Cathedrale de St. Julian

The Cathedrale Saint Julian du Mans is a marvelous timeline of Christian architecture. Located in Le Mans, France, it is one of the sites we visit on our Summer Travel-Study in France sponsored by the History Department at UA. 

 The cathedral is dedicated to St. Julian, first bishop of Le Mans, who built a Roman style church on the site in the 5th century CE. The uniqueness of this current cathedral is that it incorporates elements of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance architecture. 

Most unique are the unusual Y-shaped buttresses on the apse end of the building.   Alongside the cathedral is the old Roman Wall, a remnant of the city's time as an outpost of the Roman Empire. 

I fell in love with Le Mans the first time I saw the old Medieval city. Over the past few years we've set up a great opportunity for students to travel and live for the month of June in Le Mans, take history and language courses, and travel to uniques sites like this cathedral. If you want to see this amazing place, among others, ask me about my Humanities class in Le Mans! 

How Papyrus Was Made

Here's a good site with information from Pliny (a Roman historian) regarding the production of "paper" from the plant papyrus:  http://legacy.earlham.edu/~seidti/iam/papyrus.html

And here is another with some lovely images of hieroglyphic writing: http://ancientegypthistorykingdom.weebly.com/egyptian-writing.html

Now think about this: How has writing and the production of an easy to use and carry substance like papyrus (remember those clunky clay tablets that Gilgamesh used?) changed the nature of history? How would our history be different if we could not write it down?

Ovid - The Art of Love - Ars Amatoria Bk III - In a new downloadable English translation.

In the Humanities in the Western Tradition class we will read Ovid's Ars Amatoria Book II, which contains Ovid's advice to men on how to treat women. I also recommend reading Book III, which is his advice to the ladies on what to do about men: Ovid - The Art of Love - Ars Amatoria Bk III - In a new downloadable English translation.

'via Blog this'

Socratic Sayings

Things I Write on the Board (or What You Need to Know for Humanities Exam 2)

This is the brainstorming we did in review for the exam. Don't panic if you see boards here you don't remember from your class. These are things we wrote on the board for review for exam 2 in all four of my sections of Humanities this Spring. Just think of it as a bonus that you get to see what other sections thought was important.

Note the shift in names from Greek Gods to Roman Gods

Especially important for this exam is understanding the shifts in religious thought from Judaism to Christianity to Islam. Be able to cite examples from the texts.

Here's some stuff we came up with when discussing Paul's letter to the Romans:

 More in class review:

How Stuff Works: Stuff You Missed in History Class: Augustus Caesar

A pretty good podcast that tells the story of how and more importantly why Augustus exiled his own daughter, Julia. 

Questions to consider while reading:

Ovid’s The Art of Love

Introduction

1. Who were the “leading lights in the literary culture of Augustan Rome”?
2. How were wealthy Roman women different from women of classical Athens?
3. "Fearful that Roman society was becoming too decadent,” what did Augustus do?

The Art of Love

1. How does he refer to Love at the beginning of the poem?
2. According to Ovid, how is a successful man expected to behave toward women?
3. What is Ovid’s view of the nature of women?
4. What purpose do allusions to Greek and Roman mythology serve? Are they just “window dressing” or do they significantly enhance the ideas set forth concerning love?
5. What picture of life in Augustan Rome does this poem give you?
6. Describe some of the specific “arts” or techniques recommended by Ovid. Do you think that some of them are used today?

"Antigone, Interrupted: Greek Tragedy and the Future" a lecture by Bonnie Honig

Bonnie Honig presents her inaugural lecture as the Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor in Political Science at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Delivered February 9, 2010.

Cathedral - David Macauley

Watch the David Macauley video Cathedral (the book companion is Cathedral: The Story of its Construction). Good for understanding how the aristocracy, the guilds, the towns, and the church all combined to build a medieval cathedral.

Building the Great Cathedrals - Nova

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

A PBS Nova Special

3 Minute Philosophy: St. Thomas Aquinas

Chiang Kaishek: The Battle for China