Food for Thought

Week 7: Tuesday, February 25

Renan on the Nation (Burke to Crosby)

What elements does Renan dismiss as constituting the foundation of a nation? According to Renan, what is it that all nations share?

Weber on Peasants to Frenchmen (Daly to Fawcett and Poblete)

How was the French educational system limited before 1881? What obstacles did the French educational system have to overcome?

Renan on Education (Hill to Hynes)

Why did Renan think that Catholicism had led to backwardness? What kind of changes did he wish to see in French education?

French Program for Moral Education (Knaeble to Moranski and O'Malley)

What types of virtues does this system of moral education wish to inculcate? Who and what does this system want the student to learn to obey?

Lavisse's Deuxième Année d'Histoire de France (Larsen to O'Mahoney)

What is the purpose of this little essay? What does it seek to teach 11 year-olds?