Civilizations in the news

As we explore ancient civilizations we should start to see patterns of human behaviour and development repeat themselves.  Keeping in mind the course themes of Beliefs and Values, Daily Life and Power and Authority search the news for items that link to ancient civilizations.

Make a comment that includes:

• a link to your news item
• a summary of your news item
• a description of how it links to ancient civilizations and fits the course themes

Think big picture.  For example a news item on the border crossing between Mexico and the United States such as this can be linked to the building of protective walls throughout civilizations such as Hadrian's Wall or the Great Wall of China.

Chinese New Year

February 14th this year will not only be Valentines Day but it will also be Chinese New Year. As you may or may not know the Chinese calendar is much different than ours and is based on a combination of Lunar and solar movements. As a result New years is on a different date each year.

Also years are represented by animals with 2010 being the year of the Tiger. According to Chinese tradition people born in specific years will have personality traits in common with the animal from that year.

Click on the following link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year and read a little more about the traditions and ceremonies associate with Chinese New Year. Then find the animal that represents when you were born and read the personality description associated with it.

Comment on the type of personlaity traits you should exhibit according to Chinese Astrology. Do you think these traits apply to you?

Recognizing Bias

After watching the video "How Biased are you?" take on of the hidden bias tests available at the following site. Teaching Tolerance

After you have completed a test commment on what you thought of the test. Do you think it was an accurate test? Do you think tests like these are helpful in identifying bias?

Welcome

Welcome to the companion blog to my Comparative Civilizations 12 classe? Here we will have a chance to pose questions, share opinions, engage in discussion and discuss course topics or items of interest that relate to our classwork. A reminder that this is an open forum and it is expected that responses be aappropriate. Think of this as an extension of the classroom, if you wouldn't say it in the classroom please don't type it here. As well, please ensure you add your initials and the period of your socials class to the end of your comments so I know who to give credit to. For example if I was in the period 1 class I would end my comments with RL P-1.

Our First posting is around the questions "What is Culture?"

All civilizations develop a culture. Cultures have a present, as well as a past and a future life. All cultures identify themselves in part by what they consider to be a defingin event or "defining moment" in their history.

So what is it that defines culture? What is the difference between culture and a civilization? Can you have one without the other?

Think about these questions and provide your own definition for culture (don't just copy one from the internet that makes no sense to you) and explain it.

Provide a few examples of cultural elements that are important to you and explain them.

What do you think is the defining moment or event of your culture? of your