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I'm wondering how many other people would be interested in an idea I have. It might be fun to pick some book – either an historical one or one by a modern author written on some part of history – and go through it together to discuss it. The kinds of books I'm thinking of would be on topics that no one is a real expert on only so that the playing field is leveled a bit more. For example, I saw a book at the bookstore on the Emperor Constantine that looked interesting, or we could read up on some particular battle of the Middle Ages, or some conspiracy or the Revolutionary War, etc. etc.We'd pick something that is not so advanced so that people are lost, but advanced enough that it keeps us interested. We'd go though at a steady, but not fast rate (i.e. 50 pgs or so per week). We would go through the week and discuss any political, religious, philsophical, or other trends, conflicts, or issues that arise in the reading.Does this sound like something that people might be interested in?
Hmmm….I can't seem to tell if you're joking or not as my understanding is that grad students are forced to read many times that amount for homework… :-oRegardless, I at least wanted to throw the idea out there and see if there was interest. Perhaps what I'll do is pick up a book that looks interesting from Barnes and Noble or some other place and then see if others want to read it. Or, it might be interesting to go through some Thucydides and have some discussion about it. I'm sure we could get some compare and contrasts going between Pericles' Pelopponesian War speeches and Bush's Iraq War speeches.
Thucydides………ah yes now I remember him. His war was supposed to be the greatest and most meaningful war since the Trojan War. I believe I did a short paper on the Peloponnesian War. Will have to dig that one out. When you go out to Barnes and Noble, please get the Penguin edition…….it's the best one out there.
Is this topic closed? Sounds interesting.
No topic on WCF is closed unless the Emperor so decides it is.
Sorry I had to reread what I wrote (a year ago) to see what I was saying. :oMaybe reading even a chapter from a book or something is good for the time being….maybe even something that would help one of us to get background information to help with a class we're taking?
If a book is decided upon, please post the title as I'd like to be involved. My classes will be over for the semester and my summer classes didn't pan-out, so I would like to attempt this…
Does it have to be a book? What if we read a web resource like this one?http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/MUHLBERGER/orb/LT-ATEST.HTMJust a suggestion. Doesn't have to be about Late Antiquity, although I wouldn't complain if it is. ;D
Yeah my vote is for something ancient as well. I was looking over Herodotus' Histories, book 1 called Clio. It would be short enough to realistically finish but long enough to make it interesting. But I'm not sure what exactly it covers. I do like the idea of reading something Greek, maybe Roman. I think starting shorter is better than anything too big at this point.
I was looking over Herodotus' Histories, book 1 called Clio. It would be short enough to realistically finish but long enough to make it interesting.
But is it easy enough for rookie historians to understand? I like your idea of starting off with something Greek or Roman.
I'm not sure about the one I mentioned, but I think these stories should be easy enough for us to understand. What I would like to read i something that is interesting while providing the lessons of history that the Greeks seemed to provide with their works. If we could find something like the Pelopponesian War by Thucydides I would want to read it, albeit a shorter version that wouldn't take a huge commitment. That's why I suggested a chapter from a work.
