#group presentation to plan for ancient civilization/literacy
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Consistently being humbled this week. I was so pissed at how much work I'm being assigned. Feeling like I won't find the time to do it and then? My morning class on Thursday was cancelled/turned into an independent study day. Like damn. I love going to that class! But I really needed a minute to catch up on some grading/reading for another class. I also got an A on my Syntax midterm and I wanna keep that momentum going 😤

(I really be mean mugging in the mornings lol)
#so far I've got#interviews to do for my anthro class#group presentation to plan for ancient civilization/literacy#extra grading for computer science because one of the members of our team is out this week#but now I can take my time with some of these
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Peter’s Vision and Action Plan for ELL Learner’s
Vision: My vision is for ELL learners to come to my classroom and study in an inclusive and welcoming environment. They can meet their goals of improving their level of English while also learning the curriculum content and skills.
My classroom will include modified lessons and assessments for ELL learners that consider their diverse backgrounds and tap into their interests. I will constantly reflect on biases I might have from the dominant culture to ensure I do not fall into eurocentric teaching of history. I will continually relate my history classes to current events that interest many learners, especially ESL students.
I recognize that creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for ESL students also relies on welcoming students, so I will develop ways to include all students, both non-ESL and ESL, in creating a positive classroom atmosphere. I believe that all students can understand different cultures, tolerate diversity in the classroom, and learn from one another's diverse backgrounds. I hope to create a classroom environment where students enjoy developing these skills.
Action Plan: I assume that the ESL teacher at the school will do the initial assessment. This initial assessment will inform my planning and goal setting because I hope to help my student along the Step Process. If the student is at the lower end of the step process, I will give the student some more structured opportunities to use their language in the classroom. If the student is further along, I will still incorporate the students' first language during lessons (although I will do this less often) to build cultural appreciation and understanding.
I will focus on vocabulary development for my ESL students. All students will need to take notes, draw pictures, and write short quizzes to help them remember vocabulary. I will differentiate course readings, so they are at each ELL student's reading level. I will also provide context before we do course readings that provide students with the background and context of their work. I will draw on the wide range of cultures in the classroom by having readings and content in my course work that is diverse, (this is something I have the privilege of being able to do as a history teacher with a curriculum that is more so focused on skill development rather than teaching specific historical content for the students).
By chunking lessons and assignments, I will ensure that all students have the opportunity to excel at a high level.
My classroom will also include group work where ELL students and non-ELL students work together. Students will work in these small groups to develop all aspects of literacy skills. They will read together, actively listen, and discuss topics together as I circle the room and provide assistance. Groups will not always be the same, and for some tasks I will put ESL students together, but my priority will be to mix up groups when I can.
I can help empower ELL students by affirming their cultural and linguistic identity by having inquiry-based lessons about topics relevant to them. There are many Chinese historical resources in English that I can draw upon to relate to my lessons. In my units about Ancient Mesopotamia or Ancient Civilizations from the Americas, I will connect these units to Ancient Chinese Dynasties. When I teach my students about colonization and genocide in the Americas, I can relate this information to the Colonial power's mistreatment of China in the past. When lessons relate past historical events to the present day, I will connect these events to present-day topics in China, like the growing influence of AI, the aging population, immigration from rural areas to urban centers, discrimination against gender and progress that has been made toward gender equality, etc.
At my school, every student has access to their computer in the classroom. In the past, I told students they could not use Chinese websites as references for their research work, but now I've decided to take a different approach. I will allow my students to use Chinese sources for their research as long as they also use the same number of English sources. I can check for the reliability of sources by translating the sources students find. Students can find reliable sources in English and Chinese, and I need to teach the students how to know if their English or Chinese webpages and books are reliable. There are also good English websites based out of China that I can use for readings for my students. 6th Tone is a great resource to help me better understand Chinese Culture as a teacher. China Daily News has accessible articles about Chinese history and current events modified for English Language learners.
I will address different cultural expectations about the education system in China by using both Eastern and Western practices in my education. I will allow students to stand when they answer questions if that makes them more comfortable. I will bring in creative activities I have learned from my Educational training in the West, like Think-Pair-Shares, gallery walks, mini-debates, inquiry-based learning, but most lessons will also have a mini-lecture. The students in China are used to lectures during most of the lesson class for many Chinese courses, so having a mini-lecture in my class can help the students learn in a familiar way.
This is my vision and action plan so far. I'm sure that as I continue to learn, I will make revisions.
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Education & Democracy
Consider a ship. The ship is to undertake a journey - it has to sail through several oceans to reach a land far away. On its way, it will encounter difficult waters, storms even - it is guaranteed to be a difficult journey. Such a voyage requires a skilled captain. In order to determine who should command this ship, a committee of people is going to be established. These people will decide which person is best equipped for this task.
You are the first member of this committee, and you are assigned with the task of recruiting other people for this committee. Note that your task right now is not to choose the captain, but to simply assemble a group of people who will make that decision. Contemplate for a moment - on what basis should this committee be chosen?
The objective of this committee is to choose the best candidate for captain. To do this, we begin by defining a criteria to judge whether a person is a good fit for captain or not. There are, broadly speaking, two categories of concern here.
The first one is technical: what route does the captain plan to take, how does she plan on dealing with storms, etc. The other is not technical: the voyage is not simply about going from point A to point B, it is to ensure that the people onboard are safe and that there is peace and harmony on the ship. For this, we question: is the captain prudent? Is she wise and careful? Is she aggressive? Is she kind?
As average people, it is not possible for us to be experts in each technical aspect - however, in order to judge whether the captain is qualified, it is necessary for at least some of us to possess basic knowledge regarding the technical aspects of sailing.
Now that we’ve established the qualities that we seek in a captain, we can determine the qualities that our committee members must possess.
To judge whether someone has a certain quality, we must possess an understanding of that quality itself. We must understand the benefits of such a quality, and if we seek our captain to have this quality, it must be a good quality, and if it is a good quality, we must ourselves wish to have it. Hence, the people who select the captain must possess the same qualities that they seek in the captain. Our task then boils down to looking for people who possess a subset of the qualities that we wish for the captain to have. Note that if they possess all the qualities that the captain should have, then perhaps they should be captain themselves. Therefore, we restrict our search to people who are strictly less qualified than required for captaincy - they possess certain but not all qualities that are required to become captain.
The people who select the captain, therefore, must be a partial reflection of the captain: the committee must be comprised of people who possess the basics of the technical know-how in order to judge whether the applicant is qualified or not, and also, the values required to judge whether the applicant is the right person to lead and manage the voyage in its non-technical aspects.
* * *
The idea of democracy emerged in ancient Greece. The word comes from ‘demos’ - common people, and ‘kratos’ - strength. Democracy is a Greek concept, and interestingly, one of the strongest criticisms against democracy comes from the founding father of Greek philosophy, Socrates. The story above is simply an extension of the argument that Socrates offered - the ship is the society, the captain is the elected government and the committee of people are the voters.
In a democracy by birthright, each citizen that has attained 18 years of age is allowed to vote. That is to say, each citizen’s opinion is given equal weight in the democratic process. This is equivalent to allowing all the sailors on the boat to be a part of the committee that selects the captain - it is, naturally, ‘equal’, but logically, it guarantees an inefficiency in the outcome of the democratic process - it accounts for the opinion of those who do not possess the skills necessary to make an informed decision. In a highly literate society, this would be a small cost to bear - as long as the majority is capable of critical thinking, the outcome would be efficient, along with the positive side effect of creating a sense of equality amongst the citizens. However, we are not living in a highly ‘literate’ society. Statistically higher literacy rates have failed to account for the limitations of the education.
Education all over the world has been moving further and further away from humanities, closer to natural sciences. Particularly in this part of the world, the education system involves very little amount of compulsory education in philosophy or political science. As jobs in these fields are not economically rewarding, students too lack the incentives to take up these fields or study them. However, what this has created is a society of highly educated illiterates - we understand trigonometry but we do not understand how to reason outside the realm of numbers. Engineering is held in high regard, but political literacy, an education in reasoning, in morality and ethics, it is often dismissed as ‘unnecessary’ for the simple fact that these do not lend themselves very easily to jobs that the capitalist society can absorb. By the virtue of understanding calculus or the laws of motion, one is not naturally equipped to make better decisions. The tools necessary to calculate the trajectory of objects are not the same tools that can be used to differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad - the progress of society has been lopsided.
* * *
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people” - nearly every introduction to the idea of democracy is built around this quote by Abraham Lincoln. It successfully highlights the essence of a democratic institution: people. The people are essentially the engine of a democracy. They participate in the process by adopting different roles: as citizens, journalists, civil servants, political leaders, etc. A democracy works only when all of these perform their functions effectively. Essentially, people are the ground upon which the 4 pillars of a democracy stand.
Our goal, then, becomes to ensure that this ground is firm, that it is fertile, which is to say, to ensure that people are not just well trained but well educated. This is an uncommon belief, in the sense that nobody would rationally disagree with this statement but there are not many people who understand its implications as well as what it demands from us as human beings - it demands a process of constant education - of learning, unlearning and relearning.
The reluctance to devote time and energy to human sciences is a product of several things. The present job market is one of those factors - but then, we don’t do everything just for the sake of work. There is another factor, one that discourages people from moving beyond newspapers and TV and social media - it is the subjectivity.
Society and its functioning does not have a basis in science, at least not in the same sense as the science of the physical world - there are no exact rules that dictate how society works, or how society should work. There are different schools of thought, and each of these lead us on different paths - perhaps, then, there is no objective measure to navigate this space, to understand this world. This belief is only amplified by the environment - the primary source for information in these matters is the news channels, the newspapers. Information has increased, sensationalism has increased, and without being familiar with the fundamentals the govern the debate, we watch news anchors spit over each other, fact after fact, accusation after accusation. With no simple way to understand and to catch up, it seems, the act of being an informed citizen demands far too much these days - how can we be expected to follow the chain of thought and to verify the information being thrown at us, when all of it is happening so quickly? Most people resort to making their own judgements about this information, then, and here too, our judgement is affected by the limits of our knowledge - without a real ‘education’, not just training, but education, our judgement is simply a byproduct of our sentiments - perhaps, this news channel is reliable, or this anchor seems to make sense, or in the past, he has been correct, or his stance is popular. We employ shortcuts in thinking - heuristics - to arrive at what seems to be an approximately correct answer. However, it is far from correct.
Human sciences are subjective, there is no doubt to this - but how subjective? There is no rule, no method that works in every situation - but are there rules that work well in most situations? Is there a way of thinking that can guide us, generally at least, in processing information and understanding society? This is exactly the purpose behind studying history, political science, economics and philosophy. An education in these subjects is essential in developing an understanding of society and participating efficiently in it. People dismiss the study of history - it is true, I gain nothing from learning the exact date that Hitler came to power. However, that is not the true objective of studying history - it is to understand the world that existed before us, so that we can understand how we got here. It is to learn from the mistakes of the past, so that we are not doomed to repeat it. Philosophy, perhaps, receives the strongest criticism - outside academic spaces, it is considered to be a form of intellectual masturbation, with no meaning to be derived from it. Logic is a branch of philosophy that enables us to understand how to reason for ourselves, to determine the validity of a belief, an idea. It is through philosophy that we study ethics, that we learn about morality, the differentiation between right and wrong, good and bad - terms that we encounter every day in our lives, not only in the broader political domain but the personal one too. Yet, most of us receive nearly no formal education in philosophy, and our education in history is limited to learning dates and listing out, in a formulaic manner, the cause and effect of historical events - 8 points for 4 marks, 10 points for 5 marks. To compensate for the lack of critical thinking, some schools have introduced sessions for moral values - to teach kids what is right and what is wrong. Still, the vision is missing - society continues to evolve - the challenges our parents faced are radically different from the ones we face today. It is not enough to teach them what is right and what is wrong - what is necessary is to introduce them to a method through which they can determine this for themselves, for the countless challenges that they will face.
Democracy is flawed because its foundation is flawed: most people are not ‘educated’ in the true sense of being educated - they are highly trained to perform specific jobs. They work as engineers, doctors, businessmen, scientists, designers. The difference between training and education is subtle - but it counts, in every way. Our goal then, to be better people, to be better citizens, involves an education that does not end. It is a pursuit without a fixed answer, and as long as the answer keeps changing, we must keep learning.
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Non-Fiction Resources for Chronicles of Darkness by Gameline
June 6th Update: It seems that Tumblr has a limit to how many links you can put in one post. As a result, I’ve moved the resources for Dark Eras, as well as the links organized by topic, to a separate post that you can find at this link.
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Much like I did for Eberron, I’m putting together some links to non-fiction materials you could use for Chronicles of Darkness. Since CofD is set in a dark mirror of our world, there are a lot of materials that could go in this post, but I will try to be selective. While I am keeping Chronicles in mind while I do this, you could use these links for any other RPG that is set on historical Earth (I’m looking at you, Call of Cthulhu!) Some links may show up more than once if they fit in multiple categories.
This post is very much a work in progress and probably will never be complete because of the broad availability of applicable materials. If you know of a resource that you don’t see on my list, please feel free to reblog/reply/DM me to say what the resource is and why it should be included on the list. I’ll do my best to add it in.
General Websites
Crash Course: It’s free, it’s on Youtube, and it’s in a ten-minute episodic format.
Coursera: Coursera is a website where university level classes are available for free. You can also get certifications from Coursera for a fee so you can build your resume while planning your next chronicle.
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: Dan loves historical “What if?” moments, and with good reason. If you want to hear the most badass historical stories, examine how drugs, alcohol, and human stupidity impacted history, or get a sense of what it was like to live through the most brutal historical eras, this is the place for you.
edX: Another excellent site with free courses that you can upgrade for a certificate. A good place to look for courses in the humanities and religion.
Great Course/Great Courses Plus: GC and GC+ are not free services, but they have such an extraordinarily high production value that you can understand why. History, science, culinary theory, economics, anything you can think of is covered in the Great Courses catalogue. Great Courses Plus is their streaming service, which at $15/month for an annual subscription is a killer deal.
Google Books/Google Scholar: My first goto for research of any kind, and the first place I advise my students to begin their research. Seriously, I’ve written papers, then had them published just using these two. Use them.
JSTOR: If you have operated in any kind of academic circle for the last two and a half decades, you know JSTOR. Full access is tough to come by unless you are currently enrolled in a university, but you can still sign up for free to get access to journals on topics you just can’t find anywhere else (like the Mutapa Empire). Sign up with multiple users if you have to. It works. Trust me.
Open Yale Courses: University classes, taped lectures, and course materials, all from one of the best educational institution in the world. Take advantage of them.
The Vault: Declassified FBI documents. A lot more of them involve the paranormal than you may expect. An excellent source of inspiration both for things that actually happened or that people think happened.
Writing with Colour: The best place to go to check yourself for unintentionally problematic depictions of POC in your games. Also a great read if you are looking for details and cultural beats for NPCs you don’t share a background with. They are awesome and you’d be surprised how many chronicle ideas you can get just by binging their archive.
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Mortal Chronicles
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
Maya to Aztec - Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed: Awesome resource if you are planning to run a Skinchangers game using the Aztec Dark Era.
Medical School for Everyone - Pediatric Grand Rounds: A good place to look for ideas for Innocents
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Beast the Primordial
General
Ancient Marine Reptiles: Yeah, I know, Beast is supposed to be about dragons and monsters, but I guarantee you that plenty of ancient reptiles are also stalking the Primordial Dream. Plus, aquatic reptiles are awesome and don’t get enough face time with the public, so you might want to think about your next Beast being one.
Dino 101: The ultimate course about Dinosaurs. Very beastly.
Early Vertebrate Evolution: What’s so scary about ancient fish, you ask? Only razor jaws and bone for skin.
Secrets to Sleep Science
Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origins of Birds: At five lessons long, this course is pretty short, and the content matter is fascinating (says the biology teacher).
Dark Eras
African-American History: From Emancipation to the Present
The Civil War and Reconstruction Eras
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Signature Settings
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Mountains 101: If you are going to visit Kathmandu, you better be thinking about how mountains will impact your Chronicle!
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Changeling the Lost
General
Secrets to Sleep Science
Successful Negotiation - Essential Strategies and Skills: A very, very Changeling course.
Dark Eras
Atlas Historique de Paris: I can’t read French, but I am assured by people who do that this is an excellent resource.
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
Underground Atlas of Paris
Signature Settings
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Demon the Descent
General
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies
Crash Course Computer Science
Crash Course Games
Digital Signal Processing
Internet History, Technology, and Security
Inventions That Changed the World
Robotics - Ariel Robotics
Successful Negotiation - Essential Strategies and Skills: Also a very, very Demon course.
Dark Eras
Living in the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon
Maya to Aztec - Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed
Ottoman Empire
Signature Settings
Cultural Competence - Aboriginal Sydney
A History of Hitler’s Empire
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Hollywood: History, Industry, Art
Ottoman Empire
World War II - A Military and Social History
Geist the Sin-Eater
General
Death: Seriously, that’s all the course is called. It’s Yale, its good, the name is just to the point.
Soul Beliefs 1 - Historical Foundations
Soul Beliefs 2 - Belief Systems
Soul Beliefs 3 - How Does It All End?
Dark Eras
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
The Great War
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Indigenous Canada
Signature Settings
The Early Middle Ages (284-1000)
History of the United States 2nd Edition
World War II - A Military and Social History
Hunter the Vigil
General
Introduction to Forensics
Aegis Kai Doru
Archaeology - An Introduction to the World’s Greatest Sites
Introduction to Ancient Greek History
Ahl al-Jabal (Source)
Ismaili Gnosis: Okay, breaking alphabetical order here, but this one is special. If you have a passing familiarity with Islam, you may have had the initial thought that the write-up of Ahl al-Jabal doesn’t look like anything you’ve seen before. That’s because Ahl al-Jabal are Nizari Ismaili Shiites and trust me when I say it is extremely accurate (minus the vampire hunting). Ismaili Gnosis is an excellent source for current events, history, and particularly metaphysics as it applies to Ismailis.
Assassin Legends: The Assassin State of the Crusades is legendary, but what most people know about them is just that: legend. If you are using the Ahl al-Jabal, either in historical or modern chronicles, let Farhad Daftary bust the myths about the Nizari State for you. This link only gives you a preview on Google Books, so some pages will be missing, but it is still worth a read.
Ama-San (Source)
Oceanography- Exploring Earth’s Final Wilderness
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Ascending Ones
History of Ancient Egypt
Ashwood Abbey
Wine Tasting - Sensory Techniques for Wine Analysis: Are you really part of the Abbey if you aren’t a wine connoisseur?
Ave Minerva (Source)
The History of Rome Podcast
Azusa Miko (Source)
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Barrett Commission (Source)
Crash Course US Government & Politics
The Bear Lodge (Source)
Mountains 101
Bijin (Source)
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
The Cainite Heresy (Source)
Gnosticism - From Nag Hammadi to the Gospel of Judas
Lost Christianities
Cheiron Group
Critical Business Skills for Success
Economic History of the World Since 1400
Division Six (Source)
Crash Course US Government & Politics: Division Six may not actually be a part of the US Government, but they sure think they are, so understanding how they think they fit in isn’t a bad idea.
The Faithful of Shulpae (Source)
The Ancient Near East - History, Society, and Economy
Habibti Ma (Source)
The United States and the Middle East - 1914 to 9/11
Hototogisu (Source)
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
The Hunt Club (Source)
Forensic History
Illuminated Brotherhood (Source)
Addiction and the Brain
The Addictive Brain
Drugs and the Brain
Keepers of the Source (Source)
Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behaviour
Keepers of the Weave (Source)
Indigenous Canada
Knights of Saint Adrian (Source)
Why Evil Exists
Knights of Saint George (Source)
The History of Christianity
Les Mysteres (Source)
Crash Course Mythology
Cultural Literacy for Religion
Great Mythologies of the World
Les Voyageurs (Source)
Indigenous Canada
The Long Night
The Apocolypse - Controversies and Meanings in Western History
The History of Christianity
Lost Christianities
The Loyalists of Thule
A History of Hitler’s Empire
World War II - A Military and Social History
The Lucifuge
Why Evil Exists
Maiden’s Blood Sisterhood (Source)
How to Become a Superstar Student
The Modern Political Tradition
Malleus Maleficarum
The History of Christianity
Lost Christianities
Why Evil Exists
The Merrick Institute (Source)
Medical School for Everyone - Pediatric Grand Rounds
Secrets to Sleep Science
Network Zero
Internet History, Technology, and Security
Night Watch (Source)
Why Evil Exists
Null Mysteriis
Animal Behaviour
Introduction to Forensics
Mountains 101
Otodo (Source)
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Why Evil Exists
The Promethean Brotherhood (Source)
Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Greek 101
Latin 101
Miracles of Human Language - An Introduction to Linguistics
The Story of Human Language
Protectors of the Light (Source)
Indigenous Canada
The Reckoning (Source)
Heroes and Legends - The Most Influential Characters in Literature
The Scarlet Watch (Source)
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Task Force VALKYRIE
Crash Course US Government & Politics
History of the United States 2nd Edition
World War II - A Military and Social History
Talbot Group (Source)
Psychological First Aid
The Union
Cities Are Back in Town - Urban Sociology
Utopia Now (Source)
Great Works of Utopian and Dystopian Literature
Vanguard Serial Crimes Unit (Source)
Introduction to Forensics
The Vault: The FBI’s online archive of popular declassified documents. Lots of weird stuff, and the perfect source of inspiration for VSCU.
Yuri’s Group (Source)
De-Mystifying Mindfullness
Healing with the Arts
How Music Can Change Your Life
Dark Eras
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
History of Ancient Egypt
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Indigenous Canada
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Signature Settings
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Mage the Awakening
General
Addiction and the Brain: Mage 2e’s theme is “Addicted to Mysteries.” Understanding that addiction is a good place to start.
The Addictive Brain
Ancient Philosophy - Aristotle & His Successors
Ancient Philosophy - Plato & His Predecessors: If there is one course on philosophy you take for Mage, it should probably be this one. At four lessons, this is a pretty quick one to complete.
Gnosticism - From Nag Hammadi to the Gospel of Judas
Magic in the Middle Ages
Dark Eras
Great Zimbabwe in Historical Archaeology
History of Ancient Egypt
Introduction to Ancient Greek History
Politics and Long-Distance Trade in the Mwene Mutapa Empire
World War II - A Military and Social History
Signature Settings
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Hollywood: History, Industry, Art
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Mummy the Curse
General
Archaeology - An Introduction to the World’s Greatest Sites: Let’s go find some Relics!
History of Ancient Egypt
Introduction Ancient Egypt and Its Civilisation
Soul Beliefs 1 - Historical Foundations
Soul Beliefs 2 - Belief Systems
Soul Beliefs 3 - How Does It All End?
Dark Eras
The Early Middle Ages (284-1000)
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
The Great War
Great Zimbabwe in Historical Archaeology
Ottoman Empire
Politics and Long-Distance Trade in the Mwene Mutapa Empire
Signature Settings
The American Revolution
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Promethean the Created
General
Introduction to the Biology of Cancer
Understanding Cancer Metastasis
Dark Eras
African-American History: From Emancipation to the Present
Epidemics in Western Society since 1600
Signature Settings
Antarctica: From Geology to Human History
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
History of the United States 2nd Edition
National Geographic Polar Explorations: Follow the steps of Doctor Frankenstein.
World War II - A Military and Social History
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
Werewolf the Forsaken
General
Animal Behaviour
Dark Eras
African-American History: From Emancipation to the Present
The Ancient Near East - History, Society, and Economy
Cybele: The Great Mother of the Augustan Order
The Great War
Hardcore History - Punic Nightmares
The Early Middle Ages (284-1000)
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Signature Settings
The Civil War and Reconstruction Eras
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Mountains 101: An awesome course in general, but especially useful for Werewolf’s signature setting, the Colorado Rockies.
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
War for the Greater Middle East
Vampire the Requiem
General
Clans
Animal Behaviour
History of Ancient Egypt
Introduction Ancient Egypt and Its Civilisation
Carthian Movement
Circle of the Crone
Magic in the Middle Ages
Invictus
Lancea et Sanctum
Magic in the Middle Ages
Ordo Dracul
Ottoman Empire
Dark Eras
African-American History: From Emancipation to the Present
The Civil War and Reconstruction Eras
The Early Middle Ages (284-1000)
Epidemics in Western Society since 1600
The Great War
Living in the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon
Ottoman Empire
Digital Tour of Tutor London
Signature Settings
Foundations of Eastern Civilization
History of the United States 2nd Edition
Introduction to Ancient Greek History
Understanding Japan - A Cultural History
#chronicles of darkness#cofd#nwod#onyx path publishing#OPP#RPG#worldbuilding#resources#learning#education#continuing education
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Education & Democracy
Consider a ship. The ship is to undertake a journey - it has to sail through several oceans to reach a land far away. On its way, it will encounter difficult waters, storms even - it is guaranteed to be a difficult journey. Such a voyage requires a skilled captain. In order to determine who should command this ship, a committee of people is going to be established. These people will decide which person is best equipped for this task.
You are the first member of this committee, and you are assigned with the task of recruiting other people for this committee. Note that your task right now is not to choose the captain, but to simply assemble a group of people who will make that decision. Contemplate for a moment - on what basis should this committee be chosen?
The objective of this committee is to choose the best candidate for captain. To do this, we begin by defining a criteria to judge whether a person is a good fit for captain or not. There are, broadly speaking, two categories of concern here.
The first one is technical: what route does the captain plan to take, how does she plan on dealing with storms, etc. The other is not technical: the voyage is not simply about going from point A to point B, it is to ensure that the people onboard are safe and that there is peace and harmony on the ship. For this, we question: is the captain prudent? Is she wise and careful? Is she aggressive? Is she kind?
As average people, it is not possible for us to be experts in each technical aspect - however, in order to judge whether the captain is qualified, it is necessary for at least some of us to possess basic knowledge regarding the technical aspects of sailing.
Now that we’ve established the qualities that we seek in a captain, we can determine the qualities that our committee members must possess.
To judge whether someone has a certain quality, we must possess an understanding of that quality itself. We must understand the benefits of such a quality, and if we seek our captain to have this quality, it must be a good quality, and if it is a good quality, we must ourselves wish to have it. Hence, the people who select the captain must possess the same qualities that they seek in the captain. Our task then boils down to looking for people who possess a subset of the qualities that we wish for the captain to have. Note that if they possess all the qualities that the captain should have, then perhaps they should be captain themselves. Therefore, we restrict our search to people who are strictly less qualified than required for captaincy - they possess certain but not all qualities that are required to become captain.
The people who select the captain, therefore, must be a partial reflection of the captain: the committee must be comprised of people who possess the basics of the technical know-how in order to judge whether the applicant is qualified or not, and also, the values required to judge whether the applicant is the right person to lead and manage the voyage in its non-technical aspects.
* * *
The idea of democracy emerged in ancient Greece. The word comes from ‘demos’ - common people, and ‘kratos’ - strength. Democracy is a Greek concept, and interestingly, one of the strongest criticisms against democracy comes from the founding father of Greek philosophy, Socrates. The story above is simply an extension of the argument that Socrates offered - the ship is the society, the captain is the elected government and the committee of people are the voters.
In a democracy by birthright, each citizen that has attained 18 years of age is allowed to vote. That is to say, each citizen’s opinion is given equal weight in the democratic process. This is equivalent to allowing all the sailors on the boat to be a part of the committee that selects the captain - it is, naturally, ‘equal’, but logically, it guarantees an inefficiency in the outcome of the democratic process - it accounts for the opinion of those who do not possess the skills necessary to make an informed decision. In a highly literate society, this would be a small cost to bear - as long as the majority is capable of critical thinking, the outcome would be efficient, along with the positive side effect of creating a sense of equality amongst the citizens. However, we are not living in a highly ‘literate’ society. Statistically higher literacy rates have failed to account for the limitations of the education.
Education all over the world has been moving further and further away from humanities, closer to natural sciences. Particularly in this part of the world, the education system involves very little amount of compulsory education in philosophy or political science. As jobs in these fields are not economically rewarding, students too lack the incentives to take up these fields or study them. However, what this has created is a society of highly educated illiterates - we understand trigonometry but we do not understand how to reason outside the realm of numbers. Engineering is held in high regard, but political literacy, an education in reasoning, in morality and ethics, it is often dismissed as ‘unnecessary’ for the simple fact that these do not lend themselves very easily to jobs that the capitalist society can absorb. By the virtue of understanding calculus or the laws of motion, one is not naturally equipped to make better decisions. The tools necessary to calculate the trajectory of objects are not the same tools that can be used to differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad - the progress of society has been lopsided.
* * *
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people” - nearly every introduction to the idea of democracy is built around this quote by Abraham Lincoln. It successfully highlights the essence of a democratic institution: people. The people are essentially the engine of a democracy. They participate in the process by adopting different roles: as citizens, journalists, civil servants, political leaders, etc. A democracy works only when all of these perform their functions effectively. Essentially, people are the ground upon which the 4 pillars of a democracy stand.
Our goal, then, becomes to ensure that this ground is firm, that it is fertile, which is to say, to ensure that people are not just well trained but well educated. This is an uncommon belief, in the sense that nobody would rationally disagree with this statement but there are not many people who understand its implications as well as what it demands from us as human beings - it demands a process of constant education - of learning, unlearning and relearning.
The reluctance to devote time and energy to human sciences is a product of several things. The present job market is one of those factors - but then, we don’t do everything just for the sake of work. There is another factor, one that discourages people from moving beyond newspapers and TV and social media - it is the subjectivity.
Society and its functioning does not have a basis in science, at least not in the same sense as the science of the physical world - there are no exact rules that dictate how society works, or how society should work. There are different schools of thought, and each of these lead us on different paths - perhaps, then, there is no objective measure to navigate this space, to understand this world. This belief is only amplified by the environment - the primary source for information in these matters is the news channels, the newspapers. Information has increased, sensationalism has increased, and without being familiar with the fundamentals the govern the debate, we watch news anchors spit over each other, fact after fact, accusation after accusation. With no simple way to understand and to catch up, it seems, the act of being an informed citizen demands far too much these days - how can we be expected to follow the chain of thought and to verify the information being thrown at us, when all of it is happening so quickly? Most people resort to making their own judgements about this information, then, and here too, our judgement is affected by the limits of our knowledge - without a real ‘education’, not just training, but education, our judgement is simply a byproduct of our sentiments - perhaps, this news channel is reliable, or this anchor seems to make sense, or in the past, he has been correct, or his stance is popular. We employ shortcuts in thinking - heuristics - to arrive at what seems to be an approximately correct answer. However, it is far from correct.
Human sciences are subjective, there is no doubt to this - but how subjective? There is no rule, no method that works in every situation - but are there rules that work well in most situations? Is there a way of thinking that can guide us, generally at least, in processing information and understanding society? This is exactly the purpose behind studying history, political science, economics and philosophy. An education in these subjects is essential in developing an understanding of society and participating efficiently in it. People dismiss the study of history - it is true, I gain nothing from learning the exact date that Hitler came to power. However, that is not the true objective of studying history - it is to understand the world that existed before us, so that we can understand how we got here. It is to learn from the mistakes of the past, so that we are not doomed to repeat it. Philosophy, perhaps, receives the strongest criticism - outside academic spaces, it is considered to be a form of intellectual masturbation, with no meaning to be derived from it. Logic is a branch of philosophy that enables us to understand how to reason for ourselves, to determine the validity of a belief, an idea. It is through philosophy that we study ethics, that we learn about morality, the differentiation between right and wrong, good and bad - terms that we encounter every day in our lives, not only in the broader political domain but the personal one too. Yet, most of us receive nearly no formal education in philosophy, and our education in history is limited to learning dates and listing out, in a formulaic manner, the cause and effect of historical events - 8 points for 4 marks, 10 points for 5 marks. To compensate for the lack of critical thinking, some schools have introduced sessions for moral values - to teach kids what is right and what is wrong. Still, the vision is missing - society continues to evolve - the challenges our parents faced are radically different from the ones we face today. It is not enough to teach them what is right and what is wrong - what is necessary is to introduce them to a method through which they can determine this for themselves, for the countless challenges that they will face.
Democracy is flawed because its foundation is flawed: most people are not ‘educated’ in the true sense of being educated - they are highly trained to perform specific jobs. They work as engineers, doctors, businessmen, scientists, designers. The difference between training and education is subtle - but it counts, in every way. Our goal then, to be better people, to be better citizens, involves an education that does not end. It is a pursuit without a fixed answer, and as long as the answer keeps changing, we must keep learning.
Written by Shivam Gangwani
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Simple English Word List
SIMPLE1540 : a simple English wikipedia word list based on the XML export of all articles related to the nine major groups: Everyday life, Geography, History, Knowledge, Language, Literature, People, Religion, and Science and retaining all word forms appearing 7 times or more in this corpus. The total number of words in this corpus is well over the 100.000 words. a A.D. ability able about above absence abstinence abstract academic academy accent accept access accord account across act action active activity actual actually ad add addition adherent adjective adult advance advice affect after again against age agnostic agnosticism ago agree agreement agriculture air alcohol all allow ally almost alone along alphabet also although always amateur amendment among amount an analysis ancient and angel animal annals anonymous another answer anthropomorphism any anyone anything aphasia appear apple apply approach archaeology architecture area argue argument around arrange art article artificial artist ask aspect associate association astronomy at atheism atheist atomic attack attempt attribute audience author authority available average avoid award away B.C. baby back background backpack bad bah balance band baptism base basic basis battle BCE be bear beautiful beauty because become bed bee before begin behavior behind being belief believe believing belong below best better between beyond bias biblical bibliography big billion biological biology birth bit black blind blood blue body book born both bottom boundary box boy brain branch bring brown buffalo build building bull burn business but by c. ca. calendar call can cancer canon capital caption car carbon card carry case cassette cat category cathedral catholic cause cell center central century cerebral certain change chapel chapter character chemical chemistry child china China choice choir choose chronicle church circumcise circumcision cite citizen city civil civilian civilization claim clan class classical cleanup clear clergy click climate close closer clothes clothing coast coauthor code codex cognitive col cold collection college colonization colony color column com come commentary commission common commonly communicate communication communion communist community companion company compare competition complete complex compose composer computer concept conception concern condition confuse confusion congregational connect connection conquer conquest consciousness consider consistent constitution construct construction contain contemporary content context continent continue contrary control convention conversation conversion convert cook cooking copy core correct could council country course court cover covered create creation credit crime critical criticism crop cross crust cultural culture current currently daily damage dark data date day dead death debt decadence decadent decide declaration decline deconstruction deep define definition deity demonstrate denomination department depth describe description design detail determinism developed development device devil diagnosis dialect dictionary die difference different difficult difficulty diphthong dipstick direct directly dirt disagree disambiguation disbelief discipline discover discovery discussion disease disorder distance distinct distinction distinguish distribution divide divine do doctor doctrine document dog don't door down Dr. dream drink drown druid due during dynasty each earlier early earth easier easily easy eat economic economics economy ed edge edit edition editor education effect eight either electric electricity electronic element elevation else emperor empire encyclopedia end energy engine engineering enlightenment enough enter entertainment environment environmental epic episode equal era error especially establish etc. etymology even event eventually ever every everyday everyone everything evidence evil evolution evolve exact exactly example except exchange exist existence expansion experience experiment expert explain explanation express expression external extinct face fact failure fair faith fall false family famous far fast father feature feel feeling female feudal few fiction field fight figure file find finding fire first fish fit five fix flow folk follow food for force 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inquiry inside instead institute institution instrument instrumentation intellectual intelligence interlinear internal international internet interpretation into introduce introduction invent invention involve iron island issue it IT itself job join journal journalism judge just keep key kill kind king kingdom know knowledge la LA label lack lake lamp land landlocked landscape language large last late later law lead leader leap learn learned least leave legacy legal legend let letter level lexeme library life light lightning like likely limited line linguistic linguistics link liquid list literacy literary literature little liturgy live local location logic logical long longer look lord lore lose lot love low lower mac machine magazine magic magnetic magnum mail main mainly major make male mammal man mankind manuscript many map march March mark market mass material mathematical mathematics matter may May me mean meaning meant measure measurement meat median medical medicine medieval mediterranean medium meet member memory men mental mention mercury message metal method mid middle might migrate migration military millennium million mind minister minute misconception miss model modern modernism modernist moment money monologue monophthong month monument moon moral morality more morning most mostly mother mount mountain mouth move movement much museum music musical musicians must my myth mythology name narrative nation national nationality native natural naturalism naturally nature near nearly necessarily necessary need negative neither neologism network neurogenesis neuron neuroscience never new news newspaper next night nine no non none nor normal normally not note nothing noun novel now nuclear number object objective objectivity observation observe occupation occur ocean octane of off offer office official officially often oil old older on once one online only open opera opposite or oral orbit order org organization organize origin original originally orthography orthology other others our out outer outside over own oxygen p. pack pagan page paint palace paper paradigm parent parish park part participant particular particularly party pas pass past pasta pattern pay peace peer penguin penis people per percent percentage perception performance perhaps period peroxide persecution person personal personality perspective persuasion pet phenomenon philosopher philosophical philosophy phoneme phonetic phonetics photo phrase physic physical picture piece pilgrimage place plan planet plant plat plate play please poem poems poet poetry point pole police policy political politics polytheism polytheistic popular population position positive possession possible possibly post power powerful pp. practical practice praise pray prayer precise predict prediction prehistory present preserve press prevent priest primary principle print printing private probably problem process produce product production professional program project pronounce pronunciation proof property prophet propose prose proselytism protection protein provide province psychological psychology public publication publish publisher publishing punishment pure purpose put pyramid quantum question quickly quite quote race racial rack radiation radio rain range rate rather read reader real realism reality really reason receive recent recently reclamation recognize record recreation red ref refer reference referred reform reformation regard region reign rejection relate relation relationship relatively relativity reliable relic religion religious remain remember remove renaissance replace report republic request require research researcher resource respect response result resurrection retrieve return revelation revert review revision revival revolution rhetoric rich right rise ritual river rock role room royal rule ruled ruler run rural sacred sacrifice safe saga sage saint salad same sample satellite saw say schizophrenia scholar school science scientific scientist scope sea search second secondary section secular see seek seem selection self sense sent sentence separate sequence series service set seven several sexual shall shaman shape share she short should show shrine side sign significant silence similar simple simply since single situation six size skill skin slavery sleep slightly slow small smell smith snake so social society sociology soft soil solar soldier solid soliloquy some someone something sometimes song soon sortable sound source space speak speaker special specie specific speech speed spell spirit spiritual spirituality split sport spread square st. stage stain standard star start state statement station statistic statistical statue status stick still stone stop story strange strap strong structure struggle stub student study stutter style subject successful such sugar suggest sun sung sunlight superior superiority supernatural support suppose supreme sure surface survey surveyor sushi sustainability sustainable sweat symbol symbolic system table take talk tam tan task teach teacher teaching technique technology tectonics teeth tell temperature template temple ten term terminology territory tertiary test testament text textual than thank that the their theism them themselves then theology theoretical theory therapy there therefore thesaurus these they thick thing think third this those though thought thousand three through throughout thumb thus ticket tight time title to today together toilet tolerance toleration tongue too tool top topic total towards tower trade tradition traditional train translation transport travel treat treatment tree trench trial tribe tried trig true truth try turn twentieth twenty two type typical typically ultimate ultraviolet under understand understood union unit united universal universe university unknown unsortable until up upon upper urban urbanization usage use useful usually valley value van vandalism various vassal vegetable verb verbal verse version very video view violence virgin visit vitamin vocabulary voice vol. volume vowel vs. wale wall want war warm warmer wash waste water wave way we weak wealth wear weather web website weight well what when where whether which while white who whole whom whose why wide widely wild wilderness will window wisdom wise witch witchcraft with within without witness woman word work worker world worship would write writer writing wrong yam year yellow you young your
China, March and May made this list because china, march and may are on it and I didn't want to decide in favor of the common noun or the proper noun; all other proper nouns have been omitted (even the ten other months that met the criterium of appearing more then 6 times). #SimpleWikipedia #SimpleEnglish #wordlist #English #words #level1540 #Inli #nimi #selo1540
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