Celtic History??

[Burly Brute]

Not sure if this book was suggested on another post or not but you may be interested in Senator Jim Webb's book "Born Fighting; How The Scots-Irish Shaped America". Might have the kind of history lesson you are looking for. Here is a link for it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Awesome! I will definitely check that out. Thanks so much!

[macwilkin]

Not sure if this book was suggested on another post or not but you may be interested in Senator Jim Webb's book "Born Fighting; How The Scots-Irish Shaped America". Might have the kind of history lesson you are looking for. Here is a link for it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

James Leyburn's The Scotch-Irish: a Social History is a better scholarly work, but still very readable, and a good place to start with the history of the Ulster-Scots. Webb's book isn't bad per se, but there are better one volume Ulster-Scots histories available.

T.

[macwilkin]

No need to feel cheated. Education is a gift you give yourself, and it has little to do with schools. Most of what we learn is seriously flawed. Learning to sort the wheat from the chaff is a tough gig. Most curriculum plans are laid out with other guidelines than truth and fact. Bias blinds and warps the best intentions, so little of what is gleaned in school is untarnished. I had professors tell me "You're right and we both know it, but I can't say that in class". A friend was a quarter or two from a divinity degree when he was told he couldn't tell church history as it happened because "the congregation isn't ready to know that, just tell them what they've always heard". Being told the truth wasn't welcome sent him to art school. Jesus said the truth will set you free, Jack said you can't handle the truth. one has to find the courage to walk that path one's own self, but marriage, job, kids, get in the way, and where one's bread is buttered emotionally will hide the truth.

It's a grand journey. Enjoy the ride.

Remember that there are those of us who make education our vocation, and your remarks aren't necessarily true for everyone in the field. As an educator who takes his work very seriously, I find your remarks and insinuations just a wee bit inflammatory.

Have you stood behind the podium before?

T.

[BEEDEE]

Dundee University, in conjuntion with the Open University offer two distance learning courses in Scottish History that can be taken in the USA.

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/admissions/d...ertificate.htm

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/admissions/d...ertificate.htm

I keep looking at them and think... one of these days!

Brian

[macwilkin]

Dundee University, in conjuntion with the Open University offer two distance learning courses in Scottish History that can be taken in the USA.

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/admissions/d...ertificate.htm

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/admissions/d...ertificate.htm

I keep looking at them and think... one of these days!

Brian

"Closer to home" is Lyon College in North Central Arkansas, which also offers a Scottish Studies major. Lyon also sponsors a Highland Games each year.

T.

[The Wizard of BC]

Also please remember that the concept of "Celtic" referring to "a race of peoples" is a rather new idea. The Celts are not a single peoples. They are those who speak one of the Celtic Languages.

To think of the Celts as a single race is about the same as thinking of the Germans or the French as a single race.

Those who created the "La Tene" form of art with the intertwined knots and animalistic forms of far eastern France and Switzerland and those who left the standing stone circles along the western coast of France and the British Isles were two different and distinct cultures.

The concept of referring to oneself as Celtic is an idea that is only a few generations old. The concept would have sounded strange to someone from the 18th Century.

[macwilkin]

Also please remember that the concept of "Celtic" referring to "a race of peoples" is a rather new idea. The Celts are not a single peoples. They are those who speak one of the Celtic Languages.

To think of the Celts as a single race is about the same as thinking of the Germans or the French as a single race.

Those who created the "La Tene" form of art with the intertwined knots and animalistic forms of far eastern France and Switzerland and those who left the standing stone circles along the western coast of France and the British Isles were two different and distinct cultures.

The concept of referring to oneself as Celtic is an idea that is only a few generations old. The concept would have sounded strange to someone from the 18th Century.

That's a good point, Steve; As I tell my students, the nation of Germany didn't even exist until 1870; before that there were over 300 Germanic states, from Prussia to Bavaria.

T.

[MacBean]

...I have never been taught anything much about celtic history. I am getting a degree in Biblical Studies ...

In your shoes, I would certainly want to read up on the early Celtic Christian Church, I'd want to go to Ireland if possible, and I'd visit Trinity College in Dublin to see the Book of Kells and the terrific museum dedicated to understanding it. You've a life of interesting pursuits ahead!

[EagleJCS]

No need to feel cheated. Education is a gift you give yourself, and it has little to do with schools. ... It's a grand journey. Enjoy the ride.

Indeed. When I was in school, I didn't have the opportunity to study the classical Greek and Roman history that many of my contemporaries did. (My social studies teacher that year chose African classical history instead. Do I remember any of it? No.) So, after many years, I finally started reading up on the Greeks and Romans myself. I've also filled in with some classic literature as well (Homer, Chaucer, Cervantes, Dumas, Alighieri, Machiavelli, Scott-of course!, etc.).

I'd also never been in a history class that reached the modern era (once, we barely got into the Industrial Revolution by the end of the schoolyear). So, I've also been sporadically reading up on late 19th and 20th century history as events pique my interest. (Just started reading Churchill's books on WWII.)

Now that I've been on this board (and others) and learned more about the broader 'Celtic' cultures (both from the current/West Europe and historical/ Central Asia perspectives), I'm interested in learning more about them as well.

It's all self-study, as I can get to it and as my interests change, but it's been quite a journey so far. Maybe one day I'll have had my fill, but I don't think so. There's always something new to learn (either deeper knowledge or a different perspective). I've learned the most important things to keep in mind are the perspectives of the ones writing the history and not to take any one person's 'word' as the be-all end-all of any given subject.

[macwilkin]

Indeed. When I was in school, I didn't have the opportunity to study the classical Greek and Roman history that many of my contemporaries did. (My social studies teacher that year chose African classical history instead. Do I remember any of it? No.) So, after many years, I finally started reading up on the Greeks and Romans myself. I've also filled in with some classic literature as well (Homer, Chaucer, Cervantes, Dumas, Alighieri, Machiavelli, Scott-of course!, etc.).

I'd also never been in a history class that reached the modern era (once, we barely got into the Industrial Revolution by the end of the schoolyear). So, I've also been sporadically reading up on late 19th and 20th century history as events pique my interest. (Just started reading Churchill's books on WWII.)

Now that I've been on this board (and others) and learned more about the broader 'Celtic' cultures (both from the current/West Europe and historical/ Central Asia perspectives), I'm interested in learning more about them as well.

It's all self-study, as I can get to it and as my interests change, but it's been quite a journey so far. Maybe one day I'll have had my fill, but I don't think so. There's always something new to learn (either deeper knowledge or a different perspective). I've learned the most important things to keep in mind are the perspectives of the ones writing the history and not to take any one person's 'word' as the be-all end-all of any given subject.

Now this I can agree with -- and I encourage it in my students.

T.