Strayer does not write about the historical art contributions in the context towards establishing facts. The reason is usually because this is not an art history class. What is bizarre are not exclusive in all art history classes, they are a blended entity. In Strayer's book, he does have a few images in each period to give readers a visual display of historical reflections, but no significant artistic value. Again, in an art history class we are required to identify the historical and artistic values together. I always have problems not including to establish the studio art, biography of the artistic in their mission statement, compelling artist to make the piece of art. All of these issues are addressed in an art writing class learning to write about art, not art history. This can get confusing to anyone who is not an art major, uh? I am a Fine Art major, going to continue on with the Art Therapy Master's Program after graduation in December.

        A comparison between the Paleolithic Australian Aboriginal people and Native American Indians encountered by the arrival of Europeans during the beginning colonization of Americas was different. To this day, there still remains several groups that practice exactly  the same cultural and religious traditional ways of life. These groups of Australian Aborigines are not included or seen in the general public, because they are extremely, going to great lengths to secure their private and spiritual belief system. Only in the 1970's, contemporary Australian Aboriginal art started to incorporate their early art (only sections are allowed for public viewing) with modern art to create a whole new entity of abstract images representing messages, emotions, and symbols.

The effect of colonialism on African women made me re-examine historical material that was enlightening from a different perspective. Women were affected "by the alienation of land experienced" according to most Africans. This was a spiraling Catch-22 effect, when women lost access and control of land they became more economically dependent on men. This led to intense domestic abuse patriarchy, completely compounded worse by colonial social injustice and institutions. African women were the major food producers, by farming, gathering, cultivating, cooking, marketing, they were valuable in the processing of food. They were the "strength" in adversity with the family units through traditional culture and religious values, music and food security.

        In Part Six, the phrase Strayer used in his book, "because all such divisions are artificial, imposed scholars on a continuously flowing stream of events, they are endlessly controversial and never more so than the case of the twentieth century," is a profound perspective on humanity.
        Every class at NDNU, we are encouraged to enjoy the Mission Statement and key ideas of Hallmarks. Spiritualism, peace, and humanity are ideas in these Hallmarks to remind us not to allow history to repeat itself.

WORLD WAR II

       

        Hitler was a perfect example of an evil, powerful, highly intelligent, charming, and extremely manipulating tyrant that used the Nazi party as tools in his disturbing goal. Part of his propaganda from day one: to allow Jews and the world to think he had a plan to put them on an island, and/ or, they could still remain in Germany and Europe peacefully under the Fascism.

 To make Germany a pure race, to conqueror the world. Hitler's goal was power over Europe and he believed the extermination of all Jews and a variety of other not perfect Germans (like Gypsies, homosexuals, artists, friend's of Jews, different religions also and races). His evil power and charm was a filthy disease that became contagious for the Nazis to eliminate six million Jews.

The Fascination of the Scientific Revolution (1550-1700)

        The "Scientific Revolution" was a period in history from 1550 to 1700, that exploded with non-traditional ideas about important terms concerning world religions, politics, science, biology, astronomy, ethics, acceptable reasoning for philosophy, and evidence of proof for law, or the different systems mentioned above. 
        How could humans possibly live in a society without these major thinkers and all their major achievements within the second century? It was not like, us being able to live without: the invention of a dishwasher, iPhone, or the recent philosophy for gangs shooting innocent people in ghettos. 
        There was Nicholas Copernicus saying the sun is at the center of the solar system, earth rotates on its axis, and earth and planets revolve around sun. Andreas Vesalius was the "Father of Anatomy." Francis Bacon who focused on observation and experiments as the key to modern science. Rene Descartes expressed how important math and logical reasoning in the physical world to give one of my favorite quotes: "I think, therefore I am." Isaac Newton synthesized the concept of universal gravitation, designed calculus, concept of inertia and laws of motion.
        All these major thinkers (and more that I did not mention right now) were pioneers of life-changing innovative ideas! Typical of human nature at that time in history to absolutely not readily accept new revolutionary ideas about anything in life easily. When it comes to science, religion, politics, philosophy, even new styles of art, the government and general public in society ( and I emphasize again at that time in history) did not accept new ideas, and/or change easily.

Lorraine Domingo

The world of pastoral societies from 1200-1500 was a "utopian" community that shared several key issues, making them different from settled agricultural communities and civilizations. Pastoral societies lived in small related encampments of kinfolk called clans. I  use the word "utopian" as to what one refers to their own "ideal society?" To the pastoral societies in the world between 1200-1500, they had an ideal life that still exists in the San people of southern Africa today. Their value system stressed equality, less productive economies, individual achievements encouraged to be strong, and women were offered greater roles in public life, productive labor, able to remarry after being a widower, allowed to divorce, and many opportunities for the freedom to learn skills, or even ride horse, have choices and some control. Nomads were never homeless, "they know where they are going and why."

Blog # 3

   
" As in all civilizations, slavery found a place in West Africa, and most of them were women working as domestic servants and concubines." Not going on a personal women's lib crusade against anyone in particular, rather, I am expressing my own feelings from a female's  opinion. Women and slavery developed in the early stages of civilizations because of wealth and power. Oh yeah, for the same reason that still exists today for women, status, and ethnicity being oppressive issues in our society. Strayer portrays this story of the trade in slaves across the Sahara, " between 1100 and 1400, around 5,500 slaves per year made this perilous trek." I enjoy reading Strayer's portrayal of history mixed with stories and facts. Allows us the opportunity to view these readings with some imagination, instead of the typical boring world history textbooks I used to put myself to sleep, when counting sheep didn't work?  I always wondered how the term " Slav " was started? Strayer explains that slaves in Europe from the Slavic - speaking regions along the northern coast of the Black Sea were so numerous that's how the word "slave" began in European languages, then " Slav."
The women in the " golden age " of the Song Dynasty around 1000 C.E., was not a walk in the park, by any means, for women. Women were considered a distraction and not equal to a man in any way possible. Women at an early age were expected to go through the extremely long painful process of " foot binding," lasting until the 20th century ( wow, I would have really been stuck forever since my shoe size is 10).
This was all relative to one's opinion again on the balance of women's lives in the Song Dynasty, so as property rights made progress, the advancement for SOME new doors of opportunities opened for women.

Religions and cultural traditions all being created around the same time frame was extremely interesting, to give meaning to the phrase, " the Three Great Religions" as a basic foundation most other religions of the world were born. The word "Zoroastrianism" I had never heard before? In all the years of attending Sunday school, sometimes Friday night temple services, and bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings, of never hearing this word is strange. Probably because it became a part of the Jewish religion around 1000 B.C. had something to do with it? Another word I didn't recognize was "Yahweh" as a powerful and jealous deity. In the Old Testament and the first of the Ten Commandment, the Jewish religion only and absolutely believes in one God. This would make a great topic of conversation the next time I ever see a Rabbi. Also, our textbook said some of the key ideas of the Jewish religion were : morals and the principals of social justice. Move time forward to the future in the Holocaust, tragic, horrible genocide done to the Jews from the Nazis who had no morals and/or any principals of social justice. By the way, yes, I do know people with evidence and witnesses testimony to support the case that there actually was a Holocaust.
Slavery has always caught my eye, with no pun intended, for several reasons. Mainly of course, here we go again, for morals and principals of social justice. Similar to India with their caste-based social structure, Chinese civilization with their dynasties, and other Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires, all inequalities of class and caste were dumped on slaves. I always wondered how human nature got started on those boundaries? Who ever had the right for ownership by a master, to be treated less than human? Slavery catching my attention in the visual sense, why I said no pun intended, is because I am an art major. The divine Greek statues, pillars, Roman structures, Egyptian pyramids, Persian mosaics,  fresco paintings, glorious churches, magnificent buildings, were built by slaves. They were designed by someone else, but the labor was done by slaves.
On the subject of art, relative to the perspective of an art major: Paleolithic and Neolithic art involved around female figures, scenes depicting food gathers and/or hunters, with usually symbol representing a spiritual person, animals, and a leader. As time progresses to empires and civilizations, with writing and symbols to tell a narrative with art scenes, the art becomes more advanced. For example, the early stage drawings of people look like stick figures, then they appear with one sided profiles in Egyptian pictures, as we get to Roman frescoes they are realistic people images!

Just found out how to read other student's blogs! Apologize to anyone who read mine yesterday because it was so boring, uck! Now realize a blog is like having a conversation explaining the most interesting topics in our reading assignments. So I am going to overhaul my notes and put a different thinking cap in mode to write this next blog for chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7, which is what I read according to the syllabus.

Catching-up on first assignment: Chapters 1, 2, and 3

Chapter 1 : first people populating the planet to 10,000 B.C.
Chapter 2: first farmers and revolutions of agriculture 10,000 B.C.- 3,000 B.C.
Chapter 3: first civilizations, cities, states, and unequal societies 3,500 B.C- 500 B.C.

"Paleolithic" term means the "old stone age" and refers to food gathering and hunting as a way of life. 95% of these humans survived on the climate of geography, wild plants and animals. Agricultural people had their own food supplies in small settled villages.
Homo sapiens were first known 250,000 years ago from southern and eastern Africa.
Humans in Europe were 40,000 years ago, and cave art was 25,000 years ago was first seen here.
Into Australia, about 60,000 years ago, was the creation of an out on their world known as "The Dreamtime."
"Great Transition" was the change in lives of Paleolithic people with global warming because of the Ice Age, ending 10,000 years ago.
Paleolithic societies in Japan were called Jomon, and they settled down in seaside villages.
Two societies that continued to survive their ancient ways of life: the San of southern Africa and the Chumash of southern California.
Major invention to transform societies was the planked canoe, "tomol" (vessel 30'ft. long) changed the Chumash with wealth, power, and commerce trade.
The Neolithic Age, or Agricultural Revolution was the intentional farming of particular plants and breeding of special animals.
Agriculture  gave a new relationship between humans and nature with animals to the changing environment, which is another way of saying "domestication."
Civilizations came from the foundation of the Agricultural Revolution. Large scale irrigation projects (aqueducts), rich farming soil, geography for villages near ocean ports, mountains for protecton, pastures for animals to graze and surrounding area to hunt.
Urban Revolution represents one of the first ancient civilizations Mesopotonia, with it's largest city Urnk.
Ancient civilizations were held together even amid complicated inequalities of societies because they were organized around particular cities, larger territories, or states. By officials replacing kinship for authority, as the basic organizing leaders.
Writing created the next powerful transforming innovation and was regarded as a gift.

Hurray, I did it! It will be interesting to figure out the student blogs site as my next challenge?

hey, I did it!