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HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 1
Can you “get” an education?
Part A: Read Mortimer Adler’s “How To Mark a Book”, and watch the video talk by Father Guido Sarducci that I have linked us to (You can find both in the Materials for the Four Units area, in the folder entitled “Course Introductory Materials). Then, take a look at the attached cartoon. You may have to enlarge it to read the print. After you’ve looked at the Adler essay, the video, and the cartoon, use this discussion area to examine the discussion question below with the other members of the class. Click on “Reply” to open up a space where you can post. When you’re done, click on “Submit”.
Remember, this is a discussion – We are not required to come up with a single “right” answer. Please feel free to express your opinion, as long as you follow the rules of respectful discourse: listen and think about everyone’s views, and respond with reasons and thoughtful arguments. Please use at least one quotation from Adler’s essay and one reference to Father Guido’s talk in your responses
Please have your first post submitted by Thursday, January 24th, 11:59 pm.
Part B: After everyone has had a chance to answer the question, choose at least one classmate and post a response to their comments. To do this, click on “Reply” from within the classmate’s post. Click on “Submit” when you’re done.
Please Note: Your second post should not just agree or disagree. You must add something substantial to what’s already been said. DON’T just say “Me too” or put the same ideas into new words. If you agree, add a new point or suggest a new way of understanding what’s been said. If you disagree, do so with logical objections, additional evidence, and always, of course, courtesy and respect. Again, I encourage you to quote Adler and Father Guido in your response. Show us that you’re paying attention.
You should submit your second post, a response to a classmate’s first post, to this Discussion Forum 1 by 11:59 pm, Sunday, January 27th.
When you’re completely done, you should have a minimum of two posts on this thread – one in which you answer the question below, and one in which you respond to a classmate’s post.
The discussion question: Can one person, like a teacher or expert, “give” or “sell” an education to another person, so that the second person then “owns” it? Is an education something you can “get”, like money or possessions? Or is it something that becomes a part of the person involved? Remember your own goals for this class as you answer.
To add your comment, just click on “reply”, add your comments to the box provided, and, when you’re done, click “submit”. (A cautious hint – to avoid problems with Blackboard, you probably should copy-and-paste what you’ve written to a separate Word document before you click on “submit”. That will prevent you from losing everything you’ve already written, if Blackboard has a hiccup and doesn’t save your comment.)
https://www.nedgallagher.com/courses/documents/teaching.html
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 2
Where does sexuality come from?
This week, for our second Discussion Forum, take a look at the materials I’ve posted on Blackboard for you in the Materials for the Four Units section, in Unit One. At the very least, for this discussion forum, you should do the assigned reading (Outline on “Men and Women in Western European History”, “Masculinity in Chinese History”, and also look at the short PowerPoint on “Gender and Sexuality”. If you wish and have time, you can also watch the clip from Mulan, a few minutes of the film Tough Guise on YouTube, and look at the “Women in Art” video. Browse the materials in the “Guide to Being a Good Woman” folder, and any of the other materials that catches your eye. Spend a little time thinking about what you’ve seen and heard.
Then, some time between now and Thursday, January 31st at 11:59 pm, post your first response to the forum: your answer to the question below. It should be about 150 to 200 words, and refer to the assigned readings and any other materials you chose to look at.
Then, between Friday morning and Sunday night, post your second response. Your second response can be shorter, but it should be a full response to a post of one of your classmates: at least three sentences. That one needs to be completed by 11:59 pm, February 3rd. Please use at least one direct quotation from the assigned readings (use quotation marks and cite properly), and one reference to on-line materials in your first post, and make sure you do at least one of the following for each of your two posts:
Be the first to post an answer to the question.
Agree, but then add to what someone else has already said.
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons. And be grammatical. This is college.
Here’s this week’s question: Are the character traits we associate with masculinity and femininity entirely the result of our biology? In other words, are men just naturally born more likely to be more violent or aggressive and more sexually assertive than women? Are women just naturally born more nurturing, timid, gentle, and submissive than men? Or are we trained or do we choose to act according to the rules we’re given by our culture?
Remember, you’re not required to agree with or accept what I give you to read or see. Go ahead and question!
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 3
Do we really need gender roles?
This week, I’ll be following up on last week’s discussions about sex and gender roles, by asking you to read and talk about one of the most powerful and influential gender assumptions in Western culture – the concept we call “romance”. What is it? Where did it come from? Why did it become so powerful?
To participate in this week’s discussion forum, first please view the PowerPoint on “Romance and the Courtly Love Tradition”. Then read the excerpt from Andreas Capellanus’s The Art of Courtly Love, and the short story, “Editha” by William Dean Howells. You can and should also browse through some of the other materials I’ve posted in the Unit 1 folder, such as “Jealousy and Western Tradition”, Lavinia Fontana’s painting, “Portrait of a Noblewoman”, the “Guides To Being a Good Woman”, etc. After you’ve had a chance to consider what you’ve found, come into this discussion forum, click on “Reply”, and, in a first post of about 150 to 200 words, answer the following questions:
Do you see evidence of the continuing influence of the Courtly Love Tradition in your life, your and other people’s relationships, and your or other people’s expectations for those relationships? Do these factors affect people’s choices and behavior? How important do you think the Courtly Love concept of “romance” is to you or to our culture in general?
As before, make sure that you use at least one quotation from the assigned readings and make at least one reference to any other material you chose to look at. Remember to click on “Submit” when you’re ready to post. Your first post should be submitted by Thursday, February 7th, at 11:59 pm.
Then, between Friday morning and Sunday night, post your second response. Your second response can be shorter, but it should be a full response to a post of one of your classmates: at least three sentences. That one needs to be completed by 11:59 pm, Sunday, February 10th. Please use at least one direct quotation from the assigned readings (use quotation marks and cite properly), and one reference to on-line materials in your first post, and make sure you do at least one of the following for each of your two posts:
Be the first to post an answer to the question.
Agree, but then add to what someone else has already said.
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons. And because you want everyone to understand what you’re trying to say, be clear and grammatical.
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 4
What should we do about the poor?
This week, we start to work on Unit 2: “What is justice?” During this week, we will confront the unequal distribution of wealth, and the idea that power and wealth, which are important parts of any social and political system and are almost always tied to each other. So, I want you to start thinking about issues of wealth, class, poverty, ownership, and resource distribution. Do the reading assigned, including Barbara Ehrenreich’s “From Nickle and Dimed”, Garrett Hardin’s essay, “Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor”, and Landmann’s essay “The House”. Also, watch the TEDTalk video with Mia Birdsong, entitled “The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True”. You will find the link here, and in the Unit 2 folder:
And as much as you have time for, take a look at some of the other links and resources in the Materials for the Four Units, Unit 2.
Then, at some point between now and 11:59 pm. Thursday, February 21st, post the first of your posts. Make sure you include at least one quotation from each of the readings. You should also include a reference to the video, but you need not quote it directly. Then, by 11:59 pm, Sunday, February 24th, add your second post, as a response to what another person has said.
As before, make sure you do at least one of the following for each of your posts:
Be the first to post an answer to the question. (You get extra credit if you do!)
Agree, but then add to what someone else has already said.
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Again, do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons. Be clear, reasonable, and respectful. And be sure to avoid just restating what’s already been said.
Here’s this week’s question:
The problems of inequality, poverty, and injustice are nothing new. These problems have plagued all complex, large-scale human societies since the beginnings of recorded history. However, in spite of our throwing some of our best minds and significant resources at them, we have failed to solve these problems. Why? Some have argued that poverty is the result of the selfishness and greed of the wealthy. Others have blamed poverty on the poor, claiming that poverty is the result of character flaws, such as laziness, lack of initiative, or lack of self-discipline. Others have argued that inequitable resource distribution is not a moral issue but a practical one, that can be resolved through a more efficient economic system, such as instituting a minimum yearly income for everyone (Check out the link to Robert Reich’s proposal on “universal basic income”), or employing technological solutions.
After you’ve read the assigned readings and watched the TEDTalk video by Mia Birdsong, think about this question and try to answer it in this forum: What do you believe are the causes of poverty? What do you think we should do about it?
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 5
When is rebellion necessary?
Here is our 5th Weekly Discussion Forum.
Do the assigned reading M. L. King, Ursula Le Guin) and, this week, watch the short videos I’ve posted links here and in the Materials for the Four Units in Unit 2: “Stanley Milgram’s ‘Perils of Obedience'” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvc6shwlri4&feature=youtu.be, and the “Solomon Asch Experiment on Conformity” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVXCdCcwdms&feature=youtu.be. As you’re doing the reading and watching the videos, please think about the question below. Then, sometime between now and next Thursday, March 7th, 11:59 pm, post your first response, including a quotation from the readings and a reference to something in at least one of the videos. Finally, by next Sunday, March 10th, at 11:59 p.m., post at least one response to a classmate. As before, make sure you do at least one of the following for each of your two posts:
Be the first to post an answer to the question. (You get extra credit if you do!)
Agree, but then add to what someone else has already said.
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Again, do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons.
Here’s this week’s question:
Most of the time, we agree that obeying the law in general is right and moral, and disobeying the law is wrong. But sometimes, things can get complicated, and we can find ourselves objecting morally to a particular law or a particular legal authority. At what point do our objections rise to the level at which we have a right, even a moral obligation, to refuse to obey? How do you know when it is morally acceptable or even necessary to rebel against legally designated authority?
As in the past, make sure you post at least twice – the first by Thursday night and the second by Sunday night.
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 6
How can we tell the difference between insanity and insight?
We have another Weekly Discussion question! As usual, you should do the assigned readings and then consider the question below. Read Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and watch the video on it that I have provided in the Materials for the Four Units area, in Unit 3. The video will help you understand the point that Plato is making. Look through some of the other materials that I have provided, as you choose. After you’ve done the reading, post your first response to this week’s question, by 11:59 pm, Thursday, March 21st. As before, make sure you use at least one direct quotation from this week’s reading assignment in your first post. By 11:59 pm, Sunday, March 24th, post your second response, this time to a classmate’s comments. Be sure that you do at least one of the following for each of your two posts:
*Be the first to post an answer to the question. (You get extra credit if you do)
Agree, but then add to what someone else has already said.(No “Me too” answers!).
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Again, do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons.
Here’s this week’s question:
We usually think that we know what’s real and what’s not, but what if we meet someone who claims to have had an experience that has given him some sort of special knowledge? Maybe he says that God spoke to him, or perhaps he claims to have had some sort of revelation, or very powerful, prophetic vision or dream. Or maybe he’s a scientist who claims that his experiment has revealed some really startling and important results that sound just crazy, or maybe he’s a uniquely gifted and original mathematician who has worked out a proof that can answer a fundamental question of philosophy. How do we know what to believe? How can we tell the difference between a person who sees a truth that no one else can see, and someone who is just insane?
As in the past, make sure you post at least twice on this one – and get both of your posts in by their due dates!
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 7
Which is a better way of knowing truth: faith or reason?
This week’s question will be a little different from the usual. This time, I’m going to ask you to give two very different answers to the same question. Do the assigned reading: Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and Feynman’s “The Relation of Science and Religion”), and then consider the question below. But instead of just asking you to give your answer and then respond to a classmate, I want you to try to argue first for one side of the argument, and then, in your second post, take the other side.
In your first post, explain briefly what you think are the greatest advantages for believing in science and rational argument. Then, in your second post, take the opposite side, and list the advantages for accepting faith rather than reason. You should post your first response by 11:59 pm, Thursday, March 28th, and your second post by 11:59 pm, Sunday, March 31st. If you want to, you can certainly add more posts, especially if you want to make clear your true feelings, but I want you to give each side at least one try. Remember, I want you to explore both sides of this question. Give your best, most reasonable argument for both, even if you feel strongly one way or the other. Show us all that you can see why each view could be a legitimate way of thinking.
As before, make sure you do at least one of the following for each of your two posts:
Be the first to post. (You get extra credit if you do!)
Agree, but don’t just repeat, Take into account what other people have already said.
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Again, do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons.
The question is:
Which is better: placing your trust in God and religious or spiritual faith, or placing your trust in rationality, science, and observable evidence?
As in the past, make sure you post at least twice – and get your posts in on time. Please don’t wait till the last minute. Be considerate of your classmates, and give them a chance to react to your points.
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 8
If we don’t know what is true, how do we know what is right?
This week, we’re going to talk about the ancient play by the Athenian playwright Sophocles, Oedipus the King. To prepare for this discussion, you’ll need to do the following:
Read the Britannica article on the myth of Oedipus (It’s in the Materials for the Four Units area, in Unit 3’s folder). You need to know the story before you read the play.
Read the play. You can buy a copy, or find it on line, but I recommend the translation that I listed in the texts for this class. It’s easier if everyone is using the same translation, but it’s not absolutely necessary.
It’s a very good idea if you watch the play as well. I’ve linked us to two different filmed productions – the BBC production with Michael Pennington and the American film production with Christopher Plummer. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses. Pick one of them and watch all the way through. It will be worth it, to help you understand the play’s impact better than just reading it.
After you’ve read/watched the play, participate in this discussion forum. As before, your first response should be your own answer to the question below. Make your answer about 100 to 150 words, and use at least one quotation from the play. This first post is due by 11:59 pm Thursday, April 4th.
Finally, respond to a classmate’s post. Make this post at least 2 to 3 sentences long, and post by Sunday, April 7th, 11:59 pm.
Here is the question:
In the story and in the play, Oedipus makes choices that appear to be both moral and wise. He wants to be a good king, a good son, a good husband, and a good father, and he tries always to do the right thing. He is admired by his people for his wisdom (as the solver the the Riddle of the Sphinx), his justice, and his compassion as a ruler and he is confident of his own abilities and the rightness of his intentions. But when the truth is revealed – by Oedipus himself – it is revealed that all of his choices were not only mistaken, they were horribly morally wrong. In your view, what has Oedipus’s story to say to us about our own moral choices? Is it possible to make morally right choices when we can never know for sure how those choices will work out? If not, is there any such thing as right and wrong?
To answer this question, consider the following:
There are two destructive and extreme ideas in the history of human thought. One is absolutism – the belief that I (or my community or religious group) have the only possible single truth, and that all others are wrong. As we have seen throughout history, absolutism leads to all sorts of horrors: persecutions, inquisitions, intolerance, and wars.
But the other extreme, called “relativism”, has also been equally destructive. Relativism says that, since we can’t know truth, there is no such thing as truth. Anything goes. All beliefs are equally true. All feelings are equally right. All actions are equally moral. Anything that a person chooses to believe is to be accepted.
But that leads to a serious problem. If I toss a piece of wood I picked up onto a platform and call it a work of art, should it be accepted that it is great art, just because I think so? Is it okay for me to say that my people are superior to all others, or that the Sun circles around the Earth, in spite of all of the evidence, because that’s “my truth”? Are you prepared to say that the person who believes that human sacrifice is necessary to please his gods should be allowed to practice his beliefs freely? Is anything and everything true, because I want it to be? Relativism makes law, morality, and excellence impossible, because it allows for no stable standard outside of our individual prejudices and preferences. Even though it’s supposed to allow complete individual freedom, relativism inevitably results in the opposite of freedom: the strongest, loudest voice dominates, without needing to have any concern for the merit of what it is saying.
Okay, so let us say for the sake of this discussion that we reject both of those extremes. But how then do we avoid the error that destroyed Oedipus, without becoming relativists?
As before, make sure you do at least one of the following for each of your two posts:
Be the first to post an answer to the question. (You get extra credit if you do!)
Agree, but then add to what someone else has already said.
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Again, do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons. Be clear, reasonable, and respectful
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 9
Why do bad things happen to good people?
We’re almost at the end of the semester, but we have another Weekly Discussion Question. As usual, you should do the assigned reading – the Book of Job, and the excerpt from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning- and then consider the question below. Then, sometime between now and next Thursday, April 18th, 11:59 pm, post your first response to the question. As before, make sure that you include at least one quotation from the readings.
Your second response should be posted by Sunday, April 21st, 11:59 pm. As before, make sure you do at least one of the following for each of your two posts:
Be the first to post an answer to the question. (You get extra credit if you do!)
Agree, but then add to what someone else has already said.( No “Me too” !)
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Again, do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons.
Here’s this week’s question:
We are often taught that there is a logic or greater purpose to the universe and to what happens to us, and that everything has a reason. But then, terrible things happen, whether the victims have done something to “deserve” it or not. What is the best way to understand this? Should we assume that the universe does make sense, but that we are too limited to understand it? Perhaps we haven’t tried hard enough, and that we’ll understand if we only see things more clearly. Or maybe there really isn’t any order to discover, and that our sense of purpose and order is an illusion we create to make ourselves feel better. Which of these views do you accept, and why?
As always, make sure that you use the readings and cite them properly. Support your viewpoint with reasons and evidence. And be considerate and thoughtful. You don’t need to agree with everything your classmates say, but show respect for them.
HUM105 Great Ideas of World Civilizations
Discussion Forum 10
What is this play about?
Here it is! This is our last official discussion forum. For this week, we will be talk about Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. I’ve chosen this as our last reading assignment for the semester because, as I hope you’ll see, the play deals in some way with every topic we have discussed throughout the semester: gender and sexuality, power and justice, certainty, faith and doubt, and self-awareness. Therefore, I want you to use the play to look back at the questions and the many possible answers to them that we’ve discussed, and re-examine them one more time, this time through the lens of this one play.
Between now and 11:59 pm, Thursday, April 25th, please post your first response to the question below. In your first response, include at least one quotation from the play in support of your answer. You can also use quotations from other sources, but you must use a line from Hamlet at least once. Then, wait until your classmates have posted their first responses. Read them, and choose one of your classmates’ posts to respond to. Have this one done by 11:59 pm, Sunday, April 28th. Again, use a quotation from the play, and make sure that it’s different from the quotation you already used in your first post.
As always, make sure you do at least one of the following for each of your posts:
Be the first to post an answer to the question. (You get extra credit if you do!)
Agree, but then add to what someone else has already said.
Disagree with something already said, but explain why you disagree.
Add a new element or new idea to the discussion.
Again, do not just agree, disagree, go off on an unrelated tangent, or base your argument on “It’s just my opinion”. Give reasons.
Here’s this week’s question:
Of the issues that the play raises, what is, for you personally, the most important issue that the play Hamlet confronts? Why do you see this as the most important issue? What does the play seem to say about it? What do you think about what the play seems to be saying?
As in our past discussions, make sure you post at least twice. Use a quotation from the play in each of your posts this time. The first one is due by Thursday night. Your second post, your response to a classmate, should be posted by the end of the day, Sunday.
