Good to know. I still have to deal with all the American mass
murderers whose names sit on the map.
Mark
At 02:24 PM 3/31/2006, you wrote:
>Mark
>
>since you visited I sorted out a certain confusion: the places named in
>Leicester are all after Simon (IV) de Montfort not Simon (III) de Montfort
>who were father and son and successively Earls of Leicester. Simon (III) led
>the campaign against the Cathars while Simon (IV) (d 1265 at the Battle of
>Evesham) is credited as a kind of founder of parliamentary representative
>democracy.
>
>Which is not to say that Simon (IV) was not a ruthless soldier (and too he
>accompanied his father on the Cathar exterminations)
>
>Best
>
>Dave
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mark Weiss" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 5:08 PM
>Subject: Truly an aside to an aside Re: Feminism: an aside
>
>
> > When Dave B. took me around Leicester, we passed Simon de Montfort. I
> > was astonished to see a university named after him: like having a
> > Hitler U. Even by medieval standards he was pretty awful. Got me
> > thinking of all the Jackson Colleges in the US--whatever his virtues,
> > Jackson was a genocidal bastard, and, like all but two of his
> > presidential forebears, a slaveowner.
> >
> > OK, back to the topic.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > At 10:58 AM 3/31/2006, you wrote:
> > >De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. So fairly urban, but not
>metropolitan.
> > >
> > >Some of the asian female students were strongly active - very focussed
> > >on getting good grades, often asking whether something would be in the
> > >exam or should be mentioned in their essay. I'm really remembering one
> > >or two people here, who probably stick out in my mind because they
> > >conformed so surprisingly to a stereotype.
> > >
> > >The rest of the more active students were generally either a) mature,
> > >b) misfit autodidacts or c) both of the above. But possibly I'm
> > >over-remembering the ones I liked best. There were others who
> > >participated who were just normal, well-rounded late-teenagers. But
> > >you know how rare those are.
> > >
> > >Some seminars were more lively than others; those dealing with
> > >Victorian fiction were better than those dealing with Poetry, for
> > >example. Almost all of my students hated studying poetry.
> > >
> > >Class - it's hard to tell. DMU's 18-21yr-old intake always seemed
> > >fairly uniformly lower middle-class to me, with the odd slightly more
> > >affluent person who'd stuffed up their A-levels and come in through
> > >"clearing". The mature students were much more diverse in terms of
> > >background.
> > >
> > >Dominic
> > >
> > >On 3/31/06, Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > > > Dominic: It would help to know where this was (at least what part of
> > > > the country, urban, suburban, rural) and what the demographics were,
> > > > as best you can tell. Did the more active students in any way differ
> > > > in background, age, ethnicity, from their more passive classmates?
> > > >
> > > > Mark
> > > >
> > > > At 10:24 AM 3/31/2006, you wrote:
> > > > >Most of the undergrads I taught English to were female. Some of the
> > > > >groups were pretty passive and quiet. Anybody with something to say
> > > > >could dominate the conversation pretty much by default. Occasionally
> > > > >someone did; it was a blessed relief, since then at least there was
> > > > >some conversation.
> > > > >
> > > > >It's possible that I was just a lousy teacher; I certainly found it
> > > > >difficult to care about the ones who weren't alert and engaged,
> > > > >although occasionally one of them would turn in an absolutely
> > > > >first-rate essay (some people prefer to sit quietly, listen and
> > > > >think...)
> > > > >
> > > > >Dominic
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >--
> > >Shall we be pure or impure? Today
> > >we shall be very pure. It must always
> > >be possible to contain
> > >impurities in a pure way.
> > >--Tarmo Uustalu and Varmo Vene
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