French Revolution Documentary for Wednesday, January 3

College Students and the First Amendment

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2017/09/18/views-among-college-students-regarding-the-first-amendment-results-from-a-new-survey/

Retakes of Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment Test

5th period students: please drop by and view your final score (with curve) and decide whether you will retake the exam. Thank you in advance.  All other students, please confirm or reconfirm your retest time. I had a fever of 101.1 by the end of the day today and I want to make sure I didn’t forget anyone.

$5000 Award for Winning Essay Plus Wash D.C. Scholarship

To what extent in the U.S. does the government–federal, state, and local–have the duty to monitor internet content?   Due: February 5, 2018 

http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/engage/students-programs-events/scholarship/

Final Discussion: Free Speech vs. Hate Speech

5th Period Sign-Up 

6th Period Sign-Up

7th Period Sign-Up

8th Period Sign-Up

FREE SPEECH PERSONIFIED

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/opinion/free-speech-yale-civil-rights.html

Test Moved to Monday, December 11

Study Guide: Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment

People and Concepts

Montaigne

Francis Bacon

Rene Descartes

Skepticism  

Inductive reasoning

Deductive reasoning

Empiricism

Cartesian dualism

Galileo

Copernicus

Kepler

Isaac Newton

Evidence

Gregorian calendar

Baruch de Spinoza

Thomas Hobbes

State of nature

John Locke

Inalienable rights

Natural law

Positive law

Hugo Grotius  

International law  

Salons

Philosophes

Freemasons

Scientific academies

Pierre Bayle

John Toland

David Hume

Voltaire

Religious tolerance

Baron de Montesquieu

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Consent of the governed

General will

Separation of powers

Constitutional monarchy

Humanitarianism

Cesare Beccaria

Abolitionism

Human rights

Adam Smith

Laissez faire

Denis Diderot’s Encyclopedia (1751)

Enlightened despot 

Seven Years war 

Frederick II 

Louis XV 

Maria Theresa 

The Cost of Devaluing Women.

The Cost of Devaluing Women https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/opinion/sunday/the-cost-of-devaluing-women.html

Human Rights and Natural Rights: Same Thing?

For the connection between natural rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, see http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/udhr/preamble_section_1.html 

Preamble section 1:

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Concepts and Ideas Concepts and Ideas (1) Concepts and Ideas (2) The key concepts of the first preamble can be divided into three groups: “inherent dignity,” “equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family,” and “the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” Inherent dignity The first idea the drafters sought to assert was the "inherent dignity" of all people. The word dignity means "the quality of being worthy or honorable". For dignity to be inherent to all men and women, means for it to be "fixed" to each individual. The concept of human dignity echoes the Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant's idea that one should "treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only" (Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals). Thus, as Henkin states: “the human rights idea and ideology begin with an ur principle (derived perhaps from Immanuel Kant), the principle of ‘human dignity.’ Human rights has rooted itself entirely in human dignity and finds its complete justification in that idea. The content of human rights is defined by what is required by human dignity … nothing less, perhaps nothing more.”2 Equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family The second grouping of key concepts refers to the "equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family." In order to grasp the essence of this phrase it is necessary to understand what is meant by "rights." A "right" is a justifiable claim, on legal or moral grounds, to have or obtain something, or to act in a certain way. These rights belong to everyone who is part of the human family, and are thus human rights. The real value of a right is the special entitlement it gives individuals to press rights-claims if enjoyment of the object of the right is threatened or denied. The reference to 'human family’ links this first recital to the words "spirit of brotherhood" in Article 1 (Morsink, 283). Human rights are stated to be equally distributed among the people of the world. Since the word "equal" means "to an equal degree or extent; as much in one case as in another," no one member of the human family has more human rights than another. In addition, human rights are inalienable, which means that they "cannot be alienated or transferred from its present ownership or relation." Doctrines of human rights thus roughly equate having human rights and being human. Without the enjoyment (the objects) of human rights, one is almost certain to be alienated or estranged from one’s moral nature (Donelly, 19). Thus, human rights are inalienable, but not in the sense that one cannot be denied the enjoyment of these rights, because repressive regimes daily alienate their peoples from their human rights, but in the sense that losing these rights is morally "impossible;" one cannot lose these rights and live a life worthy of a human being (Donelly, 19). Human rights are thus moral rights of the highest order. People have moral rights which constrain the behavior of others and those rights are inherent in that they are not the result of extraneous acts of government, courts or even social conventions (Morsink, 295). The notion of inalienable rights bears a clear reference to the French Declaration of 1789 which "recognizes and proclaims…[the] natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man" and also the Virginia Declaration of Rights which declared in 1776 that “all men are by nature free and equal and independent and have certain inherent rights.” Endnotes 2. Henkin, Religion, Religions and Human Rights. next page>> Peter Danchin, Columbia University

For the refutation by conservative thinkers that natural rights and human rights are the same thing, see this from the Heritage Foundation and this from Euro-skeptic Brussels-based site.

Muslim Population Growth in Europe

http://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/29/europes-growing-muslim-population/

Can Meghan Markle Save the Monarchy? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/opinion/prince-harry-meghan-markle-monarchy.html

Research Papers Due on Friday, December 1

Requests for extension may only be requested on this Google document.  We are not accepting email requests.

Sample Catena Paper and Research/Writing Tips

You asked for these. Here they are.

Sample Catena Paper

Research and Writing Tips 

Academic Integrity Guidelines for Essay Testing

Written Reminder of Verbal Teacher Remarks Made in Class the Week of November 6 

• You may discuss the readings with your peers during the weeks we are first reading them and analyzing them. 

• You may work through questions you have regarding individual Harkness discussions (e.g., John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination). 

• You may discuss and link the day’s discussion to the broader essay question for the unit immediately in the aftermath of the discussion in personal discussions. 

• You may present a single and verbal example of what constitutes relevant material for a test question (e.g., I think the use of the printing press is relevant to this question). 

• You may not share your organizational structure (the topics of your body paragraphs) 

• You may not share your thesis statements 

• You may not share your quotes. 

• You may not share your notecard, when one is permitted. 

• You may not use technology such as group text or a Google document or otherwise to jointly prepare for catenas (short answer) or essay test questions. 

• You may not share your individual work on catenas (short answer) or essay questions by group text, Google document or otherwise.

In sum, we should not recognize your essay in another student’s essay.  For example, we should not be reading essays and see the same thesis or the same quotes used in the same fashion.  The only reason we have provided the catenas and essay question in advance was to allow you to prepare unique and deeply analytical answers to the questions using textual evidence, allowing you adequately time to review and synthesize the readings, discover your own novel patterns of evidence, and develop individual arguments driven by your personal understanding of the material.  

As you enroll in more advanced classes, you will find that you will be assessed through tests that ask you to respond to unannounced questions in essay format.  It is imperative that you begin to understand how to take an essay test under those circumstances. We believed, as others do, that announced questions would provide an important pedagogical bridge to get you there.  

If this conduct reoccurs, we have two choices that will affect you as a GROUP: we will either no longer announce the question in advance or no longer allow you to bring a notecard to the classroom with your prepared evidence.  Keep in mind that on an INDIVIDUAL basis, we will refer ALL FUTURE CASES to the Dean of Students under the Academic Integrity Policy.

URGENT: FIELD TRIP

If you have not emailed me or Mr. Janus plus Ms. Ledezma your pair's chosen art work as of 4 pm Friday, you should not plan to attend the field trip on Monday. You will shifted to the May trip. For those of you attending, plan to meet at the Blaine entrance at the end of 3rd period. The bus will leave at 10:35 am. Please bring money for lunch at the museum as well as Metra fare home. We will be back between 3 and 3:30 pm. YOU MAY DEPART FOR HOME DIRECTLY FROM THE ART INSTITUTE WITH EMAILED PARENTAL PERMISSION TO MS. GERST AND MS. CAMPOS. Thank you, Ms. Gerst and Mr. Janus 

Commercial Expansion and State Formation Catenas

Price revolution and silver 

Mercantile capitalism and cottage industry 

Atlantic slave trade and consumerism 

Enclosure and Parliament 

primogeniture and overseas exploration 

Maritime insurance and joint-stock companies 

Halloween history, traditions, and German witch hunts

A History of the Persecution of "Witches"
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/witchhistory.html

Historical Background of Hallloween
https://edsitement.neh.gov/feature/origins-halloween-and-day-dead
http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/halloween-around-the-world

A Witch Hunt: Germany 1628 (a computer game simulation)
http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/witch/hunt/

Primary Sources on European Witch Trials
http://thecaveonline.com/APEH/witchdbq.html

And Bloody Mary (Mary Tudor)
http://www.refinery29.com/2016/10/127563/bloody-mary-queen-ghost-story-pregnancy-murder

Catalonia Declares Independance and Spain Moves to Stop it

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-deepening-crisis-in-spain-over-catalonia

Jennet Cohen and the Atomic Bomb

https://charlierose.com/videos/31095

Spanish Empire, Silver and Runaway Inflation

Italian Regions demand autonomy from Rome

https://euobserver.com/enlargement/139580

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UK LEAVING THE EU

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887

Perspectives Sunday's Election of Conservative Leader in Austria

Austria heads for a new, conservative-nationalist government

Sebastian Kurz: Austrian conservative set to become world's youngest leader

Austria Turned Sharply to Right in Election Shaped by Immigration

In Election, Austria's Nazi Past Raises its Head

Austria's Right Wing Parties' Strong Showing in Election 

Austria's Not So Scary Turn to the Right

Austria's Rightward Lurch is New Normal

Where is the EU in the Catalonia crisis?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/opinion/catalonia-eu.html

Reformation Exam Study Guide

Catena Choices 

Peasant revolts and Lutheranism
Indulgences and 95 Theses
John Calvin and predestination (or theocracy) 
Martin Luther and faith alone
Erasmus and humanism
Zwingli and commemoration 
Peace of Augsburg and political decentralization
Saint Bartolomew’s Day Massacre and Reformation
John Wycliffe and Anglicanism
Anabaptists and millenarianism
Ignatius Loyola and Society of Jesus
Reformation and Modernity 

Essay Choices 

How did technological changes in print culture and competing religious ideas intersect during the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Reformation?  

How did individual, cultural, geographical, and political considerations influence the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Reformation? 

I am Spanish: Thousands in Barcelona Protest a Push for Independence

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/world/europe/catalonia-independence-protest.html

Current Events Discussion: Catalonia

Source: Financial Times explains history of Spain, including Catalonia

See also NBC News Long Story Short 

Source: BBC on Catalonia vote: Nationalists win elections?

https://www.marketplace.org/2017/10/02/world/catalan-voted-separate-spain-now-what

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/catalonia-spain-referendum.html

What would Europe look like if every separatist movement was successful? 

Unit II: Protestant Reformation and Catholic/Counter Reformation Begins

This year marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. (8 minute video on festivities and lectures in Germany)

The year 2017 marks 500 years since a stubborn monk and towering thinker, Martin Luther, published his 95 theses or complaints against the Catholic Church and launched the Protestant Reformation, a momentous religious revolution whose consequences we still live with today. The Reformation divided the Western church and transformed millions of people’s understanding of their relationship with God. Correspondent Kim Lawton traveled to Germany to report on how the anniversary is being commemorated there and how its legacy is understood by scholars and theologians, both Catholic and Protestant.

Newberry Library's Religious Change and Print, 1450-1700 Digital Exhibition

In Chicago, the Newberry Library has mounted a large-scale exhibition and will be holding special presentations, typically free to the public all fall.

Economist Magazine article, How Luther Went Viral 

In-Class Test Tips

2013 NY Times Op Ed Why Machiavelli Still Matters

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/opinion/why-machiavelli-matters.html

Black Death Paragraph Feedback

ART INSTITUTE SIGN UP SHEET

Pick a partner and please sign up for the field trip linked below. You may make a choice between  Thursday, November 16 (Renaissance and Baroque art) or Thursday, May 17 (Modern art) and work with ONE other student in your class or another class.  We have one spot for a student to work by him/herself OR for a group of three.  We will give preference to a student who requests to work by him/herself. Sign up must be completed by 4 pm on Friday, September 22, 2017.  If you have not signed up, we will sign you up for the May trip. 

https://docs.google.com/a/ucls.uchicago.edu/document/d/1JCEz_NXBdKLJo6rIbC6WJq_Y5_FFYrCyIqKt4rs1euM/edit?usp=sharing

Renaissance Test Study Guide

·      Princely rule and Humanism

·      Civic humanism and secular history

·      Black Death and humanism

·      Individualism and Renaissance art

·      Medievalist periodization and Humanist periodization

·      Northern Renaissance and Machiavelli

·      New Monarchs and secularism

·      Individualism and Renaissance popes

·      Modernity and Renaissance

·      Feudal law and Roman law

·      Nationalism and dislike of outsiders

Muslim scholarship and the Renaissance 

Printing press and Renaissance culture 

·      To what extent, if any, did women have a Renaissance? Consider all readings, including the technical definition of Renaissance and its essential features (including its own periodization).

·      How did humanists change the trajectory of European history? Consider politics, economics, religion, and society (e.g., the role of women).