Holiday Extravaganza--Extra Credit

Attending the Holiday Extravaganza (Sunday, December 15) would be a great study break...and a painless way to get a bit of extra material for Final Exam Study Question #6.  Many of the pieces preformed are from 20th century composers, and you could certainly talk about these pieces in connection with the "general tendencies" of 20th century art, music, and literature mentioned in class should you get question 6 as one of your essay choices.

Civic Symphony Concert (extra credit)

Did you attend the University/Civic Symphony concert? Were you in the concert?  If so, post your thoughts here.  Which piece did you like best, and why?

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Harvest of Despair (extra credit)

Communism is one of the three "flavors" of totalitarianism we will be talking about this month. It is the most widespread and, in a certain sense, most successful flavor of totalitarianism--and probably the most important for you to understand.

Normally, I show in class a video called Harvest of Despair.  With three fewer teaching days than I used to have, I had to leave out a few things, and I may have to skip the video this semester.  It would be great if you could watch the video online.  Unfortunately, the sound quality of the YouTube version is pretty poor.  The best YouTube version is in six parts:

Harvest of Despair, Part I
Harvest of Despair, Part II
Harvest of Despair, Part III
Harvest of Despair, Part IV
Harvest of Despair, Part V
Harvest of Despair, Part VI


There is a better quality DVD version in the NSU library.  A group of you might want to check the DVD out and watch it together.  I'll give you extra credit for your response to the prompt here:

What did the Harvest of Despair video teach you about Soviet Communism that you didn't know before? What insights did you gain on the motivations and methods of those who supported the movement? Did anything here help you understand why this particular flavor of totalitarianism survived longer (and did more damage) than other totalitarian systems?

Additional Dostoyevsky Selections

If you enjoyed "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" (and even if you didn't), you might enjoy some of the other selections in the Signet Dostoyevsky book.  If you like romances, you might find "White Nights" particularly appealing. If you want to know what it's like to be in a Siberian prison camp, you might like the selections from the "House of the Dead." 

Read either or both selections, and add your comments here. What would you say to encourage students to read the selection for themelves?

The Eugenics Movement (extra credit)

Some of the 19th and 20th century followers of Darwin hit on a novel way to speed up the "natural selection" process.  Their ideas led to the development of what is called "eugenics." Please read through the Wikipedia summary of the eugenics movement. What do you see here that suggests that there is a dark side to the Darwinian idea of progress?

The Communist Manifesto (extra credit)

In the "Communist Manifesto," Marx and Engels suggest some "wonderful improvements" for society. Cite a line from the Manifesto highlighting one of these improvements, i.e, something Marx and Engels want to see changed. Would the change they suggest be a good one? Why, or why not? Do you get a feeling of deja vu when you read through the Manifesto? Any issues raised similar to those in contemporary American politics?

You do not need to read the whole of the Manifesto. Part II (Proletarians and Communists, pp. 135-142 in the Dover anthology) will be sufficient.

The French Encyclopedia (Extra Credit)

Reading the articles in Diderot's Encyclopedia is one of the best ways to understand the French Enlightenment. It shows the attitudes of the philosophes toward everything from Islam to Women to Intolerance to History. While the online translation of the Encyclopedia articles does not include the wonderful illustrations of the original, you will probably still find much of interest.

Browse to an article on a topic of interest to you. Comment on what you found particularly interesting in that article.

Rousseau's Ribbon Story (Extra Credit)

As part of my introduction to Rousseau, I retell his "ribbon story."  I have to shorten things up quite a bit, and my cartoon version may be a bit misleading.  Please read the original version of the ribbon story and
compare it to the version of the story I told in class.  How does reading the original version of the story add to your impressions of Rousseau?  Do you find yourself more sympathetic to him or less sympathetic to him?  Does the version of the story I told you in class seem close enough to the original, or do you think that students definitely should read the original version and draw their own conclusions?

Lincoln Display--Extra Credit Opportunities

There are quite a few events planned in conjunction with the Lincoln display in the library.  You may have an extra credit point or two for attending any of these events:

• 10/1 – 6:30 - Opening reception with Civil War era music by the Aberdeen University/Symphony strings
• 10/8 – 7pm - Dr. Elden Lawrence will discuss Lincoln’s impact on the Dakota, his role in the executions at Mankato, and his perception among Native Americans.
• 10/20 – 3pm – Mr. Robert Kolbe will discuss Civil War era photography  - how it was done and what was produced.  He will also discuss images of Dakota Territory that Lincoln may have seen in his lifetime.
• 10/28 – 7pm – Dr. Jon Schaff will present “Abraham Lincoln and the War Power: Has Presidential War Making Gone Too Far”

I'd *especially* like you to attend Dr. Schaff's talk on October 28th.  Dr. Schaff did his dissertation on aspects of Lincoln's policies, and getting to hear him talk on this subject should be especially helpful.

To get your extra credit points, just comment here on which presentation you attended and what you thought of it.

Get Involved!

I like to encourage my students to participate in extra-curricular events whenever they have time. I especially like to encourage to get involved with fine arts events on campus, and I occasionally give an extra credit point or two to students who participate in these vents.

I'd like to particularly encourage you to attend the faculty recital on Thursday, September 19, at 7:30 p.m. in JFAC.  I'd also like to encourage you attend the senior recital Sunday at 3:00 in Krikac auditorium.  For extra credit, just click on the "comment" button below and let me know what you liked best at the recital.  If you post as an anonymous blogger, be sure to include your name at the end of the post.

You can also get credit for attending the Kenneth Meier's Constitution Day presentation.  He'll be speaking at 7:00 p.m. in JFAC 134 on Tuesday, September 17.  He'll be talking about the politics of education reform, an important subject and certainly relevant to some of what we'll eventually talk about in class. 

Neither the speech nor the recitals not work with your schedule?  Don't worry. I will give you extra credit for attending any of student organization meeting or event this week or next. Just indicate here which event you attended and say why you think participating in an event like this is part of a well-rounded college education.

Congratulations! You have successfully navigated to Inherently Interesting Fall 2013, the most wonderful, most interesting, and most important blog at this particular URL. Your comments and questions on this blog will help make the class even more wonderful and interesting--and occasionally earn you a bit of extra credit!

 To add your comments, click on the "comments" link immediately below. You may leave your comments as an "anonymous" blogger so that you don't have to set up an account. On extra credit assignments, be sure to include your name at the end of the post so I know who to give credit to.

To get started, here's a test of the History 122 extra credit system. Click the "comments" link below and give me your honest answer: what's the first thing that comes into your head when you here the word history?