The Grotto Gazette

Volume 8, Issue 3

November 7, 2005

Two new courses for Spring: History of Business and South Asia

By Audrey Easter

As everyone begins to plan their courses for next semester, let me draw your attention to two new courses that the History department is offering in the Spring.

The first is History of American Business, with Chuck Carey, one of our adjunct professors. The course will be offered from 6:00 to 9:00 on Thursday nights, and will be more of a discussion based course than a lecture course. He is considering between six and eight books for the class to work with while covering business from the Colonial Era, with its single owner specialty businesses, to today’s Mega International Corporations, such as GMC, and their impact on society. There will be a focus on the business people, such as Rockefeller, Disney, and the man who created MTV. The class will discover who these men were and how they became as successful as they did. The course will also investigate the business of criminals, such as Al Capone, the slave trade, and the famous people who failed at business. Mr. Carey has a book published, American Inventors, Entrepreneurs, and Business Visionaries, which he will put on reserve in the library for a writing assignment. The course will also talk about the “visible hand theory” which claims that business is controlled by people making purposeful decisions. It will also discuss the impact of the Anti-Trust laws on businesses, and discuss how capitalism has become the “real religion” of America. Carey says he wants History and Business majors to take the course, hopefully with a 50/50 split in the class. He says, “It will be a challenging course, but fun as well. Calvin Coolidge once said, ‘The Business of America is Business.’ Why is that?”

The other new course in the spring is The History of South Asia, taught by Dr. Gary Gibbs. The course is offered on Mondays from 6:00 to 9:00, and there will be a break in the middle. The focus will be on India, from the 3^rd millennium B.C., with the development of civilization in the Indus River Valley, up through today. The class will be structured around themes and concepts, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, the British Colonial period, as well as environmental issues plaguing the area. It will also touch on the Independence of India and Pakistan. Students will read a novel at the end of the course, Death of Vishnu, and Dr. Gibbs is considering trying to get the author to come to campus. This is the third time Dr. Gibbs has taught the course, and in the past the class has welcomed many visitors as speakers. There will be a focus on Indian culture, where students have the possibility of sampling Indian food. Gibbs said that the course important because, “India is home to the largest English speaking middle class in the world. And, after all, one billion Indians can’t be wrong.”

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Virginia Program at Oxford: Don’t remind them that they lost…

By Bradford Pelletier

Forget about what you hear, some of the British arrogance has its place (as for a few minor things, that is). Indeed, their beer completely dominates that of the U.S., as do pubs when compared to our bars, and for you younger travelers, the fact that anyone can get their hands on some booze. However, just as warm Bass Ale in Stratford may undermine a cold Budweiser in Anytown, U.S.A; we still drive on the "right" right side of the road, hit home runs instead of counting wickets, and stay out past eleven o’clock (that’s right, the pubs close at eleven). As anyone college student should be able to decipher, although the historical issues run deep, America and England each have their respective strengths and weaknesses. Having said that, no American can fully comprehend the differences between us and the English until they experience the Fourth of July buried deep in the Oxford nightlife. Just as Washington learned the importance of a pair of new boots at Valley Forge, 20 students from six Virginia schools learned that the English know they lost the Revolutionary War and don’t want to hear about it from some obnoxious Americans.

Yes, the Virginia Program at Oxford was, at times, close to rekindling disputes hundreds of years past, but overshadowing that, it was a lesson in the demands of an English education. Let’s face the facts, Roanoke College or even Harvard and Princeton, don’t exactly compare to any of the forty-plus colleges that make up Oxford University. I’m not just talking about the difficulty of work, as I’m sure you can get as hard a class as you want at any college. I’m simply highlighting the style in which Oxford students, as well as those on the V.P.O, are instructed. To state it bluntly, in Oxford, you don’t just go to class, do your homework, go to class, take your test, and get your grade. Participation by every member of the class is necessary during every single class period. However, there are only three students in every class (or tutorial as they say) which meets for an hour once a week. It sounds great doesn’t it? I thought so too, as did each of us strolling in to the first tutorial four days after we arrived.

Naturally, on the previous Tuesday, when handed each of the two page reading lists for our tutorials (16^th Century English Literature and History) along with paper topics, we began the usual Roanoke or Washington and Lee process of creating a paper. You know exactly what I mean! Find half of the books on the list, skim through them, and B – S your way through four and half of the five pages required. I was confident with this strategy (I once considered myself some what of a genius in this respect) as it worked more often than not over here. Yet, the concrete nature of this attack smashed easily under the jackhammer of a British professor. As you can imagine, trying to back up an argument on a topic you skimmed through, cited examples from the text, on the spot makes an hour seem like an English fortnight (that’s two weeks from what I gathered). Hence, the major difference for any American studying in Oxford is summed up in a single word: preparation.

So, as the Virginia Program at Oxford lasts for six weeks we were forced, for the better, to shed most of our poor study habits and acclimate ourselves to the intensity of the tutorial system. Sure enough, by Friday of week two, after hours immersed in the 100 year-old Bodleian Library, housing every book ever printed in English, each of the V.P.O members began figuring out what it takes to thoroughly examine twenty texts, extract the necessary details, and formulate a threatening argument. Thus, through the strenuous preparation for an imminent tutorial we noticed the knowledge really sinking in. It’s as simple as that, because the tutorial system forced us to engage more thoroughly with the material, we discovered how to really develop an argument, and as a result formed an in-depth relationship with the topics up which we were exploring.

First, I am not saying that an American education doesn’t sufficiently engage students. Rather, I am expressing the enhancement of my academe skills as a result of the confidence I gained through the program. Second, through this summary of my Oxford experience, it may appear that the program is all work and no play. Above all, I need my playtime and would never sign up for a six-week hell-ride without it. Moreover, to describe the outlandish events that I do remember would exceed the boundaries of this article. Let’s just say that a party in a place bursting with too much history puts a Keg in a basement on Craig Avenue to shame. Having said that, I’ve returned to Roanoke (and each of the members of the V.P.O. have returned to their schools) a more confident and better prepared student. Now, the next time I confront a gang of salty Brits in a Pup somewhere, on the Fourth of July, I’ll be able to cite specific examples for why we dominated them; rather than getting taught a lesson about why I’m a stupid American. So, to anyone interested, sign up for the Virginia Program at Oxford and defend your country on Independence Day 2005.

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Important news from the Grotto

Founder’s Day is only a week away! Thursday, November 10 at 7:00 p.m. on the Back Quad the Historical Society will be hosting our annual celebration of the Founder of Roanoke College and the Society: Dr. David Bittle. Don’t miss the bonfire at 7 p.m. and the parade to the cemetery at 8 p.m. Also at 9 p.m. Bittle’s Birthday Bash will be held in the Cavern. “Music fast and loud, just the way Bittle liked it!” If you’re 21 or over, the Cavern will be selling various alcoholic beverages (don’t forget your ID’s!), and of course we will have our stunning karaoke performances as usual! (The times listed in the last issue were incorrect, pay special attention to the times listed above!)

Dr. Willingham has made his decision and chose The Jewish Experience as his new Issues topic. The class will overlap only partially with his Holocaust class. Instead the focus will be on the larger themes of Jewish life throughout the modern era. If you’re interested in registering for the Spring 2006 semester, it is listed as “Issues in Modern European History” in this year’s catalog.