Welcome, and remember...

Just a reminder about what we'd like to see here. Students will be responding to readings, and their grade will be based on the following rubric:
  • Reflection statements (self positioning within the course concepts);
  • Commentary statements (effective use of the course content in discussion and analysis);
  • New idea statements (synthesis of ideas to a higher level); and
  • Application statements (direct use of the new ideas in a real life setting).
Don't forget to mark the comments you want for credit with an FC.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Challenges FC

The article brings up valid points but argues against itself many times. If the Polynesians were to make a trip from Polynesia or Hawaii it would be a journey into the abyss with uncertainty. A small boat of that caliber is proven to make journeys of that distance or further but still seems very impossible to make the trip more than once. The winds would easily take the Polynessian canoe to California but the trip back wouldn't be as easy. It would really require a knowledge of the winds and currents of a voyage previously never taken. (They would have to know that the wind would take them back to Hawaii or Polynessia).

The boats were crafted in the same manner but were very different in size. One being 10-15 m and the other being 25 ft or longer. This size difference is nearly double. The pictures shown in the article appear to be 4 completely different vessels.

The language similarities for particular words are neither here nor there. It could be a miss understanding of the translation or the words could of been brought over at any time rather than this 1000 year period in which the trips were presumed to be taken.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Mongoloids!

Given the length of the work, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, it's almost impossible to come away with your impressions of him unchanged. Weatherford does an excellent job of explaining the changing image of his controversial role in the shaping of history. While praised along with his Mongol companions by contemporary Europeans in the Middle Ages, later his image shifted to that of the cruel asiatic barbarian. Weatherford uses the examples of Chaucer and Robert Bacon, who praised the Great Khan and the Mongols for their implementation of technology and liberal philosophy in the building of a massive land empire. They refer to the Khan's policies of religious toleration, and the practice of incorporating former enemy technology and populace into the protective Mongol fold. His conquests and political centralization made travel routes safer, expanding trade within Asia and linking China with Europe for the first time. This stands in stark contrast with the picture of Genghis Khan the Enlightenment-Era Voltaire gives us, that of the cruel and uncivilized brute jelous of the civilization around him. Perhaps this has much to do with the fact that in the Middle Ages, the cultures of the East were superior to the backwards and backwater kingdoms of Europe. Chinese technology and Muslim medicine far surpassed the superstitions of the West. Eastern armies, such as the highly skilled Mongolian Cavalry, were extremely efficient at building the military and political basis needed for empire. In contrast, the West, still mired in the dark of feudalism and political infighting, marveled at the acomplishments of these asiatic peoples. Fast forward to Voltaire's age, the 18th century, and the situation has completely reversed. The great Ottoman Empire is facing a rapid decline, Imperial China is beginning to falter under Western influence, and the nation-states of Europe have far surpassed the East both militarily and economicaly. Europe was no longer the backwater, but the center of the World and its trade. This is perhaps a reason for the shift in outlook towards the Great Khan, who had subjugated more people in less time than any in history with warriors and vassals that later Europeans would consider barbarians.
Another aspect I found interesting in the work was the fact that Temujin, later Genghis Khan, was able to rise from poverty and slavery to lead an entire band of peoples before he was even twenty years of age. Later before he had even reached middle age he had already subjugated his chief rival Jamuka and united the fledling Mongols into a unified and dangerous power. This is clearly indicative of the harsh life of the steppes, which required rigid discipline and constant vigilance, creating a man out of a boy in no time at all. It's difficult to imagine how fast people were forced to grow up and assume responsibility in the past when most people today at 20 still live under their parents care. From this you can also infer that the steppe tribes placed a high emphasis on outward masculinity and warrior skills, the attributes needed to survive constant warfare and hardship. Their masculine society treated women as a commodity goods, kidnapping and capturing wives much like the herds with which they staked out their life on the plains. Weatherford explains that the life of the steppes revolved around a constant cycle of raiding and recovery, a process the young Khan tried in vain to escape with his love Borte. Using the personal setbacks in his life to give him strength, he was able to unite the peoples of the steppe and break the cycle that had taken so much from him in his youth. Much can be gained from a study of this extraordinary man and the empire he built starting with a felt tent in a Mongolian marshland. If your personal image of the Khan still falls in line with Voltaire's, you still have alot of evidence to back up your stance. Despite this his acomplishments and those of his descendents who ruled China (Yuan), India (Mughal) and Persia for centuries, are worth the awe that inspired Medieval Europe to later take up its place in the World.
For Credit.

The Mongols

What is it about the Mongols that can get them so excited?





Thursday, March 12, 2009

The lay of the land

When reading "The Turks In World History" there were several things throughout the first 93 pages that caught my attention. Of those the one that really stuck out in my mind was how the lay of the land (Ecological Zones) effected the Turkish people so much. It really stuck out to me how vastly different the land was from north to south and east to west, and how different the people were in each of these places. This all lead me to think and try to draw a comparison to where I live, and know the most about, North America. Even here the lay out of the land has a distinct influence on how the people are in that area, and the type of people that migrate to that place from other parts of the world or even the country, because it is either similar to where they are from or comfortable to them or even both. For example if you took me being from the south and put me on the west coast I would be totally out of place and vice verse. I think that a lot of the differences in the people here in North America can be traced back to the type of ecological land and environment they live on, just like how it effected the Turkish people.

Wade Lawson

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Women in the Quran

The Women who live under the rules and regulations as set forth in the Quran have strict rules governing all aspects of their lives. The Quran is written in direction towards males, and not females although that is who they are adressing. There are specific lines on how to wean a child, to keep away from a women during menstration, that men are rulers of women. Today, the Quran is still widely followed in many parts of the world, focusing in the Middle East. There are many fundamentalist groups that take the Quran word by word today are extremely volatile. But the Quran also gives provisions to children and women who are divorced or widowed to protect them from the perils of the world for women alone. This correlates with the idea of the early Islam treating their women with positions of prestige as merchants, but the basis of the Quran goes against these founding princples. Muslim practices are held with the five pillars of Islam, that include prayer, alms, mecca, fasting, and professed faith. The women of the Quran are strong women that are dominated by male influences, but still find ways to be women of the western world with cosmetics, specifically eyeliner and mascara and eyeshadow, being the best sold products in the Middle East.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Jesus vs Logic-FC

Celsus was either a brave or stupid man of his time, not too many people would have the marbles to say it, "The story of Jesus was fabricated". Celsus uses common sense to question one of the main religions of his time. All the points made were valid to me, but if you are a strong believer in Christianity you would say he was crazy. During this time frame, what better way to make people stay in line than a brighter afterlife. What better way for a leader to justify his decisions with the help of religion that everyone uses. If you worked a crummy job and your home life was not great, what would effect your moral decisions? Religion? Would you steal to feed your family? Stealing is a sin. Would you kill someone to save your life, that is still murder. One thing I can say about mankind is that we are always looking for a brighter afterlife. In order to have that afterlife we need something to believe in and look forward to. Sometimes your mind will overlook the logic in some things to make you a believer.