And the Winner Is...
In both my World History and my Western Civ classes, I usually have a question on the final about, What five people most influenced Western Culture (or World History) in the period studied (4 million BC to 1500 a.d.) and WHY?
This is partly because a lot of students freeze on exams, or have trouble reading the textbook, or whatever: basically, it's a save-yourself question for those who might very well blow one of the others. But what I'm looking for is the WHY part. Give me evidence. Tell me specifics. I'm interested in the argument rather than the nominees.
However, the nominees are pretty fascinating.
Here's the breakdown between two classes, World History and Western Civ. It's slanted slightly towards Western Europe because both classes cover the West, and only one (though it was the larger class) covers China, India, etc.
Martin Luther wins with 9 votes. I guess the lecture about Indulgences and Popes Behaving Badly impresses a lot of people.
Columbus gets 8 votes, Alexander the Great, 7. Jesus and Muhammed tie with 6 apiece. Generally the same people who vote for Jesus, also vote for Muhammed. Buddha got 4, St. Paul tied with Julius Caesar at 3 apiece.
Two votes each to: Constantine, Hammurabi, Hernan Cortez, Confucius, Elizabeth I, Genghis Khan, Leonardo da Vinci, and Homer.
There were gang votes - votes for a people or group - for the Spartans, the Athenians, and the Medici Family. (?!?)
The single votes always delight and puzzle me. Why Jan Hus, the medieval Czech reformer and patriot who was burned as a heretic? Did somebody happen to drop in to class the day I lectured about the later middle ages? What lasting effect did Cleopatra or the Empress Wu have on civilization, amazing as it was that they ruled, and ruled well, in their own place and time? And who did the students who voted for "Charles the First" and "King Henry" think they were talking about? (We certainly never touched on Charles I of England - perhaps Charles Martel? Or Charlemagne?)
Those who got a single vote were: the Pharoah Narmer (first Pharoah of a united Egypt), Abraham, John Wycliffe (first Englishman to translate the Bible), Jan Hus (Czech heretic and patriot), "Charles the First"(?), "King Henry" (IV of France, perhaps?), Socrates, Aristotle,Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, the Empress Wu of China (!), and, of all people, Henry VIII. (For bringing the Protestant Reformation to England).
But, the grades are in and posted, and I now get to write Ben January #12.
This is partly because a lot of students freeze on exams, or have trouble reading the textbook, or whatever: basically, it's a save-yourself question for those who might very well blow one of the others. But what I'm looking for is the WHY part. Give me evidence. Tell me specifics. I'm interested in the argument rather than the nominees.
However, the nominees are pretty fascinating.
Here's the breakdown between two classes, World History and Western Civ. It's slanted slightly towards Western Europe because both classes cover the West, and only one (though it was the larger class) covers China, India, etc.
Martin Luther wins with 9 votes. I guess the lecture about Indulgences and Popes Behaving Badly impresses a lot of people.
Columbus gets 8 votes, Alexander the Great, 7. Jesus and Muhammed tie with 6 apiece. Generally the same people who vote for Jesus, also vote for Muhammed. Buddha got 4, St. Paul tied with Julius Caesar at 3 apiece.
Two votes each to: Constantine, Hammurabi, Hernan Cortez, Confucius, Elizabeth I, Genghis Khan, Leonardo da Vinci, and Homer.
There were gang votes - votes for a people or group - for the Spartans, the Athenians, and the Medici Family. (?!?)
The single votes always delight and puzzle me. Why Jan Hus, the medieval Czech reformer and patriot who was burned as a heretic? Did somebody happen to drop in to class the day I lectured about the later middle ages? What lasting effect did Cleopatra or the Empress Wu have on civilization, amazing as it was that they ruled, and ruled well, in their own place and time? And who did the students who voted for "Charles the First" and "King Henry" think they were talking about? (We certainly never touched on Charles I of England - perhaps Charles Martel? Or Charlemagne?)
Those who got a single vote were: the Pharoah Narmer (first Pharoah of a united Egypt), Abraham, John Wycliffe (first Englishman to translate the Bible), Jan Hus (Czech heretic and patriot), "Charles the First"(?), "King Henry" (IV of France, perhaps?), Socrates, Aristotle,Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, the Empress Wu of China (!), and, of all people, Henry VIII. (For bringing the Protestant Reformation to England).
But, the grades are in and posted, and I now get to write Ben January #12.
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