World History » not homework

Globalization: Television still important

jdresner — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:09:42 +0000

An interesting discussion about the social and economic effects of television globally, especially satellite broadcasts.

Food History Review

jdresner — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:32:34 +0000

Washington Post reviews three new books on food history: Chocolate, Curry, and Cheese. The books are really not groundbreaking, more a summary of existing research and lots of recipes, but food history is one of the subfields of history which gets a lot of popular attention these days.

Comparative Hyperinflation

jdresner — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:44:51 +0000

The worst hyperinflation ever? Hungary, immediately after WWII. Weimar Germany barely makes the list

New WWI Photographs Discovered, Restored

jdresner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:13:05 +0000

Hundreds of glass-plate pictures of British WWI soldiers have been discovered in France and published. The full collection can be seen here, perhaps the first time I’ve ever seen a LiveJournal account used for historical sources!

Historians Explain Murder?

jdresner — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:24:13 +0000

How have historians dealt with questions of crime and punishment? Jill Lepore looks at new books on murder, with a special emphasis on explaining why the US looks different than economically and politically similar societies.

Technology and Culture

jdresner — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:38:21 +0000

Music historian Elijah Wald describes the relationship between technology, music and social interaction over the 20th century. It’s all the Beatles’ fault, apparently.

A few announcements

jdresner — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:49:04 +0000

Reminder: No class for either section on Friday the 23rd, due to the Presidential inauguration. Students are encouraged to attend — and see your instructors in academic regalia! — at the front of Russ Hall (or in Weede, if the weather is poor) at 2.

While I didn’t require resubmission of thesis statements that missed the mark this time, I’m adding an element to the next book review assignment, the discussion of the argument and evidence of the book: you must include a clearly marked, one sentence statement indicating what you think the thesis of the work is. This is quite important for the argument and evidence discussion: if you don’t know what the author is trying to prove, you can’t evaluate the effectiveness of the argument they make or the quality of the evidence they present.

As you try to summarize and discuss your chosen books, be careful of how you use the book and any related sources you may find. Obviously, using the actual words of a source — textbook, internet or otherwise — without quotation marks or other acknowledgement is clearly and blatantly plagiarism. Weak paraphrasing can constitute plagiarism: if you don’t thoroughly alter the language of your source, it is a form of intellectual theft. Even something fully paraphrased in your own words can be considered plagiarism if you don’t acknowledge your source(s) — this is what footnotes, endnotes and parenthetical citations with works cited pages are for. Plagiarism is academic dishonesty, theft of intellectual property, and a violation of University policy, and will not be tolerated in this course.

Finally, a little 19th century union history — the struggle between wage-earning workers and capitalist owners — in early baseball.

Food History: requires testing!

jdresner — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:04:45 +0000

Chris Bray passes on word of two experiences with early American food: Gingerbread cookies from Colonial Williamsburg and a pound cake taste test, pitting a modern recipe against a two-century old version which required an hour of hand-beating. See if you can figure out how “Pound Cake” got its name…

In other news, historical sea logs help climatologists.

Quick survey of the evolving uses of the term “socialism”

jdresner — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:28:08 +0000

At HNN, Walter Moss has a nice survey of some of the fuzzy language used by and about socialists, socialism, progressivism, etc.

History Club Meeting

jdresner — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:25:51 +0000

Not for extra credit — though the History Club events usually qualify — but a good group:

Greetings from the History Club here at PSU!

If you are a history major, minor, or are simply a student who is interested in learning more about history and participating in fun activities to that end, please come to our club meeting on Oct. 21st at 3pm in the History computer lab (306J Russ Hall).

We would love to see you all there! Please feel free to come and enjoy free food and drinks, as well as getting to know some of us in the club. We will be talking about upcoming events, as well as those that we would like to plan for the future.

See you on the 21st!

Also, I just got a flyer for the Pitt State Women’s Studies Club — all students welcome! — meeting Monday, October 12, 4:30pm in Grubbs 422. Again, not an extra credit opportunity in itself, but for interested folks.