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Western Civilization (western + civilization)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	60%

Selected Abstracts

Re-Forging the ,Age of Iron' Part II: The Tenth Century in a New Age?

HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 9 2010
John Howe
The tenth century, once dismissed as an unpleasant ,Age of Iron', now receives increased attention as an important age of transition. Historians are attempting to understand how it fits into the broader narrative of Western Civilization. Although some scholars have identified it as the last act of the post-Roman world, others see it as a new age. Perhaps the High Middle Ages with its agricultural and demographic revolution, its new villages and parishes, its revived cities, its reformed churches and schools, and its medieval monarchs began in the tenth century? Or were those changes not novelties of the tenth century but rather manifestations of a ,take off' that had already begun back in the Carolingian Empire, and which, despite the problems posed by late Carolingian wars and invasions, was able to continue, spread, and blossom into the growth and prosperity of the High Middle Ages? New scholarly interest in the tenth century has made it much less of a ,dark age', but scholars still are not quite certain how to conceptualize its historical significance. [source]

The Historiography of a Construct: "Feudalism" and the Medieval Historian

HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2009
Richard Abels
Between 1974 and 1994, two influential critiques of feudalism were published, an article in 1974 by Elizabeth A. R. Brown and a book by Susan Reynolds in 1994, that crystallized doubts about the construct of feudalism harbored by many historians of the Middle Ages. Over the last few years textbooks have begun to reflect the new consensus. Medieval historians responsible for chapters on the Middle Ages in Western Civilization and World Civilization textbooks now shy away from the term ,feudalism'. This reticence is less evident in civilization textbooks lacking a medievalist among the collaborators. In several of these we still find the ,feudal Middle Ages' presented without apology, as well as comparisons drawn between Japanese, Chinese, and medieval Western feudalisms. Whether or not the assigned textbook mentions ,feudalism', most Western civilization instructors probably continue to use the term because it is familiar to them and to their students. This article presents an overview of the historiography of one of the key concepts for the study of the Middle Ages, and an assessment of where the state of the question now stands. The author concludes that, although the critique of feudalism is powerful and necessary, the pendulum is threatening to swing too far in the other direction, away from the vertical ties and power relations that once dominated discussions of medieval politics and society, and toward a new paradigm of horizontal bonds, consensus making, and community. [source]

Repeating the Race Experience: John Dewey and the History Curriculum at the University of Chicago Laboratory School

CURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 3 2009
THOMAS FALLACE
ABSTRACT Despite the vast literature on Dewey and his laboratory school, most scholars have failed to contextualize Dewey's pedagogical ideas in the intellectual currents of the period, particularly the historicist concept of social development known as recapitulation and/or correspondence theory. In this article, the author explores how and why history was taught at Dewey's laboratory school at the University of Chicago (1896,1904). To do so, the author traces how Dewey's approach to teaching history not only emerged out of pedagogical disputes, but also out of 19th -century historicist theories of evolutionary anthropology and genetic psychology. From this context, the author argues that Dewey's history curriculum was based entirely upon his own interpretation of the anthropological-sociological-psychological theory of recapitulation, which suggested that the stages of child development corresponded with the development of Western civilization. Drawing on Dewey's professional correspondence, course syllabi, and book reviews in addition to his published essays, the author suggests that this ethnocentric theory of recapitulation served as the foundation for the entire curriculum at the laboratory school, guiding both theory and practice. [source]

The Death of "Till Death Us Do Part": The Transformation of Pair-Bonding in the 20th Century,

FAMILY PROCESS, Issue 2 2002
William M. Pinsof Ph.D.
During the last half of the 20th century within Western civilization, for the first time in human history, divorce replaced death as the most common endpoint of marriage. In this article I explore the history of this death-to-divorce transition, the forces associated with the transition, and what the transition may have revealed about the human capacity for monogamous, lifelong pair-bonding. The impact and consequences of the transition for the generations that came of age during it and immediately afterwards are examined, with particular attention to the emergence of new, alternative pair-bonding structures such as cohabitation and nonmarital co-parenting. The article highlights the inability of the dichotomous marriage-versus-being-single paradigm to encompass the new pair-bonding structures and the normalizing of divorce. Precepts for a new, more encompassing, veridical and humane pair-bonding paradigm are presented, and some of their implications for social policy, family law, social science, and couple and family therapy are elaborated. [source]

Psychosocial ramifications of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Li Liu
The Beijing Olympic Games, one of the most significant social events for contemporary China, is a milestone for China's efforts for globalization. ,One World, One Dream', the motto of the Beijing Olympic Games, is an embodiment of the encounter between Chinese culture and Western civilization, and a symbol of integration between China and the rest of the world. This Special Section seeks to address the psychosocial ramifications of the Beijing Olympic Games and, thereby, to shed light on China's domestic situation and its international relations from a social psychological perspective. Moving beyond the psychology of athletic excellence, the four papers included use a wide range of methods, ranging from longitudinal tracking to priming, to examining self-construal and volunteering, to representations of China's past and future, competition towards foreigners, and perceived intercultural differences. Consistently found across the papers, patriotism was associated with ingroup cohesion, whereas nationalism was associated with competition and differentiation towards outgroups. This Special Section thereby pays tribute to the social psychological significance of the Beijing Olympic Games to China and the world. [source]