World History

Jonathan Dresner, Pittsburg State University, Department of History

• Hist 102 (Fall 2009)
• Resources for World History
• Jonathan Dresner, Ph.D.
• Past Syllabi

The history of electric outlets October 29, 2009

Why are there over a dozen different types of electrical appliance plugs in the world? History, of course.

First Homework: Email the Professor August 24, 2009

Your first homework assignment is to copy and fill out the Student Information Form and email it to me: jdresner@pittstate.edu (you can also use Angel, if you prefer). For full credit, I should get your email no later than midnight, Tuesday.

Also, read the first chapter (Chapter 15, “Maritime Expansion in the Atlantic World, 1400-1600″) before class on Wednesday.

Sources Lie… August 23, 2009

Actually, the people who make sources lie: NYTimes historical faked photographs

Test 3 Results April 23, 2009

The most popular people were Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill; other popular terms include fossil fuels and coolies. There weren’t any real outliers in terms of unpopularity, except maybe Scramble for Africa.

The high score in the class was 44 out of a possible 48, but I used the second-highest score, 42.5, to preserve a reasonable distribution. The median score was a B again, and there were no D-level grades. Here’s how the grade scale worked out:

About 1/6 of the class got both extra credit questions correct; about half got one.

Extra Credit Op.: PSU Jazz March 3, 2009

The 35th Annual PSU Jazz Festival happens Friday March 6th at 7:30 PM  in Memorial Auditorium, 503 N. Pine. Besides hearing the PSU Jazz 1 and our own Todd Hastings (trumpet) you also can hear a great saxophonist, Eric Marienthal.

Eric is a former member of the Grammy Award winning Chick Corea’s Elektric band and the Rippingtons. Currently he is first call L.A. and can be heard on numerous sound tracks as well as with the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band.

Eric records with Peak records and has produced some 11 albums. His sounds have topped the Contemporary Jazz Charts on several occasions.

Tickets for the event are available at the PSU Ticket Office or at the door. The cost is $12.00 adults and $10.00 for those 65 and over or 12 and under.

During the day groups will be performing in McCray, the Student Center, and Memorial Auditorium. These highs school, middle school and community college groups are being judged on their performances. The daytime events are free so step out of your office and catch some great jazz.

Extra Credit Opportunity: To Kill a Mockingbird February 19, 2009

Extra Credit: Political Islam February 15, 2009

The first Arts and Sciences Lecture of the year

Date: Tuesday, February 17
Time: 3:30 to 4:30 pm
Place: 109 Grubbs Hall

Speaker: Stephen Harmon, Department of History

Title: “What is Political Islam?”

Abstract: My talk will give a definition of political Islam (also called Islamism) and attempt to describe its major tenets. I shall argue that political Islam, far from being the menacing monolith often invoked in superficial analyses, is broken into various strains and numerous individual groups and movements. I shall describe three major strains of political Islam, including Shi’a political Islam and two strains of Sunni political Islam, reformist and radical. I shall focus on the major Sunni groups and movements, both reformist and radical and attempt to assess the threat level posed by them to the US and to US interests.

Test #8 Results December 12, 2008

The high score was 28; actually, the highest scores were 29 and 27.5, but 28 is easier for the math. The median was right on the B/B+ border, and a substantial majority of people who took the test improved their overall test grade for the semester. The top three terms were from Chapter 29 — Cold War, genocide and Holocaust — as was the bottom term, European Union. The most popular term from chapter 30 was renewable energy, which tied chapter 29’s Great Depression for fourth place.

Though a lot of people did choose the Holocaust and genocide, I was not terribly happy with the overall results: there was almost nobody who connected either term to the history of nationalism or racial thinking which we talked about fairly extensively; and the textbook seems to have confused some people on the distinction between genocide — the attempt to eliminate a particular people, of which the Holocaust is one example (and often the only one people cited) — and other atrocities.

Test #7 Results December 1, 2008

The high score before extra credit was 30; actually, there was about a three or four-way tie at 30. Einstein and Hitler tied for the most popular terms; big bang theory and atomic bombs tied for second. Pragmatism and primitivism tied for last, completely unanswered by anyone. It seemed like there was a cultural divide at work: some people went heavy on political/military terms, while some went mostly for cultural/scientific terms.

Election-related schedule change November 5, 2008

No, I don’t have your papers ready to give back Wednesday. Therefore I will be moving the due date of the revision back to Nov. 12th, the same day as the next test.

Here’s a handout for the lecture on Korean colonization

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