Saturday, December 13, 2014

Addendum: Krijn's Family from Volendam, Picture from County Archives




This is a photo of Krijn's family back in Volendam, circa 1947. His mom is the girl in the lower left hand corner. At that time, Volendamers wore this costume every day. His mom rebelled at age 16 and refused to wear it. Major, major family drama moment! Krijn's grandfather and grandmother (the couple in the center) wore the costume daily for their whole lives. Grandfather died in the mid 70s, Grandmother in 1994.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Last Minute Study Session: Wed at 7:30am in the Cafeteria

Hey all,

I will be in the Cafeteria at 7:30 on Wed morning, if you'd like to prep for the final. I hope to see some of you there.

Take care,
John

Monday, November 24, 2014

Recap of Peer Led Review and Possible Final Exam Questions

Hi all,
Here is a recap of our Peer Led review. Many thanks to Fotoon for her excellent assistance (especially for capturing all the questions and typing them out), and to everyone who attended for your contributions:
Highlights of our discussion:

1) Talked about our papers, and editorial feedback received/things to fix
2) Talked about presentations and came up with guidelines. Please let me know if these are not in-line with your expectations: 3-4 minutes, talk about your interviewee's story, your interviewee's push/pull/means, which method you used to interview your subject, why you selected your interviewee, visuals optional (post to blog).
3) Discussion of possible questions for final exam. We took the chapters in reverse order, and used questions from the chapter summaries in many cases. Other questions came from our class discussion notes:

Ch 30: What core beliefs guided Ronald Regan's presidency? (p. 741)
Ch 29: In what was was the 1960s an era of upheavals, and/or an echo of enlightenment ideals? (class discussion)
Ch 28: What are some of the major successes and failures of the civil rights movement, 1961-65?
Ch 27: In what sense were there two Americas? (p. 675)
Ch 26/Class Discussion of Cold War: What is the difference of hot war vs cold war? How can this be expressed in relation to the World Wars and the cold war of the 1950s and 1960s?
Ch 25: What were the major effects of WWII on American society, including minorities and women? (p. 624)
Ch 24: None
Ch 23: What developments underlay 1920s mass culture and how did they effect American life and leisure?
Ch 22: None
Ch 21: What strategies did African Americans, women, and industrial workers use to improve their lot in the early 20th Century?
Ch 19: How did Victorian morality shape middle class society and culture?
Ch 18: None
Ch 17: How was the national parks movement related to the western legend? (p. 419)
Ch 14-15-16: How did the newly freed slaves reshape their lives after emancipation? (p. 382), How did slavery help bring about the Civil War?

Sunday, November 23, 2014

If you missed class last Friday...

Hello everybody,

Happy almost-Thanksgiving Break! FYI, for those who missed our class meeting last Friday, here is the scoop for Monday: Ms. Andrews will be out on Monday, but she has asked me and Fotoon to facilitate a peer- led discussion of our research papers. We will also be talking about the upcoming final, and making a list of suggestions for possible exam questions which we will turn in to Ms. Andrews via e-mail  (along with the attendance for Monday).

Hope you are all having a great weekend! If you have questions, please e-mail me at rinaldi_john@yahoo.com

Take care,
John

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Reaction to Civil Rights Primary Source Class Discussion

Growing up in the 1970s, I never had any idea what African American people were still going through, long after slavery ended, well into the 20th Century (and even now). I had no idea how much discrimination there was back then. Looking back now at segregation, and seeing how much hatred was focused on black people by white people makes me feel so sad. That photo of the young girl trying to walk to high school, while a white girl yelled at her, her face a twisted mask of hate, really does freeze-frame that exact moment in history. I am glad to hear that the white woman saw the error of her ways, and apologized. But, I wonder why racism is still such a big problem in this country. I know we have come a long way, and I am grateful, but we still have a long way to go, for sure. Not just in terms of white/black racism, but in terms of all races' views of each other. As we discussed in class, race really is an illusion. I like what Dr. Hamilton said in my Theologies of Liberation class last year: "There is only one race, the human race." Amen to that!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Civil Rights Era Primary Source

Here is my primary source reading for the Civil Rights Era, a blackmail letter from the FBI to Dr. Martin Luther King, which all but tells him to end his life. It was recently uncovered in the National Archives. You can also click the link below to see the letter.

MLK Letter at NY Times

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Play About Civil Rights Era: The Party People at Berkeley Rep

Here is the info on "The Party People", a multimedia theater presentation about the Civil Rights Era currently playing at Berkeley Rep. Anyone interested in checking it out????

http://berkeleyrep.org/season/1415/8235.asp?gclid=CIi2jJuO8sECFdGCfgod8VEA9g

Here's the description of the show on the Berkeley Rep web site:

Get ready for a hyperkinetic mix of live video, hip hop, jazz, rock, gospel, blues, Latin rhythms, and spoken word as the explosive theatre ensemble UNIVERSES rocks and unlocks the radical and complicated legacy of the Black Panthers and Young Lords. These seminal activists fought injustice, provided free food and medical care for their communities—and struggled against a government determined to suppress them. Based on dozens of interviews, Party People imagines the Black Panthers and Young Lords reuniting today at an art opening curated by a couple of young counterculturists, where old wounds open and generations collide. What is the price of being a revolutionary, and what happens to those who come after?
Party People was developed in The Ground Floor, Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work.