Food History September 12, 2009
Posted by jdresner in hist 102 (Fall 2009), not homework, resources.add a comment
From China Beat comes word of a neat series at Yale Global Online
A series of pieces on the global history of trade goods like chilis, tea, tomatoes, coffee, potatoes, and tobacco
Oops…. September 11, 2009
Posted by jdresner in Schedule Change, administrative, hist 102 (Fall 2009).add a comment
Looking at the schedule, it turns out that I’ve made an error which means that we’re technically a day behind where we should be. I think I have a solution, but I need time to work it out. Meanwhile, stick with the schedule as we’ve been doing it: read Chapter 18 for Monday.
Non Sequitur: The World’s Oldest Person has died, at age 115. There are a few people left in the world who were born in the 19th century!
Pop Quiz Grading September 11, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2009).add a comment
As I said previously, I grade ID questions on the familiar 4-point scale, with half-points. I give some credit for incorrect identifications — when you identify the wrong thing — if you actually identify that thing reasonably well. Your pop quiz grades for the semester will be handled much like the tests: I total up everyone’s scores and take the highest as 100%.
Also, I hand back pop quizzes when I have them graded — and I’ll try my best to make sure that’s the next class — but if you’re not there when I hand them back, I’ll just hold onto them until next time I have something to hand back. If you missed my handing them out, feel free to ask me for them before or after class.
Extra Credit Opportunity: Romanticism Lecture September 10, 2009
Posted by jdresner in extra credit (F09), hist 102 (Fall 2009).add a comment
On Thursday, October 8, at 8:00 p.m., in the Balkans Room of the Overman Student Center, Michael Martin, Lecturer in English and Co-Director of the Nancy Geshke Writing Center at Marygrove College, Detroit, Michican, will deliver the Victor J. Emmett, Jr., Memorial Lecture.
Mr. Martin’s lecture topic will be “The Mystical Body of Romanticism.” The lecture is free and open to the public. A brief award ceremony and reception in the Heritage Room will follow the lecture.
Mr. Martin is the winner of the Sixteenth Annual Emmett Award for the best article on a literary topic published in The Midwest Quarterly in 2009.
The Emmett Memorial Award and Lecture are sponsored by the Emmett family, The Midwest Quarterly, and the English Department of Pittsburg State. The award is given in memory of the late Dr. Victor J. Emmett, Jr., who, before his death in 1990, was for twenty-three years a Professor of English at Pittsburg State, where he served at various times as Chairperson of the English Department, Acting Dean of Graduate Studies, and Editor-in-Chief of The Midwest Quarterly.
Extra Credit Opportunities: Poetry and Lectures September 10, 2009
Posted by jdresner in extra credit (F09), hist 102 (Fall 2009).add a comment
From Axe Library:
On October 1st, 2009, the Friends of Axe Library are very proud to present a reading by three poets who grew up on Osage St. in Girard, KS. Their book, entitled Three from Osage Street, is a collaboration which resulted from their chance meeting at Girard High School’s 50th anniversary reunion for the class of ‘56. There, Thomas Lisenbee, Kay Z. Myers and Brett Waller found out that they all shared second careers as poets, and they also shared a favorite subject: growing up in Girard, KS. So, if you want to hear poems about tadpoles, skinny dipping, the best bread in the world, fishing trips with Dad, a town that could have been a stunt double for Pleasantville and campin’ out, then join us on Thursday, October 1st at 7 PM in the Special Collections Department of Axe Library. Refreshments will be served. Contact Jane Victor (235-4886; victor@pittstate.edu ) or Bob Walter (235-4886; bwalter@pittstate.edu) for further information.
On October 8th, 2009 at 7PM , the Friends of Axe Library will be very proud to present the 12th annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture, Cowboy Heaven… Carson Robison and His Influence on Modern Country and Western Music. The lecture will take place in the Special Collections Department of Axe Library. Refreshments will be served. Our lecturer will be John Kendrick, a recent graduate of PSU (May, 2009) with a Master of Arts in Communication and an expert on the life and career of Carson Robison (1890-1957). Robison, a native of Southeast Kansas was a talented singer, songwriter (more than 280 titles), disc jockey, and guitarist as well as master of other talents too numerous to mention. He was an influence on such entertainers as Gene Autrey, Gene Austin and Will Rogers and one of the pioneers in developing modern county music as we know it. Our performer is Alva McNeely, Board Member of the Marmaton Chapter, Kansas Old Time Fiddlers and Pickers and a talented musician on the guitar, fiddle and mandolin. Contact Jane Victor (235-4886; victor@pittstate.edu ) or Bob Walter (235-4886; bwalter@pittstate.edu) for further information.
As always, you earn extra credit by attending the event and write a short summary-reaction paper for me.
Extra Credit Opportunity: A Midsummer Night’s Dream September 3, 2009
Posted by jdresner in extra credit (F09), hist 102 (Fall 2009), not homework.2 comments
The Pitt State Theater Department will be putting on a production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” — one of his most popular comedies. The show will be October 24-26th: keep an eye out for announcements about ticket availability.
To get extra credit, all you have to do is attend the event and write a short (2 pages max) summary and reaction paper before the end of the semester. It’s that easy.
Schedule Shift for November/December September 2, 2009
Posted by jdresner in Schedule Change, administrative, hist 102 (Fall 2009).add a comment
In order to allow students and faculty to attend the inauguration of PSU’s ninth president, Dr. Steven Scott, classes from 1-5pm on Friday October 23rd will be dismissed. Since I have one section before that and one during, I’m cancelling both sections and shifting the schedule back a day. Fortunately, I built a few catch-up days into the schedule: using one of them, I’ve pushed all the readings and assignments back a day until the end of the semester. You can see the complete schedule, as always, here, or at the course link above; the schedule for September and most of October remains unchanged.
ID Tests August 21, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2009), homework, study terms.3 comments
The pop quizzes and tests will be Term Identification tests: I will give you a list of terms selected from the “Key Terms” list at the end of each chapter, and you will write a short paragraph defining and explaining the importance of the term.
The answers I’m looking for have three important components:
- Definition: Basic information about what the person did or what the event involved or what the term means.
- Context: What country or region, what time period does this fit into? What else is happening around this term that’s important to know? What other people or events or concepts play a role?
- Significance: Why is this an important person or event or concept? What does this change about the world, and what comes after this that couldn’t have happened without it?
Definition alone, which is what you get if you memorize the textbook sidebar or a sentence or two from the text, gets you up to about a C. Context gets you to B-range. You need all three to make an A. (All of this assumes that you’re getting it right, of course.) You can get all that from the textbook, if you read it carefully, but it’s a lot easier if you listen to the lectures, too. Your answer on tests need not be limited to the material in a single chapter: many names and terms and processes will appear in multiple chapters; pop quizzes, on the other hand, will focus on the term as defined in the chapter assigned for that day.
You can find some exemplars of good work from previous semesters here and here.
I grade the individual questions on a 4-point scale: 4=A, 3=B, etc. On the tests, I then total those up and, taking the highest grade in the class as 100%, convert them back to a letter grade with pluses and minuses. I record that grade (on a hundred point scale, so F is still worth more than zero) as your grade on the test.
Fall 2009 Textbook for History 102: World History Since 1500 (sections 2 and 4) June 9, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, hist 102 (Fall 2009), homework, textbook.add a comment
The textbook we’ll be using is;
Voyages in World History: Volume 2 Since 1500 by Valerie Hansen and Kenneth R. Curtis.
If you want to order it online, make sure that you get the second volume: the ISBN for that is 978-0618077250
This is a new textbook for me, and looks quite readable and complete. I’ve used Valerie Hansen’s textbook on early China for years and have great respect for her scholarship and writing.
