return to Humanities 156 syllabus
Revised 9 May 2006
Humanities 156: Global
Humanities II
Spring 2006
Weekly Discussion Prompts
You may use any of the prompts below as a way to begin your response. You may also choose to write on any topic of your own, as long as it is connected to the readings or class materials. Please make sure that you follow the standards for written work on the syllabus.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 |
| Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 |
| Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 |
1. In the first class, I asked you to think of a few terms that you associate with sub-Saharan Africa. What was one of the terms that you thought of? Why did that occur to you? What do you know or think about it? Do you have doubts about your knowledge?
2. At first glance, traditional African concepts of “religion” are very different from the way that we probably think about religion in relation to Christianity, or even Judaism or Islam. What major difference stands out for you? Why? Do you see anything that these African concepts have in common with Western beliefs or practices?
3. Much of tradition Africa life and discourse is structured around the concept of myths, proverbs, or sayings. Can you think of a myth, proverb or saying that is in contemporary use in hour own life?
1. What elements of the story of Son-Jara/Sundiata are familiar to you? In other words, how does this story compare to myths or legends about other great heroes or warriors that you may be familiar with (Odysseus, Aeneas, King Arthur, Rama, Beowulf, etc.)?
2. What elements of the story of Son-Jara/Sundiata are strangest or least familiar to you? What accounts for that strangeness? Does it present any particular difficulties in understanding the story or its implications?
3. What values or ideals are being represented in the story of Son-Jara/Sundiata? How are they similar to or different from the values of contemporary American society?
1. The ending of the film Keita: Heritage of the Griot raises the question of how an individual or a nation can build a future without knowing the past. Mabo, the young boy, is left to find what his name means as he will continue to grow and develop. Do you know what your own “name means”? How has your knowledge of your own family’s past affected the way you look at your future? What obstacles stand in the way of knowing about that past?
2. Seeing artifacts of a culture close-up, such as the African masks that Dr. Gruter displayed on Tuesday, is a different experience from seeing them in a book or video or website, or even in a museum. What thoughts did you have about these objects as your first saw them? Did the opportunity to touch them and view them closely affect those thoughts?
3. European artists like Pablo Picasso in the first decades of the twentieth century were intrigued by the African masks and artifacts that they saw for the first time and sometimes used them as points of inspiration for their own work. Was anything lost by these artists when they “translated” these works into a different context?
1. We have been talking about how so much of traditional African culture is part of a total whole—it’s hard to determine where “religion,” “art,” music, work and other elements of daily life begin or end in relation to each other. Social critics have often remarked that “modern” society is characterized by our tendency to compartmentalize—religion, art, music, work, etc. all have their own individual spaces and times in our daily lives. Do you agree with that assessment in relation to your own life now as a student at MSU? Are there advantages or disadvantages to either concept of daily life?
2. The examples of music on the CD for the World Music book or in the video clips we’ve watched may seem strange and usual at first. What is most unusual about such music to your ears? What is familiar? Most of the music we’ve heard has a “practical” purpose associated with rituals of one kind or another. Can you think of how music plays any similar roles in American culture?
3. African musical traditions are often cited as providing the roots of much American music, especially gospel, blues, jazz, funk, rap and rock. Are there any specific songs or groups that you listen to where specific elements of African music seem to come through?
4. Many of the problems of contemporary African society are often traced back at least in part to the legacy of colonialism in Africa, but the great wave of African independence movements began in the 1960s and could be thought to have finally ended with the end of apartheid and a white-dominated government in South Africa in the 1990s. What have you learned about the history of African colonialism before this class? Was that knowledge from other classes that you’ve taken, something that you picked up on your own, or some other source?
1. Nadine Gordimer’s “Oral History” is about an unnamed chief of a village who works as an informant for a white-controlled government and army against rebel forces. Gordimer wrote this story at a time when apartheid was still the official policy of the Republic of South Africa and when rebels in “frontline” states like Zimbabwe were fighting against white rule. Given that she herself is a white author and that her readers are likely to be mostly white people, what do you think she was trying to portray through this story?
2. Achebe’s Things Fall Apart gives us a view of what life might have been like in an Ibo village just before the advent of British colonialism. Did reading this work given you any newsights on African culture or society? What are some examples if it did? If it did not, what did not work for you as a reader?
3. The English poet W.H. Auden once wrote, “Poetry changes nothing,” yet authors like Nadine Gordimer, Chinua Achebe and others often write with the intention of creating change through their writings—and some authors even try to do it with poetry. How do you think Gordimer or Achebe might be trying to bring about change through a story like “Oral History” or a novel like Things Fall Apart? Do you think that either of these particular works does achieve that aim?
1. Chinua Achebe has said that his favorite response to Things Fall Apart from a reader came from a high school student in South Korea. Oknonkwo, she wrote to him, “is just like my father.” Achebe liked the way that his book could reach across such different times and cultures to touch a reader on the other side of the world. Do you find any similar reactions to characters in Achebe’s novel? Are there any characters or situations in the book that remind of you people or events in your own life? What does that suggest about the power of literature to communicate to different groups of readers?
2. The quest of Nianankoro in Yeelen is similar to the hero’s journey or the epic quest in many stories. Is there a specific story from mythology or literature (or another film, for that matter) that this tale reminds you of? What similarities does Soma’s rage against his son have to other tales with which you are familiar?
3. A number of elements in Yeelen are very specific to the traditional culture and beliefs of the Bambera people of Mali. What elements struck you as particularly difficult to understand? How much does that matter in understanding the film as a whole?
4. Filmmaking in Africa even now is a difficult and expensive proposition. What are some of the ways that you could see Cisse using relatively simple or inexpensive means to create “special effects” or to give relatively high production values to this film in terms of how it looks?
1. As we come to the end of our section on Sub-Saharan Africa, this seems like a good time to take stock of some of the things we’ve been discussing these last weeks. Please use this assignment to take one specific story, piece of music, piece of art, film or other element of African society and discuss what you think you have learned about these cultures from it. What about has caught your attention? Why? What else do you think you need to know or learn about that particular culture?
1. The art of Oceania is at once very strange and increasingly familiar. As in Africa, most of what we call “art” played functional roles in the lives and rituals of the peoples of this huge territory. From the images in World Views or others that you have found on your own through the internet or elsewhere, what particular piece of Oceanic “art” most catches your attention? Why?
2. As in African art, much of the art of the Oceania is bound up in rituals for the production of food, for coming of age, for warfare or hunting, etc. What similar ceremonies have you found in your own life? What rituals and artifacts for such stages of life and activities have you experienced? What art or artifacts or markings have been used to illustrate these “initiations”?
1. Whale Rider returns to a theme we’ve mentioned from time to time this semester—the importance of having a sense of community or a belief system that provides a foundation for personal identity. In this film, that issue is complicated by the ways in which Maori culture has been lost or dissipated and the need to reconstruct it or bring it back. Why does Pai’s grandfather decide to train the boys of his community? What are the limits to his ability to succeed?
2. Another complication presented in Whale Rider is the fact that Pai—who is named for the legendary ancestor “Paikea” who is supposed to have ridden a whale from Hawaii to New Zealand to found the Maori community—is a girl with a male name in a line that has passed down from one male to another through the generations. What does her place in the film suggest about how traditional communities might have to adapt to changing times instead of rigidly holding to past customs?
3. Here’s another way of thinking about the issues raised in Prompts 1 and 2 above: What traditions in your family, church, community, or other group are you aware of that ought to help to give you a sense of belonging and identity? Do those traditions still work? Why or why not? What is important about them for you? What have you had trouble relating to?
4. Looking at pictures of the far-flung cultures of Oceania or even listening to music tend to set such information apart from the context in which they occur. How has Whale Rider or Dr. Drescher’s presentation helped you to see how these parts fit together---at least in the cases of Maori culture in New Zealand or of Tonga?
1. The phrase “South Seas” usually conjures up images of a “tropical paradise.” What kinds of images, stories, films, etc. are you aware of that contribute to such images? Based on our quick coverage of Oceania, how is the notion of a “tropical paradise” complicated by the past and current cultural realities in this area of the world?
2. The performances that we watched on tape on Tuesday (the dramatic presentation of a wedding, songs, dances, rituals, etc.) were mostly staged for an audience in one way or another. What are the benefits and drawbacks to this kind of presentation, as opposed to having them performed in their original contexts—without the kind of “festival” atmosphere or competition that can be involved in these events?
3. A couple of times in discussing Oceania we’ve mentioned some parallels with these island communities and Native American tribes in the United States. Are these kinds of parallels useful? How? Or are they misleading?
Weeks 11 and 12 (do both parts A and B):
A1. The architecture and arts of the Mayas, Aztecs and Incas as shown in the World Views book are at once very familiar and very strange. They have similarities to other great cities and buildings of past civilizations—the pyramids of Egypt, the ruins of ancient Sumeria and Bablyon, even the remnants of ancient Athens and Rome. What do you see about them that is familiar or similar? What do those similarities suggest about the ways in which human civilizations have structured themselves, what human needs they were made to address?
A2. All of the great pre-Columbian empires were founded on warfare and conquest and were highly structured and hierarchical. How did their buildings, cities and art seek to preserve the authority of the priests and kings in power?
B1. What do the concerns and voice of the speakers in the poems from the Florentine Codex and the Cantares Mexicanos tell us about the daily lives and status of individuals in these societies? What do these works not tell us—what kinds of issues and concerns might such songs and poems miss? Why are they not represented here?
B2. Compare the account of creation in the Popul Vuh to another creation story with which you are familiar—the biblical Book of Genesis, Greek or Norse myth, accounts from Africa or other societies. What does the Mayan account have in common with this other one? How and why is it different/
1. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz bases her appeal for a woman’s right to learn, read and write on appeals to logic, emotion and her own credibility (logos, pathos, and ethos). What different kinds of appeals might Sor Juana have to make today? What kinds of things do we susually take for granted about women’s rights that might surprise her? What kinds of issues remain to be resolved about women’s place in structures of learning and society?
2. The music featured in Chapter 8 and on the CD for Worlds of Music comes from Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru—all countries of the Andes that were touched by Inca and other Indian cultures. What is most strange or most appealing about any of these pieces? How do they differ from other types of Latin American music that has had stronger impacts on American music and culture, such as songs and music from Mexico or the Caribbean?
3. Borges’ “Garden of the Forking Paths” is a labyrinth of possible outcomes to actions that are themselves parts of other labyrinths. Thinks of a computer game or video game (such as Myst, for example) or even a chess game, where the outcome depends on choices made at almost every point. Borges seems to suggest that life itself is such a labyrinthine series of possibilities. Do you find such variations and possibilities in your own life, or do you think it is a more straightforward affair? How would you agree or disagree?
As we’ve mentioned repeatedly, we have just scratched the surface of the cultures that we’ve been studying. What single concept, work of literature or musical or artistic form has been the biggest discovery or revelation for you? Or, what aspect of one particular culture would you like to learn more about? What is the reason that you picked this particular item?
Note: Please place your written response to this prompt in a sealed envelope. Label the envelope “Evaluation” and place it in your portfolio. I will not read your actual comments until grades have been submitted. I appreciate your candid and thoughtful replies to these questions, which you should print out on one or more separate sheets of paper.
Please answer the questions below. Your written comments and suggestions will be especially valuable in helping to shape the way that this course is presented in the future.
1. Please rate the class textbooks from 1 (very useful/valuable) to 5 (not very useful or valuable). On a separate sheet of paper, briefly explain the book’s best and worst qualities:
World Masterpieces 1 2 3 4 5
World Religions 1 2 3 4 5
World Views 1 2 3 4 5
Worlds of Music 1 2 3 4 5
2. Please rate the class website from from 1 (very useful/valuable) to 5 (not very useful or valuable). On the same separate page, briefly explain the website’s best and worst qualities:
1 2 3 4 5
3. Please rate the guest speakers from 1 (very useful/valuable) to 5 (not very useful or valuable). On a separate sheet of paper, briefly explain the book’s best and worst features of their presentations:
Arnoldus Gruter (African masks) 1 2 3 4 5
Ned Williams (African music) 1 2 3 4 5
Nancy Drescher (culture of Tonga) 1 2 3 4 5
Are there other guest speakers that you would like to suggest?
3. Please rate the effectiveness of the organization of this class by culture and historical periods (Africa, Oceania, Latin America) and by pre-colonial and post-colonial cultures from 1 (very effective) to 5 (not very effective). Please indicate how effective other means of organizing this material might be (1 is most desirable, 5 is least desirable).
Organization by cultural area and historical development 1 2 3 4 5
Concentrate more on modern/contemporary culture: 1 2 3 4 5
Concentrate more on traditional culture within one or two ethnic groups or geographical areas for each culture 1 2 3 4 5
Concentrate more on art 1 2 3 4 5
Concentrate more on oral/written literature 1 2 3 4 5
Concentrate more on music and dance 1 2 3 4 5
Concentrate more on religion and beliefs 1 2 3 4 5
Other (be specific):
4. Please rate the effectiveness of the portfolio system as a way of evaluating your understanding of these cultures from 1 (very effective) to 5 (not very effective). Please indicate ways in which the portfolio or specific requirements or assignment might be improved.
1 2 3 4 5
Do you have any other comments or suggestions? Thanks, and have a good summer!