Quiz 4

     1. Strayer’s textbook, Ways of the World reflects Hallmark Five of the Sisters of Notre Dame in that it brings to light the viewpoint of many societies and cultures that in many ways have been marginalized in the past through the media as well as in history books. For example, in Chapter twelve of his textbook, the beginning of the reading states “Columbus was a perpetrator of genocide…a slave trader, a thief, a pirate, and most certainly not a hero” (Strayer, 559). Prior to reading his textbook, I had been aware that the Europeans had brought over diseases that killed some of the Native Americans, but I was not aware that it was up to 90% of their society. Nor did I know that certain Europeans believed the Great Dying to be due to the “good hand of God” (Strayer, 623). In this way, Strayer tries to bring to light the viewpoint of people from other societies that have been largely ignored and underrepresented.

In addition to this, Strayer is able to cover a vast range of civilizations, empires and nations in World History: Mesopotamia, the Egyptian Empire, the Persian Empire, Greece, China, the Byzantine Empire, the Mongol Empire, the Americas, and the Russian Empire to name a few.

In covering each of these topics, Strayer also is able delve in further and evaluate how within these societies, the rights of individuals varied depending on gender, class and sometimes ethnicity. For example, it was interesting to read about how Mongol women were political advisors and were active in military affairs. They also rode horses just as men did, and could participate in archery and wrestling as well.

One of the ways in which Strayer embraces not only the diversity of representation of cultures, he also provides portraits of individuals and their stories so that as a reader, one can further understand the material through a more personal viewpoint. The portraits of the Mongol woman Khutulun, the slave Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, factory worker Ellen Johnston and testimony from factory worker Elizabeth Bentley all provide insightful and diverse viewpoints from individuals which allows for a more comprehensive understanding of world history.

2. One of the fascinating aspects of World History and this class was how through understanding past events we can draw connections to how this affects the current state of affairs today. For learning outcomes one and two, one of the historical events I had not been aware of was the political situation with Haiti. I was aware that Haiti was an impoverished country, but I thought it had always been that way. In understanding the history of Haiti, and that in the late 18^th century it was an affluent colony with 8,000 plantations for coffee and sugar that was later destroyed due to the revolution, I can have a better understanding of how the Europeans colonized and extracted resources from Africa. In addition, this ties to the present day, with Haiti still a poverty stricken country unable to recover from the revolution as well as the Independence Debt from France.

The open discussions and debates on topics such as the Mongol Empire, the Arab Empire, the Renaissance and China’s Golden Age, Haiti, and the current historical era that we are living in allows for the presentation of diverse points of view from students. These open debates allow for viewpoints that students may not have considered before as well. For example, while China created many innovations such as gun powder, it was largely closed off from other empires since they believed they were the center of civilization. As a result, China did not engage in the open exchange of ideas through its tribute system. So in many ways China’s golden age was not like the Renaissance. Discussions on topics like this between students allowed for differing viewpoints and in turn a more comprehensive analysis of material. In addition, with our first research paper on the grand administrator Xinchen, we were able to analyze his techniques in expanding the irrigated land and to see if his approach aligned with the Hallmarks of the Sisters of Notre Dame, as well as how Confucianism could be found in his methods.

In analyzing historical data, the distinction of primary and secondary sources was also significant in how we approached this material; for example, in evaluating whether the Paleolithic Era and whether the Gatherer Hunters were more egalitarian, we looked at a testimony from Nisa, a !Kung woman, a portrait of Ishi from the Yahi tribe, as well as the Willendorf Venus statue. In evaluating these sources and determining whether the information they provided was valid and supported our statement of gatherer hunters, as a student I learned a great deal about questioning the historical accuracy and validity of sources and the distinction between primary and secondary sources.

In researching and gathering my sources on my research paper topic, I found that the research aspect was very rewarding in that I was pleasantly surprised by my findings and what I believed I would find regarding information turned out to be quite different. I was able to research a topic that I have always been interested in, and so I found it very gratifying to be learning about something that I genuinely wanted to learn more about. In addition, in researching this topic for my paper I was able to learn more about proper research methods, as well as learn how to utilize numerous resources on our campus.

4.  In many ways we are moving towards a Post-Modern era and in other ways we are not. As I watched the news regarding Amazon and how it acquired Whole Foods, I started to realize that big companies in many ways only get bigger. Capitalism thrives on growth, and so it makes sense in this regard. However, with the closing of numerous consumer stores that cannot compete with a bigger company like Amazon, I am beginning to wonder how this will turn out for the consumer. Since competition can be good for the consumer and big companies in many cases end up expanding to a point where smaller companies are enveloped under an umbrella company, does this benefit the consumer and will our government work to protect the interests of the consumer or the stockholder? With the Supreme Court decision in the 2010 Citizens United case, unlimited company funds can now be given to influence federal elections. In this regard, large companies can give large amounts of money and in turn influence the election of political leaders whose best interest could be deregulation of these large companies who in turn can control a specific market. So in this regard, regulation of capitalism is possible but can very easily be deterred due to the self-interest of larger corporations which is in the stockholders.

As the acceleration of the decomposing of our natural resources such as fossil fuel continue and possibly grow due to emerging countries like China which are highly influenced by Western culture, technology will need to play a larger role in finding a solution to this very critical issue. Whether it is through solar power or some alternative form of energy, the Earth was not designed to sustain the rate at which we currently our burning fuel and releasing carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere. There are numerous studies that all support the argument that our sea levels are rising due to the polar caps melting at an alarming rate. An issue of great concern is whether capitalism and the need for growth will prevent necessary efforts to save the environment.

The world in many ways has gotten smaller due to the technological advances that have been made, and so in this regard it will be critical for governments around the world to communicate, in particular regarding controlling the proliferation of weapons. With the invention of the nuclear bomb, and the fact that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were small compared to the nuclear bombs available, if mankind entered in to another world war, it would not be survivable.

With technology, the world has gotten smaller and many cultures that have been in the past considered foreign and inferior are in many ways viewed today as new and exciting. For example, many fashion styles and products from Japan are now highly favored and viewed in a positive light in Western culture. However, from country to country this viewpoint varies. For example, with the current travel ban and the anti-Islamic sentiment that has been revealed through the media and news stories of hate crimes, there are still countries and cultures that are not favorably looked upon in Western European civilization.