Saudi Arabia Plans a Women-Only Work Zone

NPR's, The World, featured a story about Saudi Arabian women today. Although this story is more about modern day Saudi Arabia, I'm making note of it here since my Early World History class examines the historical trajectory of patriarchal systems since ancient times. This is a good example of the gender roles of Saudi women today and can be compared to other historical examples.

"To Expand Job Opportunities, Saudi Arabia Plans a Women-Only Work Zone"

Link to full story:

http://www.theworld.org/2012/08/to-expand-job-opportunities-saudi-arabia-plans-a-women-only-work-zone/

Chinchorro People Made the First Mummies

Here's a super interesting radio program from NPR's "The World" on the first mummies from the Chinchorro people of Chile/Peru. These mummies are 2,000 years older than the Eyptian mummies and the reasons for the end of this practice are related to climate change.

Link to full story:

http://www.theworld.org/2012/08/chinchorro-mummies/

 

The Most Influential Evangelist You've Never Heard Of

NPR interview with David Barton. Link to full story:

http://www.npr.org/2012/08/08/157754542/the-most-influential-evangelist-youve-never-heard-of

Drones Help Map Ancient Ruins

Vanderbilt University is using drone technology to help them make maps of ancient Peruvian sites.
Heres' a link to the BBC article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19111257

New Sun God Temple Reveals Maya Beliefs

Check out this cool video about some new discoveries about a Mayan Sun God Temple from National Geographic:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/history-archaeology-news/guatemala-maya-sun-god-vin/

This same website has another video about a Mayan Calendar. Here's the link:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/history-archaeology-news/maya-art-calendar-vin/

National Geographic is a great place to explore recent news on historical and archaeological finds.

Freedom Deferred: On Stephen Kantrowitz

If you're a fan of Eric Foner, here's a book review he recently wrote for the Nation Magazine. Foner reviews More Than Freedom by Stephen Kantrowitz, Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The book discusses the lives of black activist in Boston over the course of the 19th century.

Link to the article:
http://www.thenation.com/article/168820/freedom-deferred-stephen-kantrowitz#

Jared Diamond Article in New York Times

Jared Diamond, professor at UCLA and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his book Guns, Germs and Steel, wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times today entitled, "Romney Hasn't Done His Homework." In it, he criticizes Romney for not properly conveying the message of his work when citing Diamond in a recent speech. The bulk of the op-ed outlines Diamond's main theories with regard to geography and world history. He spends less time talking about Romney himself. I personally did not read what Romney said with regard to Professor Diamond's work, but found the article useful in offering a short and concise version of Diamond's theory.

Here's a link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/opinion/mitt-romneys-search-for-simple-answers.html