Patching up evidence for ironworking in the horn

Archaeological research on ironworking in the Horn of Africa is meager and patchy. This paper offers hypotheses for the origins of ironworking in the region. Two conventional schools of thought are analyzed. The first school favors an external origin and the second advocates local invention. The two viewpoints are critically examined and their weaknesses exposed. A third alternative, which, in principle, combines the two, is provided in their place. This looks at the history of the Horn in a broad spatial and integrating perspective. It attempts to show that the current physical barriers such as the Red Sea, the Nile Valley, and the cataracts of the Nile River have not always been as impenetrable as we tend to think. There is evidence that sometimes in the past, people from the opposite sides of these “barriers” shared language, commerce, religion, and politics. The paper also discusses the impact of ironworking in the region and the technological influence of the Horn on sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, the paper offers some suggestions for future directions toward a more comprehensive understanding of Iron Age culture and the socioeconomic history of the region.     

LOSS OF FARMLAND IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ONTARIO FROM 1951 to 1971

The loss of farmland in four counties of south-central Ontario was examined for the 1951–71 period, with the use of township census data. The study has indicated the need to be cautious regarding the accuracy of official statistics. Regression analysis of the census data revealed that the best predictor of farmland loss was the extent of part-time farming. Since 1971, the role of part-time farming has changed greatly. The percentage of part-time farmers is increasing steadily because off-farm income is vital to the maintenance of the economic viability of farming today. In contrast to the 1950s and 1960s, the part-time farmer now is often coming into full-time farming rather than phasing out. The results of this analysis present further evidence of the complexity of the loss-of-farmland problem and the variability of the findings that emerge from studies conducted for different periods     

THE ENDURING PUBLIC STRUGGLE TO CONSTRUCT,CONTROL, AND CHALLENGE HISTORICAL MEMORIES

Sumit Guha's History and Collective Memory in South Asia, 1200–2000 develops important arguments about the public significance of historical knowledge and the essential role of historians in public life. All societies need collective memories to sustain their cultural identities, as Guha shows in this wide‐ranging account of how such memories have been constructed in South Asian societies since the thirteenth century. The knowledge of historical experts is increasingly challenged or derided by contemporary social groups and political activists, who circulate their own historical narratives via new networks of communication. Political uses of historical knowledge are not new, however, as Guha shows in detailed accounts of how Hindu, Muslim, and British imperial regimes all used historical narratives to justify their own power. He also explains how other social groups challenged official historical narratives with their own popular stories about the past. This book contributes to recent work in global intellectual history by comparing similarities in the historical practices of premodern Europe and South Asia, discussing the cross‐cultural exchanges in colonial‐era institutions, and describing postcolonial challenges to European ideas. Guha thus offers an insightful analysis of how social and political forces influence and respond to the cloistered institutions that produce historical knowledge and construct collective memories. He concludes that evidence‐based historical narratives must be continually defended amid current public assaults on historical knowledge in both South Asia and the United States. More generally, Guha's book suggests the need for ongoing analysis of how public events, social conflicts, and new communication systems can reshape or discredit the work of historical experts.     

Geographic contributions to institutional curriculum reform in Australia: the challenge of embedding field-based learning

Abstract

In the context of continuing pressures from managerialist and neoliberal drivers of university reform in Australia, Macquarie University’s recent undergraduate curriculum innovation, based on “People,” “Planet,” and “Participation,” has resulted in the embedding and integration of experiential learning in its curriculum and institutional framework. Such an approach challenges academic and administrative staff, students, and partners in industry, the community and public sector settings, to engage and collaborate across significant boundaries. This article outlines the scope and nature of the curriculum reform, then considers the way geographers have both shaped and responded to the opportunities it created. In so doing, it proposes a number of challenges and recommendations for geographers who might seek to extend their longstanding commitment to field-based learning through similar reforms. In this regard, the discipline of geography and its tendency to engage with the “field” can offer much in fostering deeply transformative learning.