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From: chelsea@dartvax.UUCP (Karen Christenson)
Newsgroups: soc.college,talk.rumors
Subject: Re: Accuracy in Academia
Message-ID: <5211@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 29-Sep-86 18:28:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.5211
Posted: Mon Sep 29 18:28:53 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 1-Oct-86 01:40:54 EDT
References: <15485@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <15492@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: chelsea@dartvax.UUCP (Karen Christenson)
Distribution: na
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 35
Xref: watmath soc.college:34 talk.rumors:61


>>     Any course on early modern Europe that doesn't cover the Protestant
>>Reformation has got one huge, gaping hole.  This is not just dogma, this is
>>a matter of strong historical influence.  For instance, without knowing
>>about the Protestant Reformation, you can't really understand the settlement
>>of New England and many of the ideas that we have inherited from the first
>>settlers, like the concept of the "City on the Hill."
>>						Karen Christenson
>
>And you can get most of THAT out of your average HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOK
>on modern european history.  You can even get it in a more concise and
>clear form out of the great works of Mr. Monarch and Mr Barron, who 
>are regularly plagiarized by much worse authors.  It's mostly harmless, 
>although a little knowlege is a dangerous thing.  Have an adequate education.
>
>Cheryl Stewart

     History out of Monarch, Barron, and high school texts?  Adequate
knowledge of previous events, but not much history.  If you think of history
as a set of particulars, then it's fine.  If you're interested in the princi-
ples, the interrelations, the minds and attitudes of the times, then it
sucks.  I'm not sure what your point is.  Are you suggesting that high
school history is enough?  That doesn't mesh with the rest of the posting.
     Me, I have no real interest in anything after the Civil War.  My own
fascination is with the period starting with the Renaissance - watching
all these new ideas come to light, get kicked around, carried off to a new
world, kicked around some more, and sent back to Europe.  Watching the
US take shape and fight to get the rest of the world to accept it at its
own valuation.  So I can't like the idea of history as merely a chronicle
of events and dates and names.  Besides, it's so much more boring that way.
No wonder so many high school kids hate history.

						Karen Christenson
"Mostly harmless."				...!dartvax!chelsea
			Have an adequate day.