World History Fall 2018

"Serving is Different From Helping and Fixing"  I LOVED reading this article. The part I especially resonated with was when author Rachel Remen referenced how using words like "helping" invariably establishes a relationship of hierarchy and of dominance instead of a relationship grounded in a mutual exchange of knowledge and information. She made a similar parallel with the use of the word "fixing" where she mentions that using such a word implies that the person being helped was in some way "broken" prior to receiving the help.  In my personal experience, serving others has been a learning experience on both ends. I have been able to grow as a person from exchanging stories with people who have different backgrounds and it has broadened my sense of social responsibility to hear and witness what other people are experiencing. 

For my Chapter 3 documents, I read Herodotus’ recollections on Egyptian and Persian culture. Herodotus is one of the first recorded documenters of written history as we know it. He traveled widely, thereby gaining a broader global perspective.   I was surprised by how structured Herodotus writing was. It is clear, concise and easy to read. He often takes advantage of creating lists to elaborate on the two cultures different customs. I didn’t know that Persians celebrated birthdays in such a grandiose manner as he described. I was also amused at Herodotus’ mention that “Persians say that the Greeks leave a meal hungry because they have nothing worth mentioning served to them as an extra after the meats and that if the Greeks did have extra courses served, they would never stop eating” (139). This made me laugh because my parents, who are from India, often still jokingly make similar comments and I can’t help but wonder if there is some overlap between Persian and Indian cultu...

One of the most interesting parts of this chapter to me was Strayer’s explanation of the concept of “Heaven” in Chinese culture. Basically, he explains that in ancient Chinese culture Heaven wasn’t seen as a place the way it is today, but rather as “an impersonal moral force that regulated the universe.” I thought this was interesting because in Western Christian-based culture, Heaven is so heavily perceived as a final destination and is used as a means of encouraging people to behave well such that they may   end up there at the end of their lives.  

For my blog, I chose to examine Source 2.3 - The Dancing Girl. I was surprised at how sophisticated this bronze statue is. It also provides a lot of detail via the jewelry and the way her hair is put up into a low bun. The statue does exude what we identify today as confidence, from the way she is standing with her hands on her hips, to the slightly bent knee. She exudes the kind of obnoxious sass we often associate with teenage years. The picture also suggests that the Indus Valley people admired slim women with very long legs—similar to the women we often see modeling in our world today.  

The book’s prologue discusses how in the last century the way history is being taught has completely shifted. It used to be taught with a focus on certain time periods or on certain civilizations but Strayer offers us an interesting perspective on a rising belief that by teaching students history from a global, broad, inclusive perspective, perhaps we can help foster a sense of global citizenship. A broader sense of global citizenship could reshape the world altogether and give more people a sense of social responsibility.   Strayer also implies that an excessively broad sense of patriotism is what led to the World Wars and that perhaps these global crises could have been averted by fostering a stronger sense of global citizenship. He describes the World Wars as “revealing the horrendous consequences of unchecked nationalism.”  I thoroughly enjoy reading his perspective and the way he links major historical events to where we are in modern day

I loved how the preface of the chapter referenced the “urge to escape from civilization” (59). This urge continues to be a basic part of humanity even today, but I was interested to learn that it dates way back to the first civilizations.   I also found it interesting how the reading referenced yet another product of agriculture: the creation of cities. Strayer quotes a passage from Gilgamesh describing the beauty and extravagance of Uruk, the largest city in ancient Mesopotamia. The creation of formal, structured cities was the starting point of a number of other structural developments for mankind—the start of a political culture, the foundations of creative expression as well as a physical place for labor and production, which would eventually lead to trade.   In reading the chapter, I was again thoroughly reminded of Strayer’s profound commitment to giving his readers a strong sense of perspective on the material being learned. I really appreciated ho...

I was surprised to learn that Paleolithic societies were “high egalitarian” as Strayer describes them. I’m personally interested in understanding where gender inequality took root, and for some reason have had a longstanding misconception that it has existed from day one. Strayer goes so far as to suggest that Paleolithic men and women were the most free group of people to ever exist in human history. He discusses how women were the primary gatherers of food, gathering enough plants to provide for 70% of the Paleolithic diet. Paleolithic people had no concept of female virginity and they did not abuse their women. We even have evidence that Paleolithic peoples maintained healthy sex lives.   The one thing that did somewhat reinforce my earlier idea that gender inequality has always somewhat existed was that Strayer mentions that “the male role as hunter, especially of big game, perhaps gave rise to one of the first criteria of masculine identity: success in killing large anim...