DESTINY AND HISTORY

We could debate whether there a place for such a concept as destiny in history.  I'm not going to go there tonight, especially after a long day at work but I do want to share with you a play I read as a young student called "Murder in the Cathedral" by T.S. Eliot.  Eliot wrote it in 1935 and it centres around the martyrdom of the Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.  

The play had a profound impact on me as it contained so many challenging and thought-provoking ideas.  There is never a week that goes without me revisiting its yellowed pages of my student copy and reading some of the most poignant verses I have ever encountered.  Many just stick in my mind such is their impact.  One line comes to mind tonight and that is:  

"Destiny waits in the hands of God, shaping the still unshapen."

I'm always awe-struck by the simplicity and yet the profundity of this line.  Whether you are religious or not is irrelevant, it raises issues of whether the future is pre-destined or not and therefore whether we can change anything in our lives, however hard we try to.  It may be argued that even our trying to change our lives and our "destiny" is predestined!

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HISTORY IS VERY MUCH PART OF OUR PRESENT

As the centenary of the First World War approaches, be prepared for reams of articles as well as documentaries of varying quality. The Guardian fires an opening salvo this week on how we should commemorate the centenary. Read the article and then the comments that follow. What is particularly interesting is the passion it evokes in people. The past has the power to do this, the world wars in particular. It reminds me of our discussion on Wednesday that the "Dead" are forever with us and that we are products of the past.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+world/firstworldwar


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ASSIGNMENT AND PROJECT DATES

Here are the assignment and project dates I mentioned in yesterday's lesson. ASSIGNMENT 1: WEDNESDAY 5TH NOVEMBER ASSIGNMENT 2: TUESDAY 18TH DECEMBER ASSIGNMENT 3: MONDAY 25TH FEBRUARY ASSIGNMENT 4: MONDAY 8TH APRIL ASSIGNMENT 5: TUESDAY 21ST MAY PROJECT (IF YOU CHOOSE HISTORY): TUESDAY 4TH JUNE Please feel free to comment and/or add more information here.

DISPLAYS

More display ideas at the great history website, activehistory.

http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/free_stuff/POSTERS/display_materials.htm


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DISPLAYS

Just a quick reminder.  For ideas on what makes a great history display visit Room G104.  The displays were chosen and arranged by my colleague Helen Grundy and I think they are the best in the college but shhhh, don't tell anybody I said that!  You will find that Helen used various types of display to great effect.  Yours will be A3 in size.  Tell me how you get on.

Steve



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FOLLOWERS

Please don't forget to become a follower of the blog.  It will only take a couple of minutes to do.

Thanks,  Steve

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NICE MEETING YOU!

It was really good to meet you all today and I think the room with a projector search and the desk-arranging, team-building activities, certainly paid off!   This was evident from the discussion of history from the quotations supplied, which was extremely engaging. It was really interesting hearing what your own views were and I was most impressed by your collective enthusiasm!  Hopefully the room situation will have settled down by next week.  

In the meantime, should you need to contact me, I can be found in the Staff Development Centre and/or  by using the email I supplied. 


What do you think of my house?  It takes me ages to maintain the white walls and there are always people sitting on my lawn!  Ah well noblesse oblige as we say in Manchester!

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HISTORY QUOTE

Whlist looking at quoatations for class tomorrow, I came across this one which I thought apt and clever given that this is a blog!  What do you think?

If you write a post and put it on a blog, that's a historical document. If you change your template, then that entry looks completely different. It's the same words, but not the same meaning. This all depends on what historical questions that people will be asking and we can't know what they will want.

Josh Greenberg, Digital Preservation and Blogs, SXSW 2006

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WORLD WAR ONE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Here's a link to a very good site which looks at the series of alliances leading up to the first World War.

http://www.fofweb.com/History/MainPrintPage.asp?iPin=EWAR1720&DataType=AmericanHistory&WinType=Free


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ASSIGNMENT DEADLINE DATES AND PROJECT WEEKS

I'll give you these details when we have our first history session on Wednesday.

THE PHONY WAR IS OVER!

Lessons begin today.  I'm in the trenches, waiting for the whistle to send me over!  Good luck and bon chance to every lecturer at my college and to every educator in this land, at every type of institution who chose this profession for their sins as well as for the passion and do an excellent job, many, in the face of adversity!

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ALASKA PART OF MOTHER RUSSIA!

Hard to believe now, but Alaska once belonged to Russia up until 1867 when it was sold to the USA for the princely sum of $7.2 million!  USA opinion on the sale was mixed to say the least but this was before the significance of the vast lakes of oil there was realised.  


Below is the cheque that purchased Alaska.

When we look at a map of the Russian Empire see if you can spot Alaska still as Russian soil.  

For further information here's a link to follow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Purchase







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