YOUTH INITIATIVE HIGH SCHOOL
Waldorf Initiative in Viroqua, Wisconsin, USA
COURSES AND CLASSES
From Barbarians to
Buicks:
Medieval History and the History of Technology
MLB for grade 11
(Jan 08—Feb 16, 2007)
Instructor: Matthew Voz
This is an extended hybrid main lesson block encompassing the history of Europe from the fall of Rome to the Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century. The final week of the class shifts to the 20th century and four of the major technologies that have shaped the post-industrial society in which we now live.
Unit One: Recycled Civilization – Rome turns into Europe
Day One: Introductions, Setting the Stage – a primer on classical civilization
Day Two: “The barbarians are coming, the barbarians are coming!” – The fall of Rome. Readings: “The Fall of Rome”, Arthur Ferrill
Day Three: The Second Rome – The Byzantine Persevere. Readings: “On Justinian’s Buildings”, Procopius
Day Four: “Charlie don’t Serf” - The Concept of Feudalism. Readings: “The Stirrup and it’s Impact on Medieval Society”, Lynn White
Day Five: “A Candle in the Darkness”: The Carolingian Dynasty. Readings: “The Emperor Charlemagne”, Einhard, “A More Somber Light”, M. L. Ganshof
Day Six: Europe Under Siege –“Vikings, Avars, and Muslims, Oh My!” Readings: “Religious and Political Organization in the Islamic Middle East” Ed. & Trans. Bernard Lewis
Day Seven: “I’d like to return this Holy Land, my wife doesn’t like the collar.”– The Crusades. Readings: “The First Crusade: Four Accounts”
Day Eight: “All work and no pray make St. Benedict a dull boy.” Monasticism & Scholasticism. Readings: “Rule for Monasteries”, St. Benedict
Day Nine: Examination
Unit Two: Prometheus Unbound – The Birth of Modernity
Day Ten: “Human Dignity? Are you sure?” – The Renaissance. Readings: “Leonardo DaVinci”, Giorgio de Santillana
Day Eleven: “Who you callin’ Antichrist?!” – The Reformation. Readings: “Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate”, Martin Luther
Day Twelve: “The world is spinning out of control, no, seriously!” – The Scientific Revolution. Readings: “The Principia”, Isaac Newton
Day Thirteen: “Everything is replaceable!” – The Social Earthquake that is the Printing Press. Readings: “Technics and Civilization”, Lewis Mumford
Day Fourteen: “I told you it was round!” – Global Expansion. Readings: “Hemispheres Colliding”, Jared Diamond
Day Fifteen: “I’m King, and if you don’t believe me go ask God!” – Absolutism. Readings: “Leviathan”, Thomas Hobbes
Day Sixteen: “Human Dignity, we’re serious this time!” – The Enlightenment. Readings: “The Second Treatise on Civil Government”, John Locke
Day Seventeen: “I’m King, and if you don’t believe me go ask Robespierre!” – The French “Revolution” and Napoleon. Readings: “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens”, Napoleon: Destroyer and Preserver of the Revolution”
Day Eighteen: “Unemployment, Starvation, Environmental Destruction, Progress” – The Industrial Revolution. Readings: “Rebels Against the Future” Kirkpatrick Sale
Day Nineteen: “Hearts of Darkness” – European Imperialism in the Third World. Readings: “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”, Walter Rodney
Day Twenty: Examination
Unit Three: Lonely Universe – Man Becomes God
Day Twenty-One: “Burning rubber, and gas, and bridges, and…” – The Automobile. Readings: “Crabgrass Frontier”, Kenneth T. Jackson
Day Twenty-Two: “Unity through Apathy” - Mass Media Technology. Readings: “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, Neil Postman
Day Twenty-Three: “The Ascendancy of the Pharmacist” – Pharmacology and the Image of Health through Time. Readings: “Medical Lessons from History”, Lewis Thomas
Day Twenty-Four: “That mouse glows in the dark – sweet!” – Biotechnology. Readings: “The Ethics of Human Cloning” Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy
Day Twenty-Five: Examination. Evaluation.