Random Rants LIV: I Took An Arrow In The Knee

[Traitorfish]

It's something to do with licensing; I guess the publishers expect universities to pay licensing fees if they want their students to have acess, and this is a way of preventing them from working around it. Seems a bit unfair, given that few history departments in Scotland are large enough to afford many such licenses, but I suppose publishers aren't interested in that sort of thing.

 

[Gary Childress]

It's something to do with licensing; I guess the publishers expect universities to pay licensing fees if they want their students to have acess, and this is a way of preventing them from working around it. Seems a bit unfair, given that few history departments in Scotland are large enough to afford many such licenses, but I suppose publishers aren't interested in that sort of thing.

Hmm. That sounds a bit counterproductive, on the face of it. I'm not aware if such a state of affairs exists between universities and the Library of Congress here in the US or not. I'll have to check into it one of these days. Usually there are at least a few "discounts" or "perks" to having a student ID and usually for reasons of national pride or something along those lines.

What subject are you studying at your University?

 

[Traitorfish]

History, but I made the perhaps unwise decision to a dissertation on colonial America, which isn't exactly well-represented in local archives, so I'm going to depend quite heavily on digital archives. There's a few other places I can check out - acessiblearchives.org has a pretty good run of colonial newspapers, although it comes with a small monthly fee- but the National Library is probably the best in terms of the breadth of material, because it has pamphlets and song-sheets and such.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Apparently the Treaty of Westphalia dismantled the Holy Roman Empire, taking away the Pope's political office, in turn laying the foundation for the modern nation-state.

This is going to be a long semester.

 

[Takhisis]

The Texan heard people say "y'all" all the damn time.

It just sounds so... uh, I can't think of the right word for it without sounding like a pompous ass. Uneducated? It makes smart people sound dumb. I hate that word, the way it sounds.

Crass? Stereotypically so?

The National Library won't give me remoted access to the archives I was expecting to lean quite heavily on for my dissertation; apparently, their copyright doesn't extend to me because I'm affiliated with a university. Something I should really have attempted to figure out earlier. I can still access them in the Library itself, but the Library is in Edinburgh, which is a less than convenient ninety-minute train journey away.

It's workable, if I don't mind taking a few day-trips down the coast and scouring the records as efficiently as I can, and I have nobody to blame but myself for not figuring this out sooner, when it was possible to choose another area of research that didn't come with these strings, but it's going to be a right pain in the arse.

Reive their stock! Livestock, book stocks, anything! And, when questioned, jsut say that you're doing historical reenactment and that you'll hand them back in on (the) Monday after your dissertation.

Apparently the Treaty of Westphalia dismantled the Holy Roman Empire, taking away the Pope's political office, in turn laying the foundation for the modern nation-state.

This is going to be a long semester.

wtf

 

[Phrossack]

Apparently the Treaty of Westphalia dismantled the Holy Roman Empire, taking away the Pope's political office, in turn laying the foundation for the modern nation-state.

This is going to be a long semester.

My history professors have a habit of claiming that the ancient Greeks invented philosophy and pretty much everything.

 

[gay_Aleks]

My history professors have a habit of claiming that the ancient Greeks invented philosophy and pretty much everything.

Because of people like this, I'd love if history before, like, Charlemagne, got a tidy bit less overratedness. Please?

 

[Zack]

My history professors have a habit of claiming that the ancient Greeks invented philosophy and pretty much everything.

They even discovered faster-than-light travel. Unfortunately, this knowledge was lost with the Library of Alexandria.

 

[gay_Aleks]

You'd think Caesar wouldn't have burnt that library if he knew about the Cold Fusion literature stored there.

 

[Zack]

You'd think Caesar wouldn't have burnt that library if he knew about the Cold Fusion literature stored there.

He probably did it to satisfy the gay agenda.

 

[Takhisis]

My history professors have a habit of claiming that the ancient Greeks invented philosophy and pretty much everything.

They should read Michael Grant at the very least.

 

[gay_Aleks]

They should read Michael Grant at the very least.

To TVTropes, we go! Or, at least, me. Me and my hair.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Apparently the Treaty of Westphalia dismantled the Holy Roman Empire, taking away the Pope's political office, in turn laying the foundation for the modern nation-state.

This is going to be a long semester.

One time I took an intro to International Relations class. The professor was probably one of the most... interesting professors I've ever met. However, he basically said in the first lecture that international relations started with the treaty of Westphalia. And I went...

ಠ_ಠ


Granted, he probably meant something more like modern international relations between nation-states started with Westphalia, but even that would garner a similar reaction for me.

My history professors have a habit of claiming that the ancient Greeks invented philosophy and pretty much everything.

I'm kinda glad I go to a school whose history department tries very hard to dispel that sort of thinking. Relieved, even, I'd say.

Look, folks, I love feta cheese and Mediterranean climates and baklava and everything awesome about Greece, but come on.

 

[gay_Aleks]

I guess the above shows how much I know history and stuff.

That should qualify as a rant.

 

[Takhisis]

Don't worry, we can teach you. In fact, we could have a 'teach Tolni something' thread.

Dammit, I still have five tabs open on TvT.

 

[gay_Aleks]

That would count as pandering. Don't worry, I could just browse all Ask A Random History Question I through IV (although, half of them would be about the Mongols, but sigh), and I'll eventually get either enlightened, or I'll be stuck in a perpetual state of "wat".

 

[Joecoolyo]

wtf

Joecoolyo Quick Tip #1: Don't expect good history out of the Political Science department.

My history professors have a habit of claiming that the ancient Greeks invented philosophy and pretty much everything.

Blech, this one has been going on forever. It's numbed me completely to finding anything about Greek history interesting.

One time I took an intro to International Relations class. The professor was probably one of the most... interesting professors I've ever met. However, he basically said in the first lecture that international relations started with the treaty of Westphalia. And I went...

ಠ_ಠ


Granted, he probably meant something more like modern international relations between nation-states started with Westphalia, but even that would garner a similar reaction for me.

Yeah, this was an international relations class as well. History of the United States in Foreign Affairs. Of course my professor needs to lay the bedrock for everything, so, hey, why not at the dismantlement of the HRE at the end of the 30 years war?

 

[Ajidica]

Apparently the Treaty of Westphalia dismantled the Holy Roman Empire, taking away the Pope's political office, in turn laying the foundation for the modern nation-state.

This is going to be a long semester.

If the class is small enough, you could always go up to the prof at the end of class and ask questions in the following format:
"I was under the impression that [blank]. You said [blank]. Did I understand it incorrectly originally?"
I've used it to great effect. It lets you subtly imply that they presented the information incorrectly or misleadingly while at the same time stroking their ego by asking them to clarify something for you. Plus they may get impressed with your knowledge.

Joecoolyo Quick Tip #1: Don't expect good history out of the Political Science department.

I would agree with that if amended to any history before 1900.

Blech, this one has been going on forever. It's numbed me completely to finding anything about Greek history interesting.

True that. My last philosophy prof made me actively despise philosophy as a field of interest.

Rant: Classes for me start tomorrow, beginning my senior year. Fingers crossed that Spanish Linguistics won't trash me completely. My Spanish pronunciation is bad enough at the best of times, and I haven't used my Spanish for about six months now.

 

[JohannaK]

And if the class is not small enough, you can always ask it aloud in front of everyone. I did it all the time in my History and Culture of the British Isles last semester. Surprisingly, the professor doesn't hate me yet.

 

[Camikaze]

One time I took an intro to International Relations class. The professor was probably one of the most... interesting professors I've ever met. However, he basically said in the first lecture that international relations started with the treaty of Westphalia. And I went...

ಠ_ಠ


Granted, he probably meant something more like modern international relations between nation-states started with Westphalia, but even that would garner a similar reaction for me.

He was probably talking about International Relations rather than international relations, though even with the latter I think it's a fairly accurate statement from a state-centric perspective, almost by definition (previous relations not being between nations in a Westphalian sense). Locating the origin of IR in the Treaty of Westphalia is pretty much the agreed thing, at least.