Author Archive for: Jaan Pill
Entries by Jaan Pill
Manliness and militarism: Educating young boys in Ontario for war (2001)
In Manliness and militarism: Educating young boys in Ontario for war (2001), Mark Moss speaks of a tradition of comparing hunting to warfare. Since antiquity, according to Moss, hunting has been viewed as a war game which served the purpose of preparing young boys for combat. In the author’s view, hunting was seen, in the period between 1867 […]
Emerald ash borer update
Update: An Aug. 9, 2014 CBC article is entitled: “Emerald ash borer a costly pest to Toronto tree canopy.” The subhead reads: “Urban forest worth about $7B to local economy, TD report says.” [End of update] By way of an update, please see attached letter regarding the booklet What you need to know about […]
Ghosts of Empire (2011) analyzes British imperialism from the perspective of its rulers
There was nothing liberal about the British empire, claims to the contrary notwithstanding. In Ghosts of Empire (2011), Kwasi Kwarteng argues that “Britain’s empire was not liberal in the sense of being a plural, democratic society. The empire openly repudiated ideas of human equality and put power and responsibility into the hands of a chosen elite, drawn […]
What is history now? (2002) is edited by David Cannadine
John Vincent in 1966 wrote that the great moral idea of British liberalism was manliness. This is a topic Susan Pedersen discusses in a chapter entitled “What is political history now?” in What is history now? (2002). According to Vincent, for a nineteenth-century man one’s assignment in life was “to provide for his own family, have his own […]
‘I enjoy making presentations to large audiences’ (article in August 2012 newsletter of The Indian Stammering Association)
My volunteer work on behalf of people who stutter is largely in the past; my current volunteer work focuses on my local community. By way of example, I’m currently writing a series of blog posts related to the life and times of Colonel Samuel Smith, who built a log cabin in 1797 in what is […]
Built form and storytelling
Below is an outline of topics for a brief talk at Centennial College, July 27, 2012 for Professor Patrick Michalak’s class. The title for the talk is from an essay with the same title from What we see: Advancing the observations of Jane Jacobs (2010), available on loan from the Toronto Public Library. I much […]
Myth, ritual and the oral (2010)
Update: A Feb. 21, 2014 New Yorker article is entitled: “Why is academic writing so academic?” [End of update] In Myth, ritual and the oral (2010), Jack Goody discusses fiction and non-fiction, the role of narrative in oral and lecto-oral societies, and the history of novels and the theatre. In lecto-oral cultures, one finds […]