communicating in the world's past wars or helping to spread world news, I think it's amazing how far we have come with radio and TV and how we have used it to benefit history.

Although TV and radio has benefitted history, I feel like each individual should interpret their own version of what they see on television or what they hear on the radio with their own opinions and to use media just as a stepping stone to what is really going on in the world. We can't believe anything the media says right?"

Student Contriubtion (M.S)

2009-03-06T13:29:00.001-08:00

"Since we talked about Native Americans in class, I want to contribute something regarding them. There are some sports teams' that have mascots that can sometimes be offensive, especially towards a group of people. One example would be the Washington Redskins (an NFL team). The carried its name for about 75 years (according to the Washington Post article). Some people believe using Redskins as their mascot is considered offensive to Native Americans. Others feel that the name is not hurtful, rather it is "a sign of honor." Is using a mascot that has something to do with Native Americans or any other group of people considered an offensive thing?

An article regarding the issue:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071102060.html"

Student Contribution (C.W.) {Does this tell a history of the mid-20th century until now better than the academics? I say definitely maybe! -dan}

2009-03-06T13:24:00.001-08:00

I know its a bit cheezy, but i had to post it. It's recognition of time and, thus, is historical in that sense.

2009-03-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when..
Share
Yesterday at 11:25pm

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 4.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family
is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to
see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom
of the screen..

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't
have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause
for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting
your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to
forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't
a #9 on this list.

AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself!

Student Contribution (G.M)

2009-03-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Directly on something we talked about!

Lecture notes for "The REAL first world war"

2009-03-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

There right here.

FYI

2009-03-04T21:07:00.001-08:00

Emailing papers in is just fine with me. I actually find it easier with email, but if you like old-school hard copies that is fine too. :)

Student Contribution (J.M)

2009-03-02T22:36:00.000-08:00

The group with the most power encourages those with less power to become more like the ruling power. There are many examples out there to demonstrate this pattern. When the Persians conquered lands to create the Persian Empire they spread the Persian power and culture.
You also see this in the history of the U.S. in relation with the Indians (Native Americans). So Indians were given allotted acres of land, not citizens on the U.S., but living as a separate nations within the U.S. They don’t get citizenship until the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. Ever since 1887 the U.S. encouraged Indians to conform to the mainstream American. So hoping to turn Indians into farmers the government gave tribal lands to individuals in 160 acre parcels. The surplus lands was sold off with the money going to make Indian schools where the children were taught to read, write and learn the social habits of mainstream America..
In 1928 the Miriam Report study showed that the government policies had destroyed Indian culture and society. By 1932 two-thirds of the 138 million acres the Indians had before the Act was lost and sold. The Indians suffered from poverty, exploitation, and discrimination. This caused in 1934 for the Indian Reorganization Act to return some of the surplus land to the Indians and urged them to develop a self government.
Even in class we talked a little about the Gullah culture that is nearly extinct because the young people were able to join mainstream America. More opportunities had opened up, but this caused the culture to decrease in the younger peoples importance.
Assimilation seemed more important for a nations survival or idea of compatibility during a lot of historic periods, but recently in the past couple decades this seems less enforced. It isn’t as important for an immigrant family to only speak English at home, now it is an advantage to be able to speak different languages.

So when does the importance change? When is it more important to assimilate? When is it more important to preserve a people’s culture?

Student Contribution (K.M)

2009-03-02T22:16:00.001-08:00

"When i was little I LOVED History. Now a days I don't hate history but it is not one of my favorite classes. When we were younger history was full of interaction and involvement in the subject we were learning as well as the other kids in our class (or other classes in our grades).

In fourth grade it was the Gold rush; you were put into gold rush clans stealing each others gold and land but you could only steal if you new facts about the gold rush. Then there was the oregon Trail where you used a computer game to learn about how the people lived along the difficult and vast trip. My favorite was Thanksgiving when half the class was Indians and the other were pilgrims. We would dress up and have a thanksgving feast the week of Thanksgiving while learning about their experiences and getting to make our own traditional decorations.

All of this makes me think, Would history still be my favorite class if all the interaction and experience was still used?"

Student Contribution (T.M)

2009-03-02T22:13:00.001-08:00

Towards the beginning of the semester, we learned a lot about “contact” during history through reconstruction, which caused me to start thinking about how people today use contact. We stay in contact with people through cell phones, email, facebook, blogs, and other forms of new technology. It seems as thought most people today have mobile phones, whereas twenty years ago, the device was not as common. The idea arose from a man named Samuel and in 1835 his idea quickly turned into a telegraph. His invention of the electromagnetic telegraph was the first device able to send messages by electricity. Because it was now known that water could conduct electricity and carry messages, other conductors were sought out. IN 1865, a dentist by the name of Dr. Mahlon Loomis of Virginia was the first to be able to use communication through wireless via the atmosphere. And only a year later, he was able to transmit telegraphic messages up to 18 miles apart. He was able to use the Earth’s atmosphere as a conductor in order to receive and transmit messages, which meant that messages could travel through air.

Years later in 1947, Bell Laboratories, AT&T’s research tem introduced the idea of cellular communications. However, it was not until 1954, that Motorola employee Martin Cooper began developing portable products, the first being portable handheld police radios. He set up shop in New York, where he created the first functioning prototype cell phone called the Motorola Dyna-Tac. On April 3, 1973 during a public demonstration Cooper made the first cell phone call using a phone that weighed nearly two pounds!

Ten years later, Motorola introduced the $3,500 Dyna-Tac into commercial service and it took an additional seven years before there were a million subscribers in the US. Now a day, there are cell phones available weighing as little as three ounces and there are more cellular subscribers than household phone subscribers.

What an incredible invention! I don’t know about you, but I depend on my cell phone a lot in order to stay in touch with friends and family, especially now that I am away at college. Hope this was interesting and I hope you enjoyed learning the history of that one device we all cherish so dearly.

First Cell Phone (1973): Motorola Dyna-Tac

Size: 9 x 5 x 1.75 inches Weight: 2.5 pounds

Display: None Number of Circuit Boards: 30 Talk time: 35 minutes

Recharge Time: 10 hours Features: Talk, listen, dial

Repost with a working link

2009-03-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

The link that didnt work in this post will work now if you go here.

Student Contribution (C.T)

2009-03-02T21:59:00.000-08:00

History of SFSU...not always SFSU.
I was curious about the history of our school and was surprised to know that our school (what is now SFSU) was previously called by 4 different names. Some more background about the history of our school is that the first graduating class was in 1901 and consisted of 36 women. This was because it was only a 2 year college at that time. It wasn't until 1904 that a man was admitted. Please respond stating which name you think our school best fits. I believe it is CSU San Francisco because it goes along with all the other CSUs in California. Thanks! To learn more about the history of SFSU go to this link. ...... {small edit by Dan}

San Francisco State Normal School 1899 - 1921
San Francisco State Teachers College 1921 - 1935
San Francisco State College 1935 - 1972
California State University, San Francisco 1972 - 1974
San Francisco State University 1974 - present

Student Contribution (M.F.)

2009-03-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

"There was a slaughter, “a policy of extermination” against the Native Americans but they still remained strong and resilient when challenged for their land and liberty. There was a plan to unrightfully take the Native Americans lands, but in spite of many treaties and absurd laws how did the Native Americans manage to survive and not fade away from being completely abolished? Can you imagine living in a world where the odds of your survival are slim and no other group is concerned at all?

Government creates a sense that there is this mold that exists that we should strive to be like. It is unfair the way that government over the years can affect our minds. The power of influence effects people on their opinions, at times making their opinions of others or themselves negative. The stereotypical image of the way race is perceived harms people and leads to hate. Government today can be held greatly responsible for people developing complexes and thinking that they are not good enough, and that some groups are superior to others. It is devastating to see the power Government has being misused on people throughout history. In history even when the slaughter of Indians was happening the government had a “policy of extermination” against Native People forcing them to give lands that were rightfully theirs and challenge their liberty. -M Flores"

Even in our youth were we exposed to racist images of Native Americans that stem from the challenges they have faced in the past. Peter Pan is another racist skeleton in Disney's film closet. But they are many that we were programmed to see and didn't even notice that it was racist! In this Youtube clip it is demonstrated. take a look:

The one lecture about the French before we do away with them!

2009-03-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

Notes are here.

And an old classic clip comes in! (Z.P) :)

2009-03-01T20:57:00.000-08:00

Well, it's got some ever so slight, almost-negligible-but-still-there connection to history, but, even more, how could I not post vintage Monty Python. So, against my better judgment:

For the million times I say my thesis of why "Contact" made American history diferent....

2009-02-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

This link shows it better, and it shows how it is active right as we speak. Personally, I think it's a much better vision of the "throw all the peoples together" principle than was present in the Colonial Era. ;)

In a comment below....

2009-02-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

I mentioned:

"I detect in our class a definite cynicism and underlying Social Darwinist sensibility. I wonder if we are seeing a generational shift to an anti-idealist attitude?"

anyone have any thoughts?

Student contribution (R.G.)

2009-02-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

{Someone chooses the provocative route again! ;)}

"Bring Back Columbus Day

It is often heard now a days that Christopher did not discover America and it is no longer a national holiday.

I say bring it back, without Columbus coming to America I would not be here today and I think that he being the one who showed other races that this land was here, he deserves the holiday and credit for the discovery of America.

Here is a link that shows the dispute, and I must say that I agree with the pro-Columbus day side. We should have the right to celebrate an American holiday. We ARE American Right?"

Gift. :)

2009-02-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

The paper due date, as mentioned in class, is now March 10 instead of March 5.

Darn office computer doesnt have speakers

2009-02-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

I found some videos on YouTube of the "Gullah Gullah Island" that somebody mentioned on Tuesday. I cant hear it, but, looking at it made me realize that I'm GONNA HAVE TO. :) I just gotta get to a pc with speakers first.

I noticed the following comment on one of the videos:

" Getcrunkyo94 (16 hours ago)

Was the person who made this high by any chance"

And here's the wikipedia entry.

Lecture Notes on the South Carolina story

2009-02-25T22:28:00.000-08:00

Here they are.

Promise. {Updated}

2009-02-25T22:26:00.001-08:00

I'm behind on emails and commenting, but I promise that if anybody sends me contributions that I'll post them ASAP. :)

{Updated:That wasnt very clear. I mean I'll post them quick even if I havent got time to answer emails and such. In other words, I'll make them first priority.}

A link

2009-02-25T22:16:00.001-08:00

On teaching about slavery as a global economic institution.

{hat/tip to Morgan!}

Student Contribution (J.N)

2009-02-25T21:53:00.000-08:00

This is something i found while surfing through the internet for something interesting to post...

[OK, Dan here. I admit to censoring this student contribution at this part because it was a YouTube video that made an argument that was ahistorical. I would normally have posted it to then see how the discussion would go, but I thought it just happened to be on a too sensitive subject. I'm embarrassed to have done it, because it's mostly because I just can't take the heat. But sometimes you make those executive decisions that you're not proud of. OK... back to the contribution!}

As someone (Rhona) previously stated, "I heard somewhere that there are 3 sides to every story: your version, their version, and the truth." So I ask my fellow classmates, what do you think? Do you think this is just the view of one person or do you think this is the "truth."

I also ran across this clip about present day slavery (human trafficking).

In response, to the 2012 clip, apparently, Hollywood is currently making a movie about it. Here is the trailer:

I love this student contribution!! (M.P)

2009-02-23T21:52:00.000-08:00

"When you think of history you think of facts. Or of a story that tells the truth and does not take sides, but gives an accurate description as to what happened at that certain date in time. Yet, I’m constantly confused as to how I can walk in to any history class, teaching the same time period, and learn a different set of information than the other class. I have four history classes, each teaching roughly teaching the same time period, and yet I have learned different information of history from each class. Rarely, one piece of information or a story will be the same as a previous class. They intertwine and I have a reality clear picture of what had happened and why. But usually I am bombarded with drastically differing stories to a event that should have only one. Each teacher pushes a different set of stories and a different interpretation of history at you. Why is this? Shouldn’t history be universal? How many sides to a story can be told?"

Student Contribution (M.M)

2009-02-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

"In lecture we all learned about the three "S's": silver, sugar and slaves. I always wondered where exactly all the slaves ended up and I thought it was really interesting that Europe didn't get a choice in the matter. This topic got me thinking; what if Europe did have direct access to Africa and the slaves sold there? Would Europe be different today? Then I started to think about how different would the Americas be, especially here in the United States. The Civil War would most likely not have happened. Would there have been segregation and such issues regarding race? Would we be at the same standing point when it comes to technology, or further ahead or even behind? There are so many things to consider it blew my mind thinking about it.

What do you all think would have happened differently if there were no such thing as slaves here in America?"

{from Dan a N.B: I would phrase it more as Europeans only had the choice to BUY slaves rather than capture them, but that still meant slavery for the New World. But the concluding question is still the same!}

Just so you can stay awake at night and worry (H.L)

2009-02-23T21:37:00.001-08:00

A student points to a great example of historical connections in our own time!

2009-02-23T21:21:00.000-08:00

A student sent a link to this new analysis. And Guadeloupe will show up in a small role in a lecture soon!

The meaning for me of the post below this one

2009-02-23T21:01:00.000-08:00

Tim really wrote some fantastic stuff there, and it proves something for me: in college, it's always people that are the key to your learning and not the specific subject material.

For you guys, the rule is "take the professor and not the class" because even if you really like a subject, a bad professor can sour you on it, and if you don't like a subject, a good professor can make it work for you.

For me, it's the knowledge that I'm meeting students all the time (like TimG below) who have taught me way more than I have taught them. The university can really be seen as just a place where you can meet at least some people who care about intellectual things, who care about learning.

A "university" may not really be a place as much as a state of mind, or a way of thinking and living....

Had to hoist this from the comments

2009-02-23T20:59:00.001-08:00

On this older thread, an old student of mine stopped by to write a book for us. :) So here's TimG:

The Ultimate Irony

It's ironic that one needs a college (and often graduate) education in order to command the credibility to criticize it. But how could one recognize the problems of the system without experiencing it personally? And where else could they develop those skills in deductive reasoning and rhetoric to present their argument convincingly?

The first question is answered by the journalist. They go into a situation and distill it into its most important points. They are often not an expert in the field they report about. This leads to errors, but they do their best by talking to experts and doing research. A cogent perspective from the cheap seats (a successful high school drop out perhaps) would be more compelling than "I got all this traditional education so that I could get to a point where people will respect my opinion enough to tell them that traditional education isn't worth it." The implicit message is: you need a traditional education for people to give your views credence.

The second question is answered by history: practice. How did people learn things before universities? By doing them. Whether it be art, or thinking, or business. They tried it, they failed, and they tried it again until they got good; often under the guidance of a mentor. So find a mentor. If a sufficient one is not available to you in person, then find a few that you will never meet in person. They are available in books and other media. So the only thing you really need to get from traditional education is literacy. Everything else is accessible for free after that. And by free I mean provided to you without cost by the contributions of many who have come before you with the hope that you will thereby contribute to those that follow.

Is it worth it? University that is.

At the group level, the answer is likely yes. Some evidence is that the State of California pays about 2/3 the cost of a resident student's tuition. The remaining ~3k (and growing) is paid as fees. The taxpayers (ostensibly represented by the State) see value in their investment in universities. The shrinking portion paid by the State illustrates that "we" are seeing less value in universities.

Furthermore, superimpose a map of the economic engines of the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gdp with a map of education levels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index and you will see a correlation. Correlation does not mean causation, but at the group level, traditional education is valued by economic leaders or traditional education contributes to economic leadership. This is especially true for women. All ships rise higher when women receive education than when men do http://hdrstats.undp.org/indicators/295.html

It is more complex for the individual however. You can be paid to learn a trade on the job, as I was. Progressing to a level in that career with educational prerequisites, I went to college with specific vocational goals in mind. While along that path I got distracted and fell in love with the atmosphere of intelligent people in pursuit of knowledge. A personal, social atmosphere. That would likely not be found online.

Universities are for and by academics. If you are not one, you probably shouldn't be here; though it may turn you into one. If you are looking for direction here, then you should pick one and travel in it until university becomes your direction, then return. Universities have not been designed for vocational education. That is why you may feel alienated, as I was (more so) and am (still).

What we lack in the U.S. is a parallel and equally respected system of vocational colleges as many other countries have. We have some, but they are seen as "less than" university. Rather it should be: you want to be an academic, go to university; you want to prepare for a job, go to a vocational school. Our culture must embrace this as our supply of skilled tradespeople contracts. A vocational education is often more economically valuable for the individual than a university education. Case in point: my cousin (we are the same age) has been working as an electrician for many years while I have been in college (many of those years studying electrical engineering). He will likely make more money in his lifetime than me, partially due to his early entry and lack of student loans.

To go to university one must do it for something other than money, because it is not a good monetary investment. More job skills can be learned on the job, and more learning can be done on your own, and there are other ways in the door besides a degree in most fields. Sadly, one of the greatest values of a degree is documentation that you have resources available to you, such as time, money, skill, etc.

Was it worth it? We'll see when my student loans are paid off; but I didn't write like this when I entered junior college many years ago. Is the value of that quantifiable? What about increased respect I get as a graduate student compared to when I was a high school dropout? Tough to say.

Student Contribution (A.W)

2009-02-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

"Many may wonder why people have always had a habit of exploiting other people. For instance, why the English forced their laws and ideals of land ownership on the Native Americans, and made new ones whenever they met those standards. Also, there were the Spaniards who dismissed the fact that the Portuguese had indeed, fished in the New world far before they arrived. It was even shown that African slaves sold off the coast of West Africa were indeed often sold by other Africans from different tribes. Even today, exploitation still seems like something that continues whether we are aware of it or not. It still seems quite easy to value other people we just don't understand less than ourselves. I'm not really sure why this is. I'm not saying certain people are bad for it… it's just something I noticed. I have done it perhaps without fully noticing it somehow. Could it be part of the human instinct? Just the evolutionary want to survive and in the easiest, most efficient way possible? Perhaps working only for self-gain is something that comes natural to every human being, just because we as living creature, naturally have a want to thrive and defend ourselves in order to survive and beat the odds. It's a possibility… I'm not saying that justifies anything, but it just occurred to me. Obviously some of the ideals we have now are far different than back then, where the range of what behavioral norms each culture accepted was far shorter, and that's probably because there were so few connections back then. If they hadn't connected then and we only just started connected now, it's obvious – we simply would just not be the world we are. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe that's a bad thing. But the truth is… it just is. Okay… I think I'll stop there before I go too deep. ^_^' "

Student Contribution (I.V)

2009-02-20T21:58:00.000-08:00

Subject: Arranged Marriages/Different Cultures

How popular is arranged marriage in our society and in different cultures? Is it beneficial to both parties? Is it always very successful? For example, I read something fascinating in my International Business textbook that in India is an example of a caste culture meaning people are born into a social ranking with no opportunity for social mobility and little social interaction between castes. What really caught my eye was that marrying out of one's caste was taboo. I guess my husband defied that rule when he married me. I'm Filipino and he's Indian. Here's my life story in a nutshell. My husband and I met in high school, got married at 19 without our parents permission (yes, we were rebels....) and got into a lot of trouble for it. I joined the Navy, he followed me and got married in Missouri with no family around except the priest. His parents wanted him to marry a traditional Indian girl, someone who knew the traditions well such as cooking, cleaning, religion, etc. but he didn't listen and married me instead. My parents weren't picky about who I married but rather, they wanted me to get married at a later age. As a consequence, it took about 5-6 years for his parents to accept me as being part of the family. I've been married for over 13 years now and still going strong even though our cultures are so different. His brother was fixed up in an arranged marriage to a traditional Indian girl but unfortunately, it didn't work out because they got divorced after 2 1/2 years. The point I'm trying to make is that arranged marriages aren't always great and they should be stopped immediately because everyone is entitled to find their own significant other on their own without parents' influence. It shoudn't matter what caste or nationality they are, love is what counts. Mixing different nationalities and cultures gives us a chance to go outside of the box and experience other things than what we're used to.
Please let me know what you think. Thanks!!

Student Contribution (L.A.)

2009-02-20T21:54:00.001-08:00

Student Contribution (P.Q)

2009-02-20T21:29:00.001-08:00

A video arguing against paper currency. When we get to the end of the semester, I hope I have time to tell of the early forms of these battles in American history. Perhaps the greatest 19th century political confrontation before the Civil War was over the question of precious metal specie versus paper currency.

From Rhona. Now HERE is something that can illuminate "Contact"!

2009-02-20T21:09:00.001-08:00

With no language in common and dealing with people who you didnt even know existed, would there be any way to communicate? YES:

Student Contribution (A.R.)

2009-02-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

"So, I don't know about you guys, but I thought that the Cabeza De Vaca story Dan told on the first day was super rad. I found this site that has his translated journey, and if you follow the links to the left of the page and scroll down there are some awesome old photos from the 1800's leading up to 1914. Take a look at the site, it's pretty cool.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/cabeza.htm"

Another new rule on the blogging experiment

2009-02-20T20:55:00.000-08:00

If you sent/send in an entry and it gets comments, you have to tell me which comments you think should REALLY count towards the five! ;)

Open thread

2009-02-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

What is the most annoying thing at State?

2 sets of lecture notes.

2009-02-20T14:25:00.000-08:00

1) The Iberians and contact

2) The English and contact, 1

If the napping child stays asleep for a bit longer, then I can get student blogging contributions posted ! :)

New rule on the blogging experiment

2009-02-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

Any new contributions have to be about history (although not necessarily American history). Any emails I already have are grandfathered in under the old "anything goes" rules. :)

The nyquil is knocking me out. :)

2009-02-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

I was going to comment, return emails, and post up some new thoughts on the blogging experiment, but the pillow is calling my name. I'll catch up with y'all tomorrow in class. :)

Hey Chris, I didnt have ur email

2009-02-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

It really does appear to be "Requerimiento" instead of "Requesto." Maybe it's a question of changes over time within spoken Spanish? The wikipedia entry on it gives a different, fuller translation than the one I used, and is a good place to start.

I know, I know.... "it's easy for me to say"

2009-02-17T21:03:00.001-08:00

But try natural conversation and commenting. Don't worry about the grades. I promise I'm not terribly tough, and, really, what do grades matter in college if you pass and get your degree? Well, maybe if you go want to grad school or something. But just try some talk and try it for real. Whadda ya say?

I'm not against figuring our how to game the system, per se. However, I do believe things can be better than that!

Another contribution, and it's more history. and old-school writing at that. and, unbelievably, about class material!

2009-02-16T22:41:00.000-08:00

"I couldn't help but contrast the Indians and Africans to the europeans and portuguese. The indians and africans valued communal property and land usage. The europeans and portuguese valued owned land, a patriarchal hierarchy and ultimately efficiency for profit. What are some values of the indians and africans that you think should or shouldn't be preserved? can they be preserved [in this day and age]? Should they? Do you think it is important to remember and try to learn from the ways of these peoples? what might come from that?
can you tell which side I'm on?"

{Dan sez, "go to town, peeps!"}

OK-- history, at last! But.... ummm.... sorta unusual approach. Not totally reliable, either! :)

2009-02-16T22:26:00.001-08:00

{Dan sez, "Yeah-- this one got the lulz from me!"}

A non-video student contribution rolls in for this one...

2009-02-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

Just a simple link.

{Dan sez, "We've hit written entries, video entries, link entries. I'm betting image entries are coming soon. :) Is anybody going to send in something related to history? What are the odds of that, I wonder? :)"}

Everybody seems to like videos. What's up with that? :)

2009-02-16T22:03:00.001-08:00

{Dan sez, "There's some interesting stuff on the wikipedia page for the disease: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_Man#Notable_cases

Dede from this video is mentioned and some links to reputable news sites are given."}

Student contribution

2009-02-16T13:49:00.001-08:00

I didnt get through it all, so I hope there is nothing truly terrible or outrageous in there... :)

A key way that education will have to change in the Age of the Internet

2009-02-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

I think the biggest change will be the rise of flatter, less hierarchical, and much more voluntarist structures. People will gravitate towards what is needed rather than what has been arbitrarily required. Maybe self-organizing nodes will constantly be arising and rewiring their connections with each other. Or maybe a few large institutions will establish workable structures that highly privilege voluntary interaction and education. I just know that the old model requiring people to jump through hoops that are no longer believed in will be bypassed. It's just so easy now to do so that people will go right ahead and create things for their education that are more relevant, vibrant, and attuned to their own place and time.

But, as an obvious side-effect of that voluntarism the form of the content and material dealt with will move towards conversational, natural, and free-flowing styles. Long-form writing like books and lectures won't disappear, but people will use them when they are really needed and not because they are the only ones deemed sufficiently "sophisticated."

The free-flowing conversation as experienced in IMing, emailing, and blog commenting will come to be seen as just as useful for education as the old-styles. Maybe more so. Who knows?

So, why am I bringing up all this theoretical future-casting (besides the fact that I could talk about it for hours on end and, to some friends' misfortune, actually have)? Well, I highly value the natural mode of human interaction over the hierarchical mode. So I really dont think, in the end at least, "comment on my post, and i'll comment on your post" will really get anybody anywhere. It's a good strategy when grades and such are involved, so i would never prohibit it, but that's because its the class isnt so voluntary and people dont want to have to do as much work as they would if they actually wanted to be in it.

I'm never against people doing what they have to do to survive in the current higher education setup (as long as it meets basic moral and "sweet reasonable" standards), but really doing what it takes to beat silly bureaucracies and hierarchies (including the ones i have sadly imposed) isnt as fun as real talk.

"Try it because you mean it" is just solid advice if you ask me. :)

Lecture notes for "World System 3, Slaves"

2009-02-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

I shouldnt have taken two classes to do this lecture, but I dwelled more on it because it really is such a key thing that makes American history (in the big sense, i.e. "the Americas") so different from other histories around the world. It's just so crucial.

Next class, we pivot from the world system focus and its economic underpinnings to get to more directly to the New World and more directly to how the various peoples mixing throughout the Western Hemisphere dealt with Contact.

Personally, i dont planning on giving up throwing cows at people

2009-02-14T12:56:00.000-08:00

A friend who is usually pretty annoyed by all my talk of the great things the internet is doing for the world, and education in particular, sent this link to me. Any of you gonna give the idea a try? HA!

Student contribution

2009-02-14T12:53:00.001-08:00

ok, this one seems to be an attempt to get an easy out, but maybe she'll get lucky?

"Wednesday, February 11, 2009

everyone should go to this website and i'll comment yours too if you comment mine

i was reading a book called "mailing a letter to my future self"
the point is this you go to this website "www.futureme.org"
in that website, you write an email and you send it to yourself in the future.
that email can be sent in one year, two years three years and even many years later?
so why wait? you don't need to pay for it? go!"

Another student contribution (and, yeah, maybe he meant to "provoke" comments, eh?)

2009-02-14T12:50:00.000-08:00

OK-- this one definitely gets that stuff about "the opinions here are not necessarily those of this blogger, etc."

":::::God doesn't exist, so why make abortion laws when we still can't smoke marijuanna legally or have gay marriage::::::

If God were truly an omnipotent being full of "love" as they say, what's the deal? Can you really say the suffering of the world is our fault because he gave us freedom of choice? What about rape? What about the holocaust. Does he just enjoy watching the irony, as the world starves and worships him at the same time?

People seem to get huffy puffy about killing fetus's because "it's a sin", but apparently God doesn't give a shit about people dying, so why should we? What's the point of abortion laws then. We can't kill embryo/ fetus's because "they're human life", or "they have the potential for being great". It doesn't make much sense to me... 6% of people on death row are innocent, and we kill animals that have more EEG (brainwaves) activity than young children every day.

Should this even be a discussion? The fact that it's undecided makes the already decided laws seem silly. Society apparently feels that smoking Mary-Jane is worse than killing baby's... it's against the law already isn't it, so what's the deal? I can't light up a joint, yet I can take my pregnant girlfriend to the abortion clinic to have my soon to be son chopped up and sucked out?

The same goes for gay marriage. Society has resounding NO to gay couples simply exchanging vows to live together, yet are undecided about abortion clinics grinding up the future generation. Who are these weird people that hate weed and gay people, but can't decide whether cute little babies get chopped up and vacuumed?

Society needs to get their priorities in line. "

OK-- Roxzann sends us our first student-posted item! (Shaun was actually first, but I'm still sitting on his)

2009-02-11T20:34:00.001-08:00

And, even more on the experimental front, an interesting idea from a student

2009-02-11T20:22:00.001-08:00

In a comment below, Lisa Fong said...

"We should just have a short essay on what we have actually learned from the class. Not a long essay, just a short simple one to show that we actually paid attention to what happens in class. Like people's muni stories, the Potosi, Bart stories, topics we have talked about in class."

and I responded,

"Interesting idea. Let's talk about this further. What if the system was that a short essay of a couple of pages to show that one was getting good exposure to the material could get people as high as a B or so, but that to receive an A, people would have to do a full essay?"

Whadda y'all think of the idea?

And, btw, I want to say WITH MUCH EMPHASIS that the writing of the papers like on the syllabus will NEVER go away as the traditional method. People are totally free to ignore all this other talk about experimenting with other ways to check progress.

Repeated from the comment stream below on the "crowd-sourcing" experiment.

2009-02-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

1) This deal on writing something to post on the blog, as of now, is only good for the first unit! :) I might keep it going if its fun, successful, and doesnt sell out the class in a big way.

2) You do have to write something up and send it to me first through email before I post it. I want to maintain some discretion. I already have one radioactive one that a student sent that I have to figure out what to do with! (thanks, Shaun! :))

3) OK-- to make it easier, I'll let on in class that people should check it out and comment in order to help people. I was just worried that people might feel they couldnt just ignore the blog anymore. I want people to be able to do that.

4) You can send in as much as you want, and it doesnt have to be in text form. Videos, images, powerpoint, etc. could be pretty cool actually.

Crowd-sourcing

2009-02-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

OK-- since last fall, I just havent been energetic enough with blogging (even with my personal, non-class, blogging!), and so I'm going to try out a new tact to see if we can get some energy here.

Wanna not have to do the paper for the unit? Well, send me something to post here. It doesnt even have to be about history. Maybe it's about the "is college worth it?" question. Maybe it's just about something you're interested in. (For example, just recently I learned all about Muay Thai fighting, which I had never even heard of, from a student).

So what's the catch? Well, you need five comments from other students to get an A, or four comments to get a B. If you don't get that many, then you still have to write the paper! :)

But, yeah, it helps if you have five friends in the class, right? Just make 'em comment! If you dont know anybody in the class, then try writing something pretty provocative!

OK-- whadda y'all think? Anybody like or dislike the idea? Anybody got something to send in? :)

Office hours change

2009-02-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

For sure will be in from 11-12 on T/Th, but maybe some others added soon!

That "is it worth it?" topic that came up

2009-02-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

Has your university education, so far, been worth it? Will it be worth it at the end? Years from now? DISCUSS! :)

For fun, here are some links I have collected recently relating to the question and the related one of "where do we go from here?"

A strong doubter
Another doubter, but with a vision
Agrees with at least the "it's over" part.

Some new approaches might help?

Lecture notes on "World System: Silver & Sugar"

2009-02-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

They're right here.

Lecture notes for "Contact & World System"

2009-02-05T11:06:00.000-08:00

They are here. I dont think it worked to try to hit two differently styled topics on Tuesday, so I'm going to backtrack a bit in order to better pull together the "World System" material.

Sorry I'm late getting these lecture notes up!

2009-02-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

Here's the first lecture: CONNECTIONS!

Hey Spring '09 Peeps!

2009-01-27T22:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to the syllabus.

I also just looked at Amazon and realized that if you buy the edition before the latest of our text, you can get them dirt cheap. That's fine by me! Here's a link to their used copies.

Why, philosophically, a "loose" teaching style is necessary.

2008-12-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

I want to teach within the structure of "higher education." I think primary education that teaches people the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic is wonderful, and I also really like secondary education that presents subjects and disciplines that people need to be exposed to. BUT... I think "higher education" is different, much different. It could be simply defined as what happens with people, who having achieved success in basic skills and subjects, are simply curious, and, already well-cultivated, want to continue learning, talking, reading, and writing because they actually like to do so.

As higher education has been turned into a way of dividing up society's social and economic classes it has unfortunately taken on many of the characteristics of secondary education because it is drawing people who have other goals than simply liking to think and talk about things. Those goals, and they are very understandable, not at all drawing condemnation from me, are generally economic in focus and create a wish to do the minimal thinking necessary to achieve the desired credential for its economic value.

I dont want exposure to true higher education to disappear behind what is turning into only an extended form of secondary education. The original goal of higher education is a noble one, one preserving some of the best things of humanity. I just cant go along with turning universities into larger high schools, and if people choose to abuse the voluntary structures needed for true higher education, then I'm going to have to let them. I mean, after all, I'm not unsympathetic to that. I can see why people need degrees that are different from actually wanting to learn. These days a college degree might even be needed to live in a solid stucture and have food for your family.

But, in the end, I dont want to switch over to the rules-based systems that go against the basic voluntary nature that is at the heart of all true higher education. Sometimes learning should NOT be about vocations and money and such, but simply done because learning is a good thing, done for itself like an artist is called to art, or like all of us are called to find what things are True or Good or Beautiful in, and of, themselves.