Understanding Culture and History

Understanding Culture and History

Part 1

Question One

According to Strayer (2019), culture denotes how people behave and act. On the other hand, civilization refers to the extent to which a society or a community exceeds an advanced way of thinking.

Question Two

Regarding the reliance on expert opinion, Strayer avers that experts can provide valuable ideas to help create solutions. However, such ideas can only be regarded as truthful if they are based on data or facts verified by others in that field.

Question Three

Between the two assertions, I find the expert opinion argument speculative. Sometimes individuals possess valuable information but lack any evidence to back the information. On the other hand, I find the difference between culture and civilization quite convincing. However, I would like to understand how to define behaviours and actions showing an individual is civilized.

Part 2

Question One

From the outset, the image on page 137 seems to depict a regular servant-employer interaction, whereby the employee hands their boss something to drink. In no way does the image show that the servant is being bullied. However, after reading the succeeding comments, it turns out that these enslaved people were forcefully captured (Strayer, 2019). Romans captured and enslaved their prisoners, who mostly originated from North Africa. Whereas home-born slaves were regarded as easy to deal with and hence received some better treatment, enslaved people who had experienced freedom at some point in their lives were regarded as difficult to deal with.

Question Two

Pastoralists living on the northern fringes of the Greek and Roman civilizations believed in class stratification. To that end, marriage and eating were only permissible among members of the same class. For instance, those in a higher social class (jati) were permitted to eat meat, whereas those from a lower social class could not.

Reading Chapter Three

After reading chapter three, I am more impressed by the greatness of empires. One of the most admirable aspects of the empires is how they spread culture and religion. For instance, the spread of Christianity to non-Muslim African regions is attributed to the expansion of empires. As the religion spread, so did some positive values and morals.

References

Strayer, R. W. (2019). Ways Of The World With Sources: for the AP course. Bedford’s St. Martin’s/McMillian Learning: Boston, MA.

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Understanding Culture and History

Required text:

Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. Combined/Fourth Edition. Bedford’s St. Martin’s/McMillian Learning: Boston, MA. 2019.

Discussion Part 1:

In Historians’ Voices: Voice 2.1 and 2.2 on pages 92-93, answer the following questions:

1. How does the term “civilization” differ from the use of “society” or “culture”?
2. To what extent can we rely on experts’ opinions as accurate and truthful?
3. Which argument(s) do you find convincing, and which idea(s) are more speculative? What question(s) or concern(s) do you have from the two selections?

Discussion part 2:

In Source 3.4 entitled “A Roman Depiction of Sarmatians” on pages 136-137, answer the following questions:

1. What is your initial impression (without reading the text) of the depicted image on page 137? How does it change after reading the notes/comments about it?
2. Look at the depiction of Scythians in Source 3.2 (page 134) and the Sarmatians (page 137), what do you learn about pastoralists who lived on the northern fringes of the Greek and Roman civilizations?

From reading Chapter 3,

1. Are you more impressed with the “greatness” of empires or with their destructive and oppressive features? Why?