Please complete the readings as soon as possible, but no later than class on Thursday.  We will be devoting most Thursdays to class discussions of the readings and materials online.

Study Guide for the Readings in Reilly for Week One

Written Assignment 1:  Due on email by Sunday, 6 pm, January 15.  Tell me about your background in history - what have you studied in school, what other interests in history you have.   Have you travelled and if so have your travels influenced your outlook on the present, and perhaps even the past?

Click on this map to see a good visualization of the spread of homo sapiens and homo sapiens sapiens in the early eras.

A few years ago, when a Pennsylvania court was beginning its "trial" regarding the requirement by a local school board that "intelligent design" be included in high school science classes, Verlyn Klinkenborg wrote an Op Ed piece in the New York Times which is relevant to the issues raised by Christian in this week's reading.

One of the difficulties we have in studying the distant past is coming to an agreement on how to measure time - especially when we are dealing with lengths of time almost unimaginable to human minds (at least typical ones).  Click on this link to see a discussion of this problem: Measuring Time.

One of the most important, but also most difficult, challenges that historians and students of history have is that of putting events or details into their larger and/or proper contexts.  An example of the difficulties of this challenge appears on this link, which I'll go over in class on Thursday.

National Geographic Society -

Maps

Additional Readings for this Week's Topics - Week One