Final- blog

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?

             Throughout the entire book, Strayer is all inclusive in his telling of history, not seen from just the conqueror of each battle, or the persuasive storytelling most of us have grown up with, but from a perspective taking into account all human beings.

             Strayer starts out referring to gatherer, hunters in the Paleolithic era. He was just reporting history as factual; the women brought in a greater percentage of food, so it should be only fair that they are referred to first in the history books.

             To be honest, initially I did not see the Mongols as a group that should be respected because they brought civilizations together; they used terror as a tactic. But Strayer allowed us to see a bigger picture; they created the beginning of global civilization. Strayer was fair in his depiction of Mongol history.  We cannot pick and choose when we want to acknowledge diversity, we must see it in all of history. 

            We learned of the 5 seminal thinkers in the Classical era; each being from different parts of the world. It became evident that although they marked different times in history, and taught in China, India, Jerusalem and the Arab Peninsula, there were striking similarities on the mark they left in history.

             We learned of Islam as a religion and an empire, it spread global civilization and managed to survive even during its weakening empire.

             The Silk, Sea, and Sand Roads were interesting and really taught us the impact on trade, putting China on the map. Then we moved into Europe where we learned a fair assessment of the Industrial Revolution on everyone. Again so many prospered and even more suffered.

             Robert Strayer managed to take us around the world and give us a glimpse into the effects history has had on all, not just the winners.

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.

            After looking over the learning outcomes, I feel the course met the objectives. It was clear to me when we started the first couple of chapters of “Ways of the World” by Robert Strayer, and he referred to the Paleolithic people as “gatherers and hunters”, that we were going to learn history as it was meant to be told. The author was all inclusive in his telling of history; we learned of the evolution from Paleolithic to Neolithic. I had never been interested in those eras before, but I knew I wanted my topic for our research papers to be in one of those periods.

            We learned of the ethical implications, like those of the Atlantic Revolution. The Atlantic Revolution had an immense impact; so many prospered, but so many lost their native lands, their freedom, and their culture.  We learned that for all of the progress and monetary gain, many times it brought suffering to others; “profit at the expense of others”, a hard one to swallow.

            History has always taught us that Christopher Columbus sailed to America in 1492 and it was the start of a new nation. But what we did not hear was that Native Americans population was depleted by 90% and the people from the Caribbean Island by more than 50%.

            The weekly blogs allowed us to focus on topics in the reading that really struck us. There was so much material to read; it was hard to absorb it all. By allowing the students to write about the parts of the chapter that made an impact, felt more meaningful.

            The research article proved to be interesting. When I first picked my topic, I really did not think there would be enough material to write my paper. To my surprise, I found so many articles, that I had to narrow down my resources in order to organize my paper.

            Taking an ethical look at history seemed to make the Sisters Mission Statement of NDNU much clearer. The telling of Strayer was all inclusive and did not show favor. As with the Hallmarks, Strayer embraces all of humanity.

3. In what ways did Modern Western Humanistic Civilization collapse (break down) during the 20^th century? Has this collapse been effectively mended?

            The world had experienced what seemed like decades of war; World War I, The Great Depression, World War II, Korean War, The Cold War, Vietnam. People had been through enough in the 20^th century, it was time to settle down; people turned to work, the everyday middle-class living was strong, and although there was protest to the Vietnam War, it didn’t represent the majority of the middle or upper class. People worked hard in an effort to keep a roof over their head.

            The Industrial Revolution brought with it major changes in the work environment which impacted the economic structure, social interactions, and government. With the discovery of the combustion engine, human energy was being replaced by fuel energy. People moved to the cities, work relationships were stifled; people were now working the factory line. The assembly line began to erode humanity, relationships were nonexistent at work, conditions were not safe, and the environment began to suffer. Unions were formed to protect the workers, but owners now wanted mass production at less costs. Middle class now became the owners, and capitalism was on the rise. It wasn’t just enough to own a home and be middle-class; people wanted their assets to bring in more wealth. Where European superiority had dominated the economic, cultural, and political fronts, capitalism had now moved into the forefront on a global level. The industrial revolution brought with it the new ethic of “profit at the expense of others”. People were no longer satisfied with 40 hour work week, because of the endless possibilities within the global economy, outsourcing seemed like the answer; and we still see its effects today. Mass production and cheap labor equal profit.

            But with global economics and outsourcing comes global cultural exchange, coupled with the technological revolution, the world is now in what appears to be an unstable political environment. Did greed bring us to the place where we are now; we see political discord throughout the world? Britain pulled out of the European Union, Venezuela is protesting in the streets over food shortages, Syrian refugees have nowhere to turn, and Turkey is turning from the idea of the European Union. The leaders of the two strongest powers, Trump and Putin, have been accused on collusion in our elections.

            This all seems so similar to echoes of the Atlantic Revolution; is this an echo of a technological revolution. People are unhappy and rightfully so. Did Occupy Wall Street movement trigger other demonstrations?  Are apologies to the Japanese for the bombing during WWII enough, should the Jews of Germany be given some type of recompense for the Nazi camps. And as we learned about CARICOM reparations; will the requests ever be granted, or will it end up in years of legal battles.

            Tensions are running high and I think the protests are necessary; people need to be heard. Is it enough, no? How do you ever repay people for generations of slavery, or war camps, we have not healed yet, but I do believe the protest represent the fact that we are on the road.