EGMT 1530: How to Learn through History

Your experience of education has shaped how you see the world. A skilled teacher, meaningful assignment, or profound book might have helped you discover a passion, just as much as unengaging classes might have turned you away from a subject. The way we teach and learn has changed drastically through history, from early scribal schools of Egypt to the rhetorical and philosophical schools of Athens to Medieval Universities and modern school systems. What is the goal of education for us and for our society? Who was able to access education, and how did lack of access among populations lead to imbalances of power and discrimination? If our worlds and lives are shaped by how we are educated and who has access to that education, how was the past shaped by these same questions? How did ancient students learn to write, argue, reason, and lead? How have these legacies continued to shape the homework you have from your own classes? What assumptions about mental or physical ability are made in systems of education? Why do different schools use different approaches to teaching, and what does that tell us about their goals for their students? How have connections between religious institutions and education influenced who can participate in learning? Through this course, we will explore how access to education was premised on the privilege of time to study and economic power to pay for access to teachers. We will critically engage with historical school assignments and modern homework. We will use models and imaginative exercises to try to participate in ancient school activities and better articulate how and why we aim to learn in a modern University environment.