session 7 historical consciousness & the liberal arts historical consciousness: primordial,...

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SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early, High, Late), Post- Modern, Emergent Future The Liberal Arts: History, Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Languages, Literature, Music, Design, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Movement, Dance Math Physics, Cosmology, Chemistry, Geology, Oceanography, Botany, Biology, Zoology, Paleontology, Anthropology, Cognitive & Social Sciences,

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Page 1: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

SESSION 7HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS

Historical Consciousness:Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late)

Modern (Early, High, Late), Post-Modern, Emergent Future

The Liberal Arts:History, Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Languages, Literature, Music, Design, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Movement, DanceMath Physics, Cosmology, Chemistry, Geology, Oceanography,

Botany, Biology, Zoology, Paleontology, Anthropology,Cognitive & Social Sciences, Psychology, Sociology

Page 2: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

“HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS”HUMAN KNOWLEDGE IS FINITE & LIMITED,

HISTORICALLY SITUATED & CULTURALLY CONDITIONED

• Everything We Know has a History: a Past, Present and Future

• We are perspectival; We don’t have “a view from nowhere.”

• The History of Persons, Places, Times, Events

• The History of Philosophy: Presuppositions, Ideas

• The History of Religion: Ethos, Logos, Rituals, Traditions

• The History of Literature: Myths, Poetics, Metaphors, Narratives

• The History of Music and the Arts: Creations, Performances

• The History of Science and Technology: Discoveries, Inventions

Page 3: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

THE INTIMATE & PERSONAL SIDE OF HISTORY:

BIOGRAPHY, AUTOBIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

• History can be approached through the detached and impersonal lens of epochal events, the chronicle of the rise and fall of families, societies, nations and civilizations.

• History can also be approached through the more intimate and personal lens of biography, autobiography and memoir, as well as comparative study of exemplars.

• In addition, history can be approached as the unfolding story of the life of the mind, the development of ideas, the moral imagination and worldview perspectives.

Page 4: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

SESSION 7AHISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS:

THE PROBLEM OF HISTORICAL AMNESIA

PrimordialAxial

Ancient

Medieval:Early,

High, Late

Modern:Early, High, Late

Post-Modern

~ Emergent

Q1. Why do many people narrowly fixate on the present moment as “re-presented”, “interpreted” and “constructed” for us in our mass-media consumer-driven society at the neglect of reflecting upon the larger historical and cultural contexts that have influenced and shaped who we are today? What does it mean to live in the glare of the present “consensus reality” without any past or future?

Page 5: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

THE AMERICAN PROBLEM OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL AMNESIA

Primal Ancient Medieval Modern Contem-porary

Q2. What is the problem associated with ignoring, forgetting or repressing the historical past, both as individuals and as a society? Why and how does this happen? Why does a memory of our ancestral past matter?

Page 6: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

THE MEANING OF HISTORICAL PROCESS:PROGRESSIVE, REGRESSIVE, OR MUDDLED?

Primal Ancient Medieval Modern Contem-porary

Q3. Is history the slow evolutionary advance of life, consciousness, intelligence, creativity, civility, society and culture? Is it regressive with the perpetual rise and fall of empires? Is it just the natural selection and random mutation of contingent events without overarching meaning?

Page 7: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

HEGEL’S DIALECTICAL THEORY OF HISTORY

• Thesis

• Anti-thesis

• Synthesis =(New Thesis)

• New anti-thesis

• New Synthesis (New Thesis)

• Continuous or Consummating Dialectical Process?

Page 8: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

JEAN GEBSER’S MUTATION THEORY OFTHE FIVE STRUCTURES OF HISTORICAL UNFOLDING

The Ever-Present Origin: Being or Inter-Being?

1. The Archaic Structure of Consciousness

2. The Magical Structure of Consciousness

3. The Mythical Structure of Consciousness

4. The Rational Structure of Consciousness

4. The Integral Structure of Consciousness

Page 9: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

LIVING IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION:MULTIPLE POINTS OF ARTICULATION

CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION

Ages: Time

Civilizations: Space

POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION

Centralized Authority

Decentralized Autonomy

BIOLOGICAL GLOBALIZATION

Species Migrations

Bacteria/Organisms

ECONONOMIC GLOBALIZATION

Products & Services

Banking & Currencies

Communication

Information

Mobilization

Organization

Page 10: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

HIGHER EDUCATION & THE LIBERAL ARTS:COMPARING FIVE EDUCATIONAL TRADITIONS

Progressive: Citizenship Social Leadership

Canonical: KnowledgeCultural Literacy

Radical: IndividualitySelf-Actualization

Utilitarian: Security + SuccessPractical Life-Work Skills

Transcendental: WisdomSpiritual Vision + Moral Purpose

Page 11: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

BLOOM’S EDUCATIONAL TAXONOMY

Page 12: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,
Page 13: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

SESSION 7BTHE TRADITION OF THE LIBERAL ARTS

An Encyclopedic Approach to the Liberal Arts

Comprehensive Knowledge & Systematic Inquiry• Definition of Terms; Associated Words and Ideas

• Denotations and Connotations, Contexts and Uses

• Historical Development: Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Contemporary

• Leading Founders, Exemplars, and Achievements: “Who’s Who?”

• Basic Questions, Key Issues, Schools of Thought, Critical Debates

• Documented References and Footnotes

• Recommended Reading and Links for Further Study

Page 14: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

THE LIBERAL ARTS:LEARNING MULTIPLE “LANGUAGE GAMES”

Tender-Minded Integral Approach Tough-MindedReligionSymbols

Symbols & Ideas

PhilosophyIdeas

LiteraturePoetics

Poetics & Events

HistoryEvents

PsychologyIndividuals

Individual &Institutions

SociologyInstitutions

ArtsCreations

Creations & Discoveries

SciencesDiscoveries

Page 15: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

THE PLURALITY OF “LANGUAGE GAMES”THAT CONSTITUTE ACADEMIC SPECIALIZATIONWITHIN THE MODERN UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM

• Each of the liberal arts has its own “language game” which expects others to learn to play.

• Philosophers, Theologians, Historians, Literati, Artists, Physical and Natural Scientists, Cognitive and Social Scientists, each speaks his own special language

• Each tends to regard his own specialized language game as being superior to others. Competitive academic silos are the result of the shift from the primacy of the generalist to the specialist.

Page 16: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

THE “SOCIAL RANKING” OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES IS HISTORICALLY AND CULTURALLY CONTINGENT

Page 17: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

THE EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL ASCENT FROM CHAOTIC NOISE & COHERENT WISDOM

Page 18: SESSION 7 HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS & THE LIBERAL ARTS Historical Consciousness: Primordial, Axial/Ancient, Medieval (Early, High, Late) Modern (Early,

THE MOVEMENT FROM PAST TO FUTURE:

COMBINING “CONTEXT” & “UNDERSTANDING”

HolisticIntegral Right-BrainApproach

AnalyticalEmpiricalLeft-BrainApproach