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From: WDMCU@CUNYVM.BITNET
Newsgroups: net.college,talk.rumors
Subject: Re: Accuracy in Academia
Message-ID: <95WDMCU@CUNYVM>
Date: Sun, 14-Sep-86 23:27:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: CUNYVM.95WDMCU
Posted: Sun Sep 14 23:27:20 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Sep-86 07:25:19 EDT
References: <15485@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <15492@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <652@midas.UUCP> 171@mn-at1.UUCP
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In article <171@mn-at1.UUCP>, alan@mn-at1.UUCP (Alan Klietz) says:
>
>I took a survey course in European History.  The first quarter
>covered the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.
>
>My TA gave our section the following class assignments,
>
>        o Discuss the relationship between European serfdom and
>          modern rural land practices in Guatemala and Honduras.
>
>        o Identify some of the immediate and underlying causes of
>          the rise of the Bourgeoisie in the 13th-16th centuries
>          and their effects on the working class.
>
>        o Compare the role of the Church in the lives of individuals
>          in the 13th-16th centuries with the role of the state in
>          a Marxist society.
>
>These were the only assignments given by the TA during the quarter.
     
These sound like very well thought out assignments. They give the students
a chance to do extensive research, to think about and compare medieval and
modern society, to consider what changes have occurred over the years and
in what ways societies have remained the same or similar.
     
>Approximately 30% of class time was spent discussing the events in
>Nicaragua.
That still gives us 70% of the time unaccounted for...what was discussed then?
     
>We did not cover Da Vinci, the Hapsburgs, New World Explo-
>ration, Rise of Spain, the Protestant Reformation, or anything else.
     
First: This was a survey course: not everything gets covered.
Second: What happened to independent study and intellectual curiosity.
Three: The assignments mentioned above would, if done properly, give one
a broad understanding of both the era in question AND a chance to see how
different historical eras connect; how history effects us today , etc.
     
Draw your own conclusions as to who was the more dogmatic: you or your TA.
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