Re: Do we need History as part of our education?

Through Art, that's how to teach non-biased history! I learned more history in two semesters on Art History than I had in my entire schooling life (accept interests that I persued on my own outside of school). And it's was wonderfully unbiased, because we were learning about art, and you can't teach art history without talking about some of the most beautiful and tragic histories of each culture, since those things often inspire art. I think that from a young age, we should study “World History” and “Art History” and “Comparative Religions” and “World Mythologies,” instead of so much U.S. history, stuffed down our throats. That would give us a true world view, an interconnectedness among humans. I think those are the four most important subjects I've studied in my life, and I had to wait to receive three of them in college, and one of them from a book that was given to me (The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell) and a book I sought (A History of God, by Karen Armstrong)! What crap!

Re: Do we need History as part of our education?

Which book is crap “Power of the Myth” or the other one??? I love “Power of the Myth” such an enlighten view.

Absolutely Katrina, art history is always much unbiased. Unfortunately we don't have enough artists to capture all of what happened through time. Furthermore we do have some art that is truly propaganda. However art history is always very honest because the artist feeling is from the heart.

I didn't go to school here in USA, however by review my children school work I got to say, this history need to be revised. Much of the history that my children learned from school is American Civil War. What is so big deal about that? I guess American think that we teach the children the fact of freeing the slavery will help to ease the social unrest between black and white? But what about there are facts that American genocide the American Indian? How about the American soil belongs to the American Indian? These things are taught very little because there are little Indian left on this vast land. To me they are truly crap.

How about world history? I don't see it in my children school work yet, she just starts the Middle School next fall.

Re: Do we need History as part of our education?

I'v e taught World Civilizations in college and most of the students have never studied anything more than their own history. I confuse them at times with  my approach, a more social and biographical history, one Thomas Carlyle espoused when he said “history is biography”.

I come from a liberal arts view, we study the People who influenced the histories, it is more of a social history. We learn how people have come to the cultural understandings and also how they are perceived in their countries.

I will not focus as much on war, or battles and all the malarcky….we look at reasons, small things that create the large, people that are able to persuade the masses of their insane proposals!

History to me is no more than His-Story…we all have a story and right here on this POD we can see the stories differ dramatically, so to me, there is no one history.

Blessings

Re: Do we need History as part of our education?

Oh no, no, no! :) BOTH books are absolutely wonderful - I meant it was “crap” that I had to wait 'til I was out of regular schooling before I learned those wonderful things about the religions of the world and the myths and connections! Sorry, Tuan!