Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Pirate Jig] Edward: My Name is Edward Johnson,
I teach in the mathematics department. I'm
teaching a class this semester, a Liberal Studies Introductory
Colloquium, on Piracy and the Liberal Arrrrts.
It's a look at the Golden Age of Piracy
in the early 18th century from a variety of perspectives—
looking at the economics the politics what created this
moment in time. When we see
something like a pirate fest where it really is just
adults and children dressing up as pirates,
having fun, how did we get to that place?
Pirates are really not very nice people
they’re really horrible people and they are now celebrated
as cultural icons. What my goal has always been
with this course is to get the students to
look at what they see in popular culture and think
about where it came from, how did we get to that place,
how is it different from reality—
to apply their critical thinking skills to analyze this topic.
That’s how you got to be a pirate captain, you had to be smart.