The Future of Arkansas History...In 1989 historian Francis
Fukuyama published his contraversial and influential article entitled "The End of History?"
Fukuyama's argument was a theoretical one, but in Arkansas we are facing a much more concrete "end of history"...or at least Arkansas history.
Last year, a 34-member education committee recommended some substantial changes in the history and social studies curriculum here in Arkansas as a part of a overall
curriculum review. The committee, which stated that it wanted to strengthen the teaching of Arkansas history, felt that it was necessary to move it into the social studies curriculum because it felt that as a separate subject Arkansas history often was not being taught in elementary school.
Benton County students taking part in the Van Winkle's Mill history program sponsored by the Rogers Historical Musuem (helped out by Arkansas State Parks and the Arkansas Archeological Survey).
Gov. Mike Beebe has said he supports the department and the new curriculum, but members of the Arkansas History Education Coalition, including former U.S. Sen. David Pryor, met with Commissioner Ken James yesterday to discuss the group's opposition.
The coalition and many other historians are upset with what they expect will be a "watering down" (the words used in most press coverage) of the teaching of Arkansas history in public schools. They are seeking a one-year moratorium on new teaching guidelines that are to go into effect this fall.
Additionally, the coalition believes that the new curriculum may be a violation of Act 786 of 1997 (which required Arkansas history be taught as a subject). Interestingly, Arkansas history is not the only subject being "spread about"...geography is also being dismantled as a subject in order to place it throughout the social science
curriculum.
I do not think that the policy is necessarily bad in theory and I might not be against the "
decompartmentalization" of our school
curriculum if I had faith in the Arkansas educational system as a whole....but remember, Arkansas's education system has been ruled "
unconstitutional" by our state Supreme Court which agreed that the State of Arkansas "is not providing a general, suitable, and efficient system of public education that is good enough and fair enough for our children."
Of course, I can't help but think that if we get rid of enough of the subjects at which we are not doing well, we'll have our education system looking great in no time (he siad sarcastically).
---Related news articles:http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/07/15/news/071507ararkhist.txthttp://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2007/07/14/News/342753.htmlhttp://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2007/07/20/News/342805.html---Labels: arkansas, education, history
In the Field, Round 2:
Malvern, Arkansas and Novaculite Trade
I have just returned from my second round of fieldwork this summer...as you know from my previous post, my first round was working on the mission San Juan
del Puerto near Jacksonville, Florida...round two was the two week Arkansas
Archeological Society Summer
Archeological Training Program (AKA "the summer dig")...I love this dig as it gives professionals two weeks to work alongside many regular folks who are
intensely interested in archeology...it (along with Arkansas Archeology Month) is probably one of our biggest outreach events of the year.
This year it was hosted by Dr. Mary Beth Trubitt and my sister station to the north (Henderson State University)...we were excavating on two Archaic-period (6,000 old) sites near Malvern, Arkansas...these sites are very deep (2 meters of deposits or more) and FULL of novaculite flakes and stone tool debris...
What's novaculite you ask? Well novaculite is a sedimentary rock composed mostly of microcrystalline quartz...it is a recrystallized variety of chert....chert reformed under the intense pressure and heat formed during the formation of the Ouachita Mountains. It is dense, hard, white to grayish-black in color, translucent on thin edges, and has a dull to waxy luster.
The word
novaculite is derived from the Latin word
novacula, meaning "razor stone" which is appropriate as it is famous as a whetstones used in sharpening knives, scalpels and wood-working tools....
novaculite puts the "Arkansas" in "Arkansas Stone" (another word often used for these whetstones) because
novaculite only occurs within about 50 mile
radius of Hot Springs, Arkansas.
This distribution is what we're studying at these Archaic sites...it novaculite is famous for sharpening stones today, it was famous as a material to make stone tools in the Archaic period...we find traded stone all over the mid-continent...Dr. Trubitt is beginning to excavate these site by asking the question...how did this trade take place? Did travellers come to the Ouachita Mountains and quarry the materials "buffet style"? Or did local Archaic peoples set up shop as quarrymen and traders?....the latter would be extremely interesting as it runs against our previous picture of Archaic life as consting of small bands of people (20-30 family-related folks) wandering in a semi-nomadic season pattern worrying mostly about their own subsistence...
This year we have only scratched the surface...literally....we did not get to the bottom of the deposits at either sites...but we have excavated a great deal of material which might help answer some of our many questions.
Labels: aas, Archaic, archeology, arkansas, HSU, Malvern, novaculite, trade, Trubitt
Sometimes it Snows in April.....O.K.....it's a Prince song from
Under the Cherry Moon...but this last week it did, in fact, snow in Northwest Arkansas....T.J. reports that the region hit record lows (I'm in Magnolia in the southwest portion of the state)....the snow did stay around long, however....I just couldn't resist the obscure refernce.
Labels: arkansas, prince, weather
