Practice makes Perfect

        Ignoring the argument that really only PERFECT practice makes perfect, I would like to apply this title phrase to our civilization class.  While striving to teach a class about four different knowledge institutions, our professors have put into practice these variant types of knowledge and created a perfect class.  But maybe only in the Greek sense of the word, how Christ used it in Matthew, meaning to be complete, finished and fully developed.  We received a complete class, combining all the types of knowledge together to create the ideal environment.  By bringing in guest speakers and lecturers, sending us off on field trips, putting us in familial groups to learn together, and giving atypical assignments we experienced the different types of knowledge, instead of just learning about them.

Are You Lost in Learning? I Am.

I know we won't be here much longer, but I would really like to share this with anyone who happens to read these last posts on the blog.  And of course, it has a story with it, though mercifully short.  :-)

When I get bored with homework in the library, especially chemistry, I start exploring the art exhibits throughout the library.  They are always interesting, if not always the most amazing art.  So the awesome exhibit that was in the Library Auditorium Entrance was really cool just a little while ago.  I felt that it also adeptly applied to our class and what we have been learning, which is why I am sharing it with you all.  It is titled "Lost in Learning" and is about the amazing men and women of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution (Leonardo DaVinci, Columbus, Newton, etc.).  It is a photographic exhibit and they are just really inspiring to me.

Just a taste, and not her best in my opinion.  Titled "Journal".  

The coolest thing is that her website about the exhibit is just as masterfully done.  And she has a blog!! So here are the links to these great pictures and the blog, and I hope you enjoy this artistic inspiration and want to keep that great curiosity that inspired these people alive in yourself.  Keep reinventing knowledge, and expressing yourself with our limited institutionalized freedom.  It is part of our heritage as humanity and divinity to create and discover.  Enjoy!!

Wrap It Up, or Maybe Just Leave it Open- Ended?

According to Webster, the first known usage of "wrap up" to refer to summarizing or completing something was in 1568.  But I couldn't find much more why about that phrase became synonymous to finishing and summarizing something.  I know why with a film reel, but that early....  Just thought I would end on a self-directed-learning note.  :-)  

I am going to organize my notes based on the unit, a paragraph for each one.  And Alicia and Mike, I love your posts.  If you don't mind I would love to use them tomorrow in addition to my own reflections.  

See my other post for credit of this amazing picture - Eva Timothy

Thoughts on my Library Exhibit Exploration

It might be too late to get credit for my visit to the Bible exhibit, but I did go earlier, I just forgot to post on it, until I reviewed the posts I have made and it wasn't in there.  I even tried to go to the print museum, but that failed when I arrived 1 hour after it closed.  Who closes at 2 p.m.? So then I visited the HBLL exhibit instead. 

Anyway....

Learning is the Purpose... Or is it to Produce a Paper?

A master of comic rhyme in our time, I had to add him in. :-)

I have had a marvelous time learning all about Rhyming and its origins and development in the English language, but no matter how much I research, I can't seem to find the information I am looking for.  I can't find evidence to support the connections that I have hunches for, but I have found a lot of great information on the device of rhyme and its history throughout our society.  So I am afraid that I am going to write a thesis paper on what I have been learning about even though it doesn't necessarily correlate with the topic assigned to me. 

(I am building my argument... please keep reading...)

The Story of the Dictionary (and my discovery of it)

The English Dictionary is the second most purchased and most used book behind the Bible only.  Of course, there isn't just one dictionary or version of it, just like there are multiple versions of the Bible.  Nevertheless, it is a popular book.  But as one renown dictionary maker (also known as a lexicographer) said, it is meant to be browsed in, not read cover to cover. 

There are several parts of language, and one of them is the actual words that are used, the vocabulary or the lexicon of a language.  This is what a dictionary is meant to help with at its fundamental level: allow people to understand the lexicon of the language.  That is why the first dictionaries were what we would call translation dictionaries and have two different languages in them, usually comparing Latin to some other language.  Later the idea developed to define the vocabulary of one language, creating monolingual dictionaries.  Then the development of ordering a dictionary in alphabetical order was introduced by Englishman Robert Cawdery, which became such an intrinsic part of dictionaries that books that don't do anything similar to a dictionary (define the lexicon) have acquired the title because of the alphabetical listing of their entries.  Then, finally there was the idea of an American dictionary, because our version of English was different from the British, and that's how Merriam-Webster became a household name. 

But really, you don't want to hear the story of the dictionary.  You would much rather hear about my story in the library finding out about dictionaries.  I dislike the fact that we have to put our annotated bibliography in alphabetical order, because that doesn't fit the order of the story, so I have numbered them in chronological order if you want a continuous story of discovery. 

Akkadian Cuneiform - the Hardest Language I Have Ever Tried to Learn!

For my Rosetta Stone project, I was in the Mesopotamian group (Phoenicia is in that area) and we had some difficulties with our language and writing form.  I mostly worked with Catherine to create the first artifact, and so during the second part I took a back seat, and mostly worked as the liaison to the group that received our artifact.  But the first artifact itself was hard enough.

To start with, one of our other group members had talked to  a professor on campus that was fluent in Akkadian cuneiform, so he went and talked to him, and gave us a sheet of paper with the English phonetic syllables and the English translation of the Akkadian, but not the cuneiform.  For that, he told us to go down to the Museum of Peoples and Cultures and look at the actual clay nail that it was written on.  (Note: Akkadian is the language of the Babylonians around 2500 B.C., cuneiform is the script they used to write it down, and Babylonia was the civilization that Catherine studied.)

To Fold or Not to Fold? That is the Publisher's Question

If you have studied Shakespeare even a little bit, you should have been exposed to the idea of folios and quartos, not to mention octavos or thirty-twomo's.  If not you are about to be educated.

A thirty-twomo (its a book size :-)

Marginalia: Facinating or Defacing?

Marginalia: marginal notes or embellishments (as in a book).  Latin.            
Love,
Webster

Marginalia of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

An update on me (I know, SO interesting ;-)

Hey guys!! I have been sick this past week, which is why I missed class on Thursday and have not been commenting.  But I hope to catch up today and tomorrow on comments, because I am interested in what you have learned about and shared.
I have read our instructors' blog post about the Rosetta Project, but I was wondering if there was anything else I should know about class.  What we learned about that was your favorite part or something.  I would appreciate anything you would like to tell me about.  Thanks, and I can't wait to see you on Tuesday!

Questions, With No Real Answers

So what does it mean to "write it down"? To save a piece of information by putting it in a book, on a sticky note, or in a planner? To write/(take) notes instead of just listening? To send a handwritten letter or card, as opposed to a store-bought one, or even an email? How does the significance of writing versus memorization compare in our time? How would it have compared in the time periods we are discussing?

I really didn't do much research for this post, but I am enjoying the thought experiment.  "Critically" thinking about what we have learned about writing so far, and how it has changed our perspective on the world, and how it must have changed the ancients' perspectives.  So I am basically answering the previous questions with my personal, educated opinions, and I want this post to open the blog to yours too.

A Roman Alphabet and Arabic Numerals

Sorry to break the trend, but I am going to step away from the idea of mediums ... and into the realm of numbers.

The Evolution of Numbers

I don't know if I have said this previously, but I love the etymology of words, and knowing the origins of things and what that can teach us about the thing itself, whether it is whole words or letters or numerical symbols.  That's partly why I was so happy I got the Phoenician civilization, because it had the first alphabet (basically).  But as I have continued to study the alphabet and where ours came from (if you can't find "Letter Perfect" at the library, it is because I have it :-),  the thought occurred to me: if we use the Roman alphabet, why don't we use Roman numerals too?  Where did the Arabic ones come from?

The Origins of the Alphabet, Phoenician Style

In the beginning, there were Egyptian hieroglyphs and Mesopotamian cuneiform.  From that sprung the 22-letter Phoenician alphabet that is the Mother of every other alphabetic system known to man.

#3 - Syllabi from a Student

So this post is argumentative in some aspects, but is not meant in the spirit of contention, but in learning through debate, and seeing both sides of a discussion. I actually agree with and appreciate the ideas that Dr. Burton shared in his post, but it got me thinking about the institution of the syllabus and what it means here in college and this is what I have thought about. I would like to address some of the assumptions about students that I feel like underlie the post. I can only speak for myself, and what kind of learner I am, but if you step back and really study the students of today I hope this would apply to others as well. So I will try to stay in first person so you can remember that this is really just my own account. I am going to "offer [my] experience as [my] truth".  I agree with what has been said, but I want to add on a student's perspective.

#2 - Talking to an Academic Professional

During my research on the Phoenicians, I had the opportunity to explore several aspects of their culture and understanding. My interview with Professor Hamblin here at BYU confirmed a lot of my knowledge about the culture and their educational practices, and also brought to light a few of the details that I missed.  Overall, it was an interesting experience to meet with him, because I didn't know him at all, and he didn't know me, (I don't think he even learned my name) and the first time we talked I called him and asked if I could interview him (after doing my research on different professors' specialties).  So picture this, well, awkward setting, when I show up to speak to him during his office hours, though it is an appointment, and he is late because of a department staff meeting, and we finally sit down and I start asking questions and he gives answers and I take some very messy notes.  Below is basically what I learned from our discussion about the Phoenicians and their culture and oral tradition.  

Choices, Choices! #1 - Children’s Stories, From Africa to Mulberry Street

I hope that over the course of today, I will be able to add the other two blog posts that I hope to write, and you can pick which one you would like to comment on (though if you are feeling adventurous, you can comment to all three).  The other two will be a response to Dr. Burton's post on Syllabi and a commentary about my interview with an Ancient Near Eastern Studies Professor on the Phoenicians.  I am excited to write them and share my experiences, and I hope you enjoy reading.  

This past Friday, I did something atypical, and got a few strange looks because of it.  I attended the weekly Storytime at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures, and learned about the role of spiders in African and Caribbean folklore.  The other patrons at the event were mothers and grandmothers of toddlers, and of course the children themselves.  After the stories, we made our own spiders by tracing our hands without our thumbs and I helped a mother of 3 cut out her son’s paper hands.  It was a neat experience for me, and something I would like to repeat. 

Library Experiences!!

Since we are doing oral knowledge, I woud like to tell a story with my post, that has to do with the Phoenicians, education, and unfortunate events.

A couple of days ago, I did a little research on the subject librarians at the Harold B. Lee Library (I learned that they existed through my honors writing class last year).  I found one that dealt with ancient history and the middle east, a Mr. Ryan Combs, and I thought 'perfect'! Yesterday, I got up the courage to go ask for help on my research about the Phoenicians and I am so glad I went.  I had to nervously stand out side his office for a few minutes after I realized that he was actually in there, studying the books on a nearby shelf and telling myself that I was silly not to ask for help.  Finally, I went and stood in the doorway and knocked lightly on the metal door frame. He looked up, turned off whatever game he was watching, and invited me in.  I stepped into the room and explained who I was and what I was looking for, all in a crazy rush, hoping to convey in as few words as possible the topics and assignment that I was trying to learn about.  He immediately turned back to the computer and started typing,  then almost absent-mindedly invited me to sit down.  I got out a pen and a notecard, and we started our discussion on the library's resources on the Phoenicians.

Phoenicia = Purple

The Phoenicians are famous in history for a variety of things - the invention of the "first" alphabet, their amazing purple dye, the cedars of Lebanon, and their great trading ships.  However, oral histories and educational institutes were apparently not one of them.  Or at least not any that we are aware of today, because although they invented a 26- and 22-letter alphabet system that simplified the Egyptian language, they kept their records mostly on papyrus, which decays over time.  Though based on other aspects of their society, I will try and construct some understanding of what their education and oral tradition might have been like.

The Cedar is an important carry-over from ancient times, and is on the modern flag of Lebanon.

Jewish Talmud: To Write or Not to Write? What a Complicated Question!!

The majority of people even slightly rehearsed in Global religions know what the Torah is.  In a general sense it is the Bible of the Jews, containing the books of Moses and the majority of the same books as our King James Version of the Old Testament, just under different headings. 

However, have you ever heard of the Talmud?  This book is another form of Hebrew scripture that originates between 200-100 B.C.  and pertains to folk knowledge because before it was written down and codified, the Talmud was a collection of knowledge that was passed down orally.  The origins of the Talmud are seated in the Jewish belief that along with the written law that the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai, He also gave Moses a set of Oral Laws.  This Oral Law was handed down since that time, and added to by the great Jewish thinkers, priests, and rabbis as the centuries progressed and they gained more knowledge about the Written Law and interpreted it more and more. 

Fencing: A Real Social Experience

Last night, I got stabbed at least 30 times, and stabbed my attacker back at least 40 times.   I was participating in Rebel Swords, a fencing club here at BYU.  Throughout the hour and a half of instruction, I learned how to hold my body and the foil (a fencing sword), how to lunge and recover, and how to parry and thrust.  I learned what it means to suit up in communal fencing gear, and let's just say it is smelly!  I was taught by someone who had been fencing for about a year, and then as I practiced my partner and I taught each other through the experience.  At the end of the night, we were able to view a mock duel from some of the more skilled fencers in the room, and it was an amazing experience.  The most interesting part of the Duel for me was watching the referees.  I myself am a soccer referee, so I have a little empathy for all sport judges, but this was completely different.  I felt awed at the vast knowledge this fellow student had about his sport, and how complicated it all looked and how quickly he was able to see what happened.  The calls he made sounded mostly like a foreign language, but they were probably normal fencing words and I could only interpret the little that I had learned that night. 

We didn't do any moves as cool as these... at least not yet....

Any sport, I feel like, is a very social and folk knowledge type of thing.  It helps to actually see the skill in action when you are trying to learn it, instead of just having someone explain it to you, or reading about it.  I would not be able to do the little that I can if I had tried to learn it from Youtube.  Despite our amazing social networking techniques, there is still something amazing and very important about the personal, physical presence and interaction between two people or a whole group.  I definitely would not have been as excited about learning fencing if it was going to be an experience in front of my computer or TV or a book.  This experience helped me define folk knowledge more personally, and understand the concept better.  Folk knowledge is what we learn when we are with "folk", things that are only experienced in some kind of social context and are best learned that way.