Q1 Plan = BOOKMARK ME!

 Anyone here still a Vikings fan? Yeah, 47+ years and they look worse than ever. But the weather was fantastic this weekend … so there is that! Going to the park, playing games in the neighborhood, shopping at the Farmer’s Market, seeing all of the bright, cheery faces of everyone else – right? Oh wait, COVID. Hey, it’ll be a forgotten memory when that vaccine is made available at the end of Oct, so don’t you worry about it anymore … okay? 

Last week, we looked at the origins of quite a few things; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Protestantism, Machiavelli, monarch butterflies, Aztec faith/myth, interesting cuisine, and the whole issue of bias in history.

WIL 1.2 (Morality Through Time & Place) is due tomorrow. I’ll read them through Tuesday, though … but get it done sooner (please?). 

This week looks to be lighter than usual, but you could also try to get ahead, if you’d like:
M/T = Watch “When Worlds Collide” (from the IBA Media Archive). This is NOT the awesome 1951 sci-fic thriller. But it definitely hits close to home for me, and sets the stage for things we’ll explore this qtr.

On Weds, I am currently planning an “All About Romo” presentation. Zinnce bias is such an important thing to address (I made a funny – did you notice?), I think it’s only fair to share my background so you know who is torturing you every week. On Th/Fr, we’ll discuss “Why Latin America” (by Skidmore & Smith). Interesting character, that Skidmore. 

As for the GooClass, I think I/we have come up with a solution to the problem of To-Do, Submit, and OCD issues (trust me, I know!).

For videos, you’ll simply “submit” that you did it – on the honor system. Don’t lie and be exposed.

For Seminar readings (& annotations/markups you’ll complete a Pre-Seminar GForm survey (often attached to the same Reading Assignment post).

For WILs, you’ll just write (& submit … for now) the file that is created when you open the assignment.

I’m still trying to determine how/if we’ll do formal/standard exams. I like them because they help YOU figure out how to read, study & prepare, while I enjoy them simply as another means to torture you. 

The GooClass will display reading/watching/HW assignments, but you can also get out ahead and tackle some things this week if you have the time. The (remaining) FULL Q1 “plan” is presented below. Please complete the readings/viewings before the task date!

M 9-28 / T 9-29 Seminar 1.4 Eden in America?  
Discussion Questions: Is paradise born from perspective, or is it a reality? What were some of the non-human/economic consequences of European conquest? How did the Spanish defeat the Indigenous Populations? What if...? What was life like in the Americas? What bias does Sale exhibit or point out?
Read: Conquistador y Pestilencia (Crosby), Conquest of Paradise (Sale), and the articles on Native American environmentalism. Pages 113-119 of Unit 01 Reader (WHITE)

W 9-30 TBD

Th 10-1 / F 10-2 Economics & Slavery

M 10-5 / T 10-6 Seminar 1.5 Conversion
Discussion Questions: What connections can be made between Colonization & Conversion of the Americas with the founding principles & attraction of Christianity? How feasible would it be to convert ALL of you to.....?
Read: Colonial Foundations (Skidmore) Hispanic Background (Keen). Pages 135-153 of Unit 02 Reader (WHITE)
Watch: Crash Course World History 11: Christianity from Judaism to Constantine (YouTube)

W 10-8 Exam 1.1 (Still working out how we’ll do this, but it will cover EVERYTHING from day 1 through Seminar 1.5 Conversion

Th 10-8 / F 10-9 Seminar 1.6 Machiavelli
Discussion Questions: What is his Pattern of Argumentation/Thought? What are the characteristics of the IDEAL ruler? Was the use of atomic bombs on Japan justifiable? Is conflict (war) a part of human nature? (Is war inevitable?) Can Foreign (& Domestic) Policy be driven by morality?
Read: Machiavelli Rdgs. Pages 120-120 of Unit 01 Rdr (WHITE)
Watch Who’s Afraid of Machiavelli (BBC) via YouTube

M 10-12 / T 10/13 Exam 1.1 Debrief

W 10-21 Guest Lecture (actually a video of a lecture)
Watch: Biography of America 03: Growth & Empire (TBD)

Th 10-22 / F 10-23 Seminar 1.8 Colonial Latin America
Watch: The Mission (TBD) – fantastic, but slow film (great score, btw)
Read: Las Casas materials (pp 154-169), Keen LAC 7 The Evolution of Spain’s Indian Policy (pp 170-176), Keen LAC 6 Govt & Church in the Spanish Indies (pp 177-187)

M 10-26 / T 10/27 Exam 1.2 ???

W 10-28 Economics: Friedman vs Samuelson
Watch: Crash Course 33 Capitalism-Communism (youtube)
Watch: Brazil: An Inconvenient Truth (Dailymotion)

Th 10-29 / F 10/30 IB Exam Question Deconstruction & Answer Development
You’ll be placed into a group and assigned a question to answer in a slideshow (2-3 mins)

M 11/2 / T 11/3 IB Exam Question Share-Out
Present your Slides to the rest of us!

W 11-4 11/5 Seminar 1.8 Reparations
Watch: Freakonomics A Roshonda By Any Other Name (dailymotion) first 22 mins
Read: Robinson OR Horowitz (online)