Miscellaneous announcements: Guest Lectures, Test, Fun September 22, 2009
Posted by jdresner in Napoleon, Schedule Change, administrative, extra credit (F09), grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009), homework, military, not homework, resources.1 comment so far
We’ll have two guest lectures from PSU Grad student, military historian and WWII reenactor Dustin Strong: “Napoleon and his Wars” on October 9 and “WWII” on November 16. Mr. Strong’s lectures, like my own, are required, and I will expect to see his presentation reflected in your test answers and essays where appropriate. Mr. Strong has also announced two WWII reenactments open to the public as extra credit opportunities: Sept. 26-27 at Bristow Jones Memorial Airport (Bristow, OK) and Nov. 7 at Forest Park (Ottawa, KS). For the extra credit, include in your summary/reaction paper a description of the battle, and those of you doing WWII topics for your book review are strongly encouraged to talk to members of one of the units, as they are usually very well-informed on the equipment and history of the units they portray.
My apologies to the 2pm section for missing Monday: I have put the lecture outline online, so that anyone who missed class due to the weather or illness can review it. Those of you were there for the 11am class are welcome to look at it as well, obviously.
Regarding the Test on Monday, covering chapters 15 through 20, inclusive, and the lectures, the format will be very much like the pop quizzes: I will choose four or five (or six) terms from each chapter — the terms in the “Key Terms” lists, of course — to put on the test. From those, you will pick twelve (12) to answer: at least one from each of the six chapters, and the rest from any of the remaining terms. I will supply the test and paper; you bring something to write with and everything you can remember about the last month’s readings and lectures.
Finally, for fun, here’s pre-Revolutionary satires on French aristocratic hairstyles, including a recreation of the Battle of Bunker Hill [mildly adult content]. The one that made me laugh was the one with the hairdresser using a nautical navigational tool — the sextant — to arrange the hairstyle.
Extra Credit Opportunity: Meeting David Wilson September 15, 2009
Posted by jdresner in extra credit (F09), historiography, not homework.add a comment
Don’t miss Meeting David Wilson on Monday, September 21, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the Crimson & Gold Ballroom, Overman Student Center. This presentation is FREE, and no ticket will be required.
David A. Wilson, as a 28 year-old African-American journalist, traveled deep into his family’s past to find the answers to America’s racial divide. His journey resulted in the feature length documentary “Meeting David Wilson”, which he wrote and co-directed. In researching his family’s ancestry, David learned of a plantation in North Carolina where his family was once enslaved, and subsequently discovered that the plantation is owned today by a 62-year-old white man—also named David Wilson—who is a direct descendant of his family’s slave Master. This discovery leads to a momentous encounter between these two men who share the same name, but whose ancestors were on the opposite sides of freedom. Later, through DNA testing, David is able to trace his African roots back to Ghana, West Africa, where he travels to visit the place where it all began.
On April 11, 2008, MSNBC premiered the documentary “Meeting David Wilson” which was hosted by Tiki Barber. The film aired nationally as part of a groundbreaking television event, which also included a live town-hall conversation on race moderated by Brian Williams of NBC’s Nightly News from the campus of Howard University.
In his interactive, multimedia lecture, David shows pivotal moments from the film, including his conversations with the white David Wilson, and initiates a discussion with audiences about the state of race relations today, how we got here— both literally and figuratively—and where we’re headed. While much of his presentation focuses on the racial dilemmas of today, David shows how the country’s history played a role in creating the problem, and more importantly, how it is in the interest of America’s future that we all play a part in the solution.
For more information, contact the Campus Activities Center at 4795 or visit David’s site at http://www.meetingdavidwilson.com/
Meeting David Wilson is being presented by the Performing Arts & Lecture Series (PALS) and the PSU Leadership Institute.
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
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.
Extra Credit Opportunity: PSU Jazz April 27, 2009
Posted by jdresner in extra credit (S09), hist 102 (Spring 2009), not homework.add a comment
The final PSU Jazz Concert will be held on Tuesday April 28 at 7:30 PM in Memorial Auditorium (503 N. Pine). The two jazz ensembles will be playing a variety of music including works from the Count Basie Library and the Charles Mingus Big Band as well as works by Pat Methany and Maynard Ferguson alumni Steve Wiest. We will also feature faculty trombonist Robert Kehle on a beautiful ballad arranged for the US Air Force Airmen of Note called “Somewhere Out There.” We hope you will attend this free event.
Industrial Revolution History April 16, 2009
Posted by jdresner in doing history, historiography, not homework.add a comment
I know we’re done with it, technically, but if you want a quick review of the technology, there’s a nice book review in the Wall Street Journal of a history of industrial revolution innovation. It’s a good model, actually, of how a book review is done: informative, critical, and ends up giving you a great sense of whether the book would be worth your time.
A snapshot of WWI April 14, 2009
Posted by jdresner in doing history, not homework.add a comment
Military historian David Sibley provides a brief look at some of the tactics and effects of WWI military innovation.
Neat Graphics; interesting facts April 11, 2009
Posted by jdresner in hist 102 (Spring 2009), not homework.add a comment
If the world were compressed down to a hundred people, what would it be like? Check out these very creative charts
Extra Credit Opportunity: Poet Annie Finch March 24, 2009
Posted by jdresner in extra credit (S09), not homework.add a comment
Celebrated poet Annie Finch will read poetry at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, March 26th in the Governor’s Room, Overman Student Center. Finch reads in honor of Women’s History Month. She is professor of English at the University of Southern Maine and Director of the Stonecoast low-residency MFA Program in Creative Writing. She is the author of four books of poetry, The Encyclopedia of Scotland, Eve, Calendars, and the forthcoming Among the Goddesses: An Epic and Libretto, and has written or edited nine books about poetry, most recently The Body of Poetry: Essays on Women, Form, and the Poetic Self. In a review of Calendars, Richard Howard writes, “Sympathies, passions–so often the opposite of actions—are so intensely held, wrung and used, that Annie Finch’s poems spread themselves like so much fresh laundry: sweet, abstergent, redressed.”Finch’s reading is sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series, Student Fee Council, the Office of Student Diversity and the Women’s Studies Program. A reception will follow the reading, in the Heritage Room. The reading is free and open to the public.
Finch will also visit two classes during her time in Pittsburg. She will give a talk in a class at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, in 312 Grubbs, and another at 8 a.m. Friday, March 27, in 303 Grubbs. Visitors are welcome.
Extra Credit Opportunity: International Food and Culture Fair March 24, 2009
Posted by jdresner in extra credit (S09), not homework.add a comment
Date: Saturday, March 28th
Time: 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Where can you eat your way around the world in one evening? The International Food and Culture Fair! PSU international students will offer tastes from their native cuisines as well as performances of music and dance. Students, faculty/staff and the community are invited!
The Food & Culture Fair is an event hosted by the International Student Association every spring in which other international organizations prepare food from their home countries to sell. Throughout the event, performances take place as well. Organizations participating: Chinese Student Association, Paraguayan Student Association, Saudi Arabian Student Association, Indian Student Association, Korean Student Association, Malaysian Student Association, Spanish Club, French Club and Hispanics of Today, among others.
Cost: General admission is $1 (Free admission with PSU Student ID; Children under 12 free). Tickets for food purchased seperately. Tickets available at the door.
The Food & Culture Fair will be held at Memorial Auditorium, 503 N. Pine, Pittsburg, KS on Saturday, March 28th from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
For more information, please contact:
Jazmin Ramirez at jazminanahi@gmail.com or 620-875-4792
Cathy Lee Arcuino at carcuino@pittstate.edu or 235-4680.
