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Dogon
Accelerated Reader is a program based on the fact that students become more motivated to read if they are tested on the content of the books they have read and are rewarded for correct answers. Students read each book, individually take the test on the computer, and receive gratification when they score well. Schools using the Accelerated Reader program have seen a significant increase in reading among their students. Fifty-six newly released titles that provide a fascinating portrait of the many peoples that inhabit Africa. These books have natural curriculum tie-ins with multiculturalism, geography, and social studies.
64 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 1996
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January 19, 2013
Philip K. Dick sent me here…kind of.
After reading Dick's Valis and falling into some of the various rabbit holes of "the Exegesis" that consumed him for the last decade of his life, I felt I needed to take a closer look at the cosmology/theology of the West African Dogon people, whom he references often. Even among Dick's ridiculously expansive obsessions with Akhenaten, Gnosticism, St. Paul, the Roman empire, Nixon, pharmacology, schizophrenia, etc. his frequent allusions to the Dogon stood out. It's not often you read about an indigenous people who regard the Sirius star system as the origin of all creation and believe that we're descended from a pair of half-human/half-snake gods. I was interested and I wanted to find out some more about Dogon society & beliefs.
As I often do when I'm first dipping my toe in the water of huge topic (like an entire society & cultural/religious tradition) I decided to start with an overview book aimed at the juvenile market. It's a great way to get a concise review of the basics, explained in simple easy-to-grasp manner. If I'm intrigued I'll check out more advanced resources. If not, I only use up an hour or so and I walk away with some potentially useful trivia. Having finished this, I'll be reading more about the Dogon for sure.
Shout out to this series: "The Heritage Library of African Peoples" they offer books like this one on a total of 56 African tribes/societies. What a great resource for Western kids who, I think, are too often fed an image of Africa as being some sort of single monolithic society "over there" that's only interesting as far as it relates to European colonial history or modern atrocity headlines. Worthy, necessary & well-done.VALIS
After reading Dick's Valis and falling into some of the various rabbit holes of "the Exegesis" that consumed him for the last decade of his life, I felt I needed to take a closer look at the cosmology/theology of the West African Dogon people, whom he references often. Even among Dick's ridiculously expansive obsessions with Akhenaten, Gnosticism, St. Paul, the Roman empire, Nixon, pharmacology, schizophrenia, etc. his frequent allusions to the Dogon stood out. It's not often you read about an indigenous people who regard the Sirius star system as the origin of all creation and believe that we're descended from a pair of half-human/half-snake gods. I was interested and I wanted to find out some more about Dogon society & beliefs.
As I often do when I'm first dipping my toe in the water of huge topic (like an entire society & cultural/religious tradition) I decided to start with an overview book aimed at the juvenile market. It's a great way to get a concise review of the basics, explained in simple easy-to-grasp manner. If I'm intrigued I'll check out more advanced resources. If not, I only use up an hour or so and I walk away with some potentially useful trivia. Having finished this, I'll be reading more about the Dogon for sure.
Shout out to this series: "The Heritage Library of African Peoples" they offer books like this one on a total of 56 African tribes/societies. What a great resource for Western kids who, I think, are too often fed an image of Africa as being some sort of single monolithic society "over there" that's only interesting as far as it relates to European colonial history or modern atrocity headlines. Worthy, necessary & well-done.VALIS
Displaying 1 of 1 review