"CENTURIES of DARKNESS & LIGHT"


Viewing World History Anew, 1800 to the Present



9 Wednesday mornings, 9:30am to noon, October 6 to December 1, 2010 at Langley Seniors Resources Center – 20605 51B Ave, Langley, BC, Canada

To Register:
Iris Keen (irisk@lsrs.ca) or 604-530-3020


Course Description:

Our times seem especially ripe for a fresh look at recent world history. Strange mixtures of fearful pessimism and visionary hope abound. Doomsday scenarios are presented side by side with utopian dreams. Most of the accounts of the 1800s and 1900s that are available to us reflect largely Eurocentric and materialistic perspectives. But would the last two centuries suddenly re-configure themselves if we viewed them as birth pangs of an emerging global civilization? What forms of darkness and light might come into focus from this new perspective? If we factor into our consideration global religious and spiritual influences (for both good and ill), would other major factors – geopolitical, socio-economic, environmental and technological – need to be re-evaluated? Would new significances appear, and might they offer alternative frameworks of interpretation? What lessons should be carried into the twenty-first century? This course will provide an opportunity to see with new eyes, to listen with new ears, and to speak with a new voice.

Course Schedule:

1 – Oct 6 – Introduction: Dynamics of Rising & Falling Civilizations
2 – Oct 13 – Nineteenth Century Geopolitics & Religion
3 – Oct 20 – Nineteenth Century Culture & Technology
4 – Oct 27 – Western Societies in the Twentieth Century
5 – Nov 3 – Middle Eastern Societies in the Twentieth Century
6 – Nov 10 – Asian Societies in the Twentieth Century
7 – Nov 17 – Global Threats & Problems as Evolutionary Drivers
8 – Nov 24 – Glimpses of the Emerging Global Civilization
9 – Dec 1 – Visions of Global Governance & Cultural Advance