Module 15

Module 15

It’s our last week. No exploration of “modern” times would be complete without a discussion of the so-called “Anthropocene” – the age of man. You may remember this term from your World History textbook… Strayer has a segment on the Anthropocene in the final chapters of Ways of the World. More than just an age of man, this term evokes the notion that humans, in the Modern era, have come to control and even change certain aspects of the natural world. We affect climate, weather, habitat, the flow of rivers, the development of soil, the toxicity of food sources… the list goes on. The question is, can we become a collaborator with the natural world rather than one of its most dangerous antagonists?

 

The Anthropocene describes humans as we are in the world today. This final week of class, please find and discuss in a blog post an article that explores an aspect of the Anthropocene that is of particular interest to you. You can use one of the articles in this BBC series, or you can find one of your own.

 

https://www.bbc.com/future/columns/anthropo-scene

 

In addition to that, please look at your classmates’ blogs to find, view and comment on each presentation that is posted by midnight tonight (December 9).

 

I look forward to your presentations, papers and final blog posts.

Module 14

 

Module 14

 

I hope you all had a safe and uneventful Thanksgiving. As I write, I am hearing whisperings that there may be another lockdown on the way here in California due to the post-Thanksgiving surge. Knowing how anxiety-producing this can be, I’m going to keep this week’s activities light. 

 

Some fear that democracy is in danger. Are they right? Please write a blog post exploring one of the following two statements:

 

1) In order to keep democracy flourishing for future generations, we need to revise our educational system so that all students learn the history of the European and American Enlightenments. To be effective, voters must be informed, and informed voters must understand the historical context within which American-style democracy arose. 

 

Or 2) American-style democracy is a relic of the early Modern era. It no longer satisfies the needs and desires of its citizens. As a result, voters and leaders increasingly undermine its foundations rather than bolster them. By the time we are firmly established in a “post-Modern” world, democracy will have been shown to be fatally flawed, and will have given way to new forms of government in the USA and throughout the world.

 

I know you are all behind, but my hope is that having your responses to these statements on the blog will spark some participatory dialogue, now or in the future. You will receive extra credit for responding to another student’s statement.

 

Aside from that blog post, please continue to work on your Term Project as outlined last week. We only have one more week of classes (next week) before finals.