HIST 103 News

By class time tomorrow, Tuesday the 31st, you should have sent an introduction of yourself to your e-mail discussion list, your section of Cumberland Gap. If you haven't gotten any mail yet from a list, you need to send me an e-mail telling me so right away, and I'll get you on a list.

In Tocqueville you should be reading Chapter 12, the chapter devoted to T's big idea, the tyranny of the majority. After class tomorrow it will be time to begin online discussion of T. (See the study guide for things to talk about.) I'll be saying a few words about T in class tomorrow, too.

The home page describes an assignment (NOT extra credit) you are to complete called "Cultural Currents of the University." This requires you to attend a university event and write about it. So, now and then in this space I'll note an event that would be good for filling the assignment. The first one I'm going to note is an exhibit in the Memorial Union Gallery, "Celebrating Explorers: Commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition's Bicentennial." There will be a reception for the exhibit at 4:30 Friday 1 October. The exhibit is open from 13 September to 7 October. You could tour this exhibit and write about it for your Cultural Currents assignment.

Mr. Armstrong has sent me some questions culled from the cards turned in at close of class last Thursday. Some I'll answer tomorrow in class. A few I'll take up right here.

Who was this guy Crevecour, and why are we talking about him? He was a French author who wrote the book, Letters from an American Farmer. The French (including the author of our text, Tocqueville) were keenly interested in the nature of American democracy and what life was like in the New World. Crevecour's book not only portrayed farming in America in peaceful and virtuous terms but also posed the question, "What is this American, this new man?" In other words, he asked, what is the American character? I propose that as the big question for our semester together. What does it mean to be an American? How did Americans come to be the way they are?

What is this term, "mythistory"? It's one invented by the historian William McNeill. He said a myth is an important story that explains who we are. In western civilization, we draw our myths from history. Historians tell stories that explain who we are. When they do this, they are doing mythistory.

Who was Justin Smith Morrill? I was using Morrill and the creation of agricultural colleges in America as an example of historical explanation. We'll talk more about Morrill and the land-grant colleges later; for now, there's more than you want to know here - http://www.ndsu.edu/instruct/isern/morrill.htm

Reminder: when you send messages to your e-mail list, that is, your section of Cumberland Gap, you have to use your ndsu e-mail address. If you send from some other address, it will not go through. By the way, I know ITS staff often advise people to have mail automatically forwarded from one address to another. I advise against this. It causes problems using e-mail for course work.

Those of you connected to an e-mail list and checking your e-mail know that I messed up--that I told you yesterday you should have received an initial e-mail from your list, but it hadn't been sent. So I sent the welcome message this morning, and right away people started sending introductions to their lists. I hope I have this fixed now. Apologies to all for my mistake. If you're reading this but have not yet received an e-mail welcoming you to Cumberland Gap, then send me a message telling me so, and I'll get you on a list.

This blog framed into the middle of the home page is an important medium for HIST 103. Here announcements will be made, grades posted. Check here for news pertaining to the course.