User:Lss2144

From Studyplace

Smith College, BA
World History Teacher (Greenwich, CT), CT Virtual Learning Mentor

World History Course Overview:
In this course, we will examine four major themes: “nation building,” “imperialism,” “revolution,” and “conflict and cooperation”. In order to understand these concepts, we will study several case studies from different geographic areas. At the same time, you have the opportunity to develop your geography, research, communication, and critical thinking skills. By the end of the year, you will no longer see history as merely facts and dates. As Aristotle wrote, “If you want to understand anything, observe its beginnings and its development.” As a student of history, you will see that history helps us understand change as well as how the society we live in came to be. By having an understanding of one’s past, one can hopefully have a greater understanding of one’s future. With each page you read, with each unit covered, think about how people dealt with their current condition and how they looked to change it. How do you want to impact the future? How will history write your story? Let us study world history together and gain a greater understanding of where we as a global society are going.

Important goals: How is technology reshaping classroom pedagogy? Historically, how has society reacted to this change?
Matters need further clarification: What social, economic, and political factors shape technological change? When does technology facilitate education/communication and when does it hinder the collection and organization of knowledge? How does online collective knowledge change authorship and motivation?
Near-term goals:
Skills I possess: A love of research; first hand knowledge of educational programs, software, and media;
Capacities do I need to develop: As a first semester graduate student, I am overwhelmed and excited by changing my "habit of mind" and recognizing how I research and organize my knowledge.

Favorite Scholarly Books:
Jared Diamond, Collapse
E.O. Wilson, The Future of Life
James Howard Kunstler, The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape

Want to read:
Alvin Toffler, Future Shock
Gilbert Rist, History of Development:From Western Origins to Global Faith