2.3 The universities Turning to the universities, scholars have discovered that much more was going on during the late seventeenth century than the unimaginative training of young men for ministry in a dour church. Another legacy from the Reformation in Scotland was a recognition of the need for education, and, by the beginning of the eighteenth century, five universities, in four cities, were well established. (England, a far larger country, had only two.) Research and specialist teaching was held back by a syst
2.2 The Church The Scottish Church seems an unlikely place to look for the stirrings of enlightenment. In 1690, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed an act against ‘the Atheistical Opinions of the Deists’, and, in 1696, an eighteen-year-old Edinburgh University student was executed for denying some of the propositions of Christianity. The legacy of the Scottish, Calvinist Reformation, it seems, was one of conformism, intolerance and narrow-mindedness. But this is not the whole sto
2.1 The Act of Union, 1707 Before examining Scottish science in detail, we need a sketch of the particular Scottish historical background from which an astonishing cluster of intellectuals and ideas emerged. It needs to be said at the outset, however, that there is no scholarly consensus as to why a small, poor country in Northern Europe should have made such a disproportionately large contribution to the thought of the age. The event in Scottish history which tends to polarise opinion among scholars is the Act o
4.5 Questions The final activity in this section asks you to bring together the observations you’ll have made after watching each section of video. Consider the following questions: Can 4.4 The meanings of adinkra Once you’ve watched the video, make some notes on what you’ve learnt about the meanings of adinkra. 4.1 The functions of kente In Section 4 you will learn about the many uses of kente and adinkra. Once you’ve watched the video, make a few notes on what you learnt about the functions of kente. 3.5 What can we learn? The next activity poses a question that should encourage you to bring together the various observations you made above. What can we learn from who is trained and the way people train to make kente and adinkr 2.2 Adinkra Once you’ve watched the video, use your own words to explain what adinkra is. 2.4.2 The visual arts These are closely related to archaeology. They, too, are things we can look at and touch after all. The difference is very much one of interpretation. Are the Parthenon statues art or archaeology; is an ancient painted pot art or archaeology? In order to avoid such questions, many people use the term ‘material culture’ to cover both. For many purposes, the difference doesn't matter. In fact, it is a good illustration of the advantages of interdisciplinary work, with different kinds of app 2.4.1 Archaeological evidence This feels in some ways like the most ‘real’ source – where you can almost touch the Classical world, and where you get a sense of what the Classical world looked like. Classical archaeology covers a wide range of areas: not just buildings like the Parthenon or the temples at Paestum, but also cities, landscapes, graves, coins, battlefields, everyday items, plant and animal remains, ancient rubbish and much else. Archaeology often throws up evidence where literature doesn't. People, aft 2.4 Ancient sources As you have seen, exploring the Classical world is an interdisciplinary pursuit. Perhaps the most immediately obvious aspect of this interdisciplinary approach is that you will confront different kinds of ancient sources, often simultaneously, since one of them by itself may not be sufficient for answering a particular question you may have. Quite apart from whether a source is ancient or modern, the different disciplines that make up Classical Studies use different kinds of source material. 2.2 An initial exploration To begin your own exploration of the Classical world, you will first read the introduction to the book of essays, Experiencing the Classical World. It has been written not only to introduce the essays in the book, but also to introduce you to some of the fundamentals of Classical Studies. 2.1 Introducing Classical studies It's time to get a little closer to our topic: the Classical world. We will start off with an activity in the format used throughout the course A219 Exploring the Classical World, from which this unit is derived. Although some of what is noted in the attached video footage is only dealt with in detail within the original course, viewing it should prepare you for your work in this unit. It should also whet your appetite for further studies in this fascinating area! 1 Why study the Classical world? Welcome to A219_1 Introducing the Classical world. There will be many different reasons why you have chosen this unit. You may have a lifelong fascination with the ancient world, and hope to nurture it by studying this unit. Or you may know very little about it and are curious to know more. Alternatively, you may have been prompted by some of the many aspects of the Classical world that are present in our world today, be it physical remains, theatre, films, books, words or ideas. This Introduction This unit aims to get you started on exploring the Classical world by introducing you to the sources upon which you can build your knowledge and understanding. The unit also gets you started on an exploration of both time and space in the Classical world. This unit is an adapted extract from the Open University course Exploring the classical world (A219). References 4.2 Raiding your past The more you write, the more you will raid your own past. These incursions won't diminish or reduce your memories – rather those recollections can be enriched and become more fully realised. As Jamaica Kincaid says of her writing: One of the things I found when I began to write was that writing exactly what happened had a limited amount of power for me. To say exactly what happened was less than what I knew happe 4.1 Using memories to order narrative The philosopher John Locke made the assertion that individual identity is inextricably linked to memory – we are only what we remember being. Memory is a central part of how we think of ourselves, and indeed a central strand of what we might know. Memory is not simply a mechanical process. It works in various ways and you will use it in various ways in your writing. If you study A215 Creative Writing, the course from which this unit was extracted, you will have the opportunity to think abou 3.2 Contexts On their own, sensory perceptions don't tend to mean that much. They depend on a context in which they can be brought to life: for instance, that of a character. Such sensory perceptions as you've just listed in Activity 4 might hold more meaning if the man who twitches the curtains was the character smelling the smells or touching the surfaces; if his neighbour in the purple sari was the character hearing the noises, tasting the flavours. Sensory perceptions offer dimensions that will enrich 3.1 Involving all of the senses Becoming more aware of the everyday world around you involves more than just looking. If writing is a perceptual art then perception should involve all of the senses, not just the visual. You must also start to smell, feel, taste and hear the world you are trying to realise. So, in the made up scenario, when you see the man with the Scottie dog you might be too fearful to stroke his dog, but perhaps you could touch the cold metal bar where the dog was tied up – after he is gone, of course!
Activity 16
Activity 15
Activity 12
Activity 11
Activity 2
Activi
