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Troubling Civilizations: Ethnocentrism in World History

Today. Ethnocentrism and the Historian's RoleAnalyze (how/why) rather than judge (good/bad)Evaluate the past on its own terms Some Challenging Examples from Medieval Europe and the Americas (1000 ? 1500) To consider: what do you find troubling in World History, and why?. Today. Ethnocentrism a

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Troubling Civilizations: Ethnocentrism in World History

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    1. Troubling Civilizations: Ethnocentrism in World History

    2. Today Ethnocentrism and the Historian’s Role Analyze (how/why) rather than judge (good/bad) Evaluate the past on its own terms Some Challenging Examples from Medieval Europe and the Americas (1000 – 1500) To consider: what do you find troubling in World History, and why?

    3. Today Ethnocentrism and the Historian’s Role Some Challenging Examples from Medieval Europe and the Americas (1000 – 1500) Medieval religious thought Inca “socialism” Human sacrifice and cannibalism Berdaches / flexible gender systems To consider: what do you find troubling in World History, and why?

    4. Today Ethnocentrism and the Historian’s Role Some Challenging Examples from Medieval Europe and the Americas (1000 – 1500) To consider: what do you find troubling in World History, and why? What are your biases and assumptions? How do they affect your understanding of the past? Why does unexamined ethnocentrism make for poor scholarship

    5. Key Points Historians must evaluate the past on its own terms, and avoid imposing our own biases and assumptions: we do not judge, but analyze The best analyses stem from assuming that societies behave in a way that makes sense to them – thus we try to understand that point of view Seeking to understand the past on its own terms does not mean that we have to accept all behavior as morally equal. Historians do not have to believe that infanticide, slavery, genocide, etc. are ethically ok – our job is to explain, not criticize, the past.

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