Final
Learning Project:
The
Growth of a Civilization through my Definition of Learning
Jake
Jensen
April
15, 2013
Civ
2 Honors 202
Professor
Halverson
I
define learning as a process of positive change and growth through experiences,
observations, and other’s examples. Part of learning is accepting failure and
growing from the failures to become a stronger individual. But, I specify positive change because
learning is one of the reasons we are here on earth and we want to improve our
lives through learning. It is a positive
action that helps us become more than just lost in an amazing world with many
opportunities. Also learning involves
using ideas from the past to help grow.
When we build on the past, we can improve those ideas to come up with
more growth which leads to greatness. But then learning also means walking your
own path, creating a new route. So you
can use ideas from the past to influence you and help you start something
original. The set goal for a
civilization is to survive and be productive in the world. To be a productive nation in this world,
learning is essential. This Civilization
starts off by learning in simple ways, which leads into the combination of
previous creations and techniques to grow, then the civilization will learn to
become innovative to compete, and finally they will discover how to
survive. This learning process is all
headed in the direction of surviving and improving the lives of all inside the
civilization, then take our knowledge and be able to share it with the world.
The first artifact for that
represents my definition of learning is the panels done by Ghiberti for the
Florence Cathedral. Ghiberti’s first
panels represent my learning definition because he was young and in a competition
against one of the already established goldsmiths of the time,
Brunelleschi. He used new techniques
that made his panel stand out and win the competition. He stepped off the beaten path of medieval
art and his panels showed a more classical feel. His techniques include using prospective,
foreshortening and a triangular arrangement of the figures to give the panel
more flow (Strong and Davis, Pg 14-15).
His techniques were more original and creative than the panels
Brunelleschi produced. This piece of art
is important and benefits my civilization because we are new in the world, we
will need to compete and try new things to gain recognition. This is one of the main ideas from my
learning definition. Ghiberti made a
great positive growth with his panels.
Title: Sacrifice of Isaac Creator: Lorenzo Ghiberti Date: 1401-1402 Medium: Gilded Bronze Nationality: Italy
The second artifact that represents
my definition of learning is Brunelleschi’s dome on the Florence
Cathedral. When Ghiberti beat out
Brunelleschi on the door panels, he went to Rome to become a more well rounded
artist, architect, and dabbled in other fields like goldsmith and clock making. He wanted to learn and he showed the positive
growth through his experiences. He took
his failures from the door panels and turned his studies into a whole new style
of domes. The dome shows learning because it revolutionized the architecture of
domes forever. This artifact is
important to learning in my civilization because the people will have failures;
it’s all about how you react and if you can bounce back. One of the key parts to learning is a
positive attitude, which I mention in my definition. Brunelleschi went to work right away and came
back to Florence to shock the whole world with his knew found knowledge and
understanding.
Title: Dome of Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore)
Creator: Filippo Brunelleschi
Nationality: Italy
Date:
1414-1436
Medium: Brick, Wood
The
third artifact is Martin Luther’s 95 Theses.
Martin Luther knew that the Catholic Church was lying to the people and
abusing their power. He was in the
church and had a lot of experience and knowledge of what was happening within
the church’s clergy. The church was
offering indulgences, the ability to buy forgiveness. Luther knew that forgiveness was of God’s
grace and the clergy had no say in the matter.
He saw the opportunity to change the lives of so many throughout the
whole Catholic Church and even inspire others too. By writing his 95 Theses, he allowed so many
people to learn and grow in the positive direction, improving their lives. Sharing knowledge with others is very
important to the process of learning. A
civilization is a giant community that does not focus on one individual. All people involved have to really be
involved, so when there is opportunity to grow, share your knowledge and
experiences. Luther showed great
learning with his 95 Theses in many ways.
Title:
95 Theses Creator: Martin Luther Nationality: German
Date:
1517 Medium: Primary Source
Document
The
fourth artifact is the Mona Lisa. The
artifact represents my definition of learning because da Vinci used techniques
started by other artists, but improved them to come up with an amazing
portrait. He used “sfumato, which means
smoky,” (Strong and Davis, Pg 40), to create a smoky look to the painting. And
the techniques he used with the lighting and shadows made the painting like
nothing before. This artifact is
necessary to help build learning in the civilization because it shows how new
techniques of an era can be applied to create genius works of art, technology,
inn ovations,
or whatever else is needed. Applying the
ideas of the times to create is essential for a civilization.
Title:
Mona Lisa Creator: Leonardo da Vinci
Date:
Early 1506 Medium: Oil on wood
Nationality:
Italy
The
fifth artifact to represent my definition of learning is the statue of the
David by Bernini. The previous David was
done by Michelangelo in the classical period.
In the classical period, the main focus of the artists and sculptors was
to have the people view/see the emotions, in this new era, the Baroque time
period; the idea “was to feel the emotions,” (Strong and Davis, Pg 248). Bernini made the viewer feel the emotions
exuding from his David. His David was in
action, literally striking fear into the hearts of the enemy. Michelangelo’s David just looked like he
could be his enemy. This is
representative of my learning definition because Bernini used the idea of
growing from past ideas to create something of more substance. This piece is key to my civilization because
it is necessary to build on previous inventions or creations to improve the
people’s lives. It may not have to be
done through a sculpture, but this artifact represents what can be done when new
techniques and creative ideas are embraced.
Title: David Creator: Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Date:
1624 Medium: Marble
Nationality:
Italy
The
sixth artifact that represents my definition of learning is the painting by
Picasso, Three Musicians. This painting was done in the art era
known as cubism which is where the art is “depicting showing all of the sides
simultaneously,” (Pg 674, Strong and Davis).
This idea basically broke all of the rules previously in the art
world. The viewer had to recreate in
their mind how the shapes should be and it added a new aspect in how art was
created. This relates to my civilization
because part of learning is taking steps to be original, to step off of the
beaten path. To some people today,
Picasso’s art doesn’t qualify as great masterpieces to them, and yet he is
remembered as one of the greats. He took
the chance to be his own artist, using his own style. In my civilization, people will need to step
out from in the box thinking and try to succeed in different or even weird
ways.
Title: Three Musicians Creator: Pablo Picasso
Date: 1921 Medium: Oil Painting
Nationality:
Spanish http://www.artchive.com/artchive/P/picasso/picasso_three_musicians_moma.jpg.html
The
seventh artifact to represent my definition of learning is the invention of the
power loom by Edmund Cartwright. The
invention was amazing for the industrial revolution and obviously
revolutionized the textile industry. The
spinning jenny and hand weavers used in textile factories were not keeping up
with the need and demand in the industry, there needed to be a solution to keep
the supply up. The power loom was the
answer. This represents my definition of
learning because there was a weakness and need in the market for something to
speed up production and save the mill owners some money. Weavers were needed desperately and thus were
paid a lot to have people gravitate to this job. Cartwright recognized this need, and
represents the ideas of the industrial revolution to innovate to make work
easier and more efficient. This is
important for my new civilization because in order to keep up with competitors
from other nations, we will need to have innovators with the ability to create
new inventions to keep up all the time.
Thinkers and innovators keep a nation’s economy and livelihood running.
Title: Cartwright Power Loom Creator: Edmund Cartwright
Date:
1785 Medium: Steel, Mechanized, Steam Powered
Nationality: British
The eighth artifact to represent my
learning definition is the primary source document by Viktor Frankl, “Man’s
Search for Meaning.” This document
represents my definition of learning because this man figured out a way to survive
in an impossible situation, with no hope.
He learned survival by keeping a positive attitude and finding reasons
to live in the concentration camps.
Frankl knew he could have an impact on the world, p positively
affect the lives of others. He had a
purpose, so he fought to survive to share what he had learned. I believe the most important part about
learning is the ability to take what you have learned and share it with everyone. This is self-less learning and Frankl did an
amazing job doing that with this document.
This document is important to me civilization because the people need to
find out why they should survive, why our new nation should exist. Yes, there will be struggles and trials
throughout, but anything and everything is possible if your mind is in the
right place. Frankl knew and understood
that. His artifact will inspire the
civilization to press on through all fears and doubts of failing.
Title: Man’s
Search for Meaning Creator: Viktor Frankl
Date: 1945 Medium: Primary Source Document
Nationality:
Vienna, Austria
The ninth artifact that I used to
represent my definition of learning is the poem written by Alfred Lord
Tennyson, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”
This poem is also very important to my civilization. It is important because it represents
nationalism, pride, and loyalty. This is
key to a new civilization because in order for a new civilization to succeed,
the people need to have nationalistic pride for their new nation. “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” tells us
about the six hundred soldiers from the British army that fought with mighty
courage and devotion for their country when the fight was impossible to
win. This represents my learning definition
because nations in the past have fallen when their armies were weak. This Light Brigade showed loyalty to country
and their job to protect their nation; they knew that if they fell apart, hope
would be lost. They learned from the
past and even though the battle was lost, the made a huge impact on their
nation.
Title: The Charge of the Light
Brigade
Creator: Alfred Lord Tennyson
Date:
1854
Medium: Primary Source Document
Nationality:
British
After
completing this learning project, I have come to understand how learning is
happening in my day to day life and also in everybody’s lives around the
world. It really is a continual
process. My learning project covers
artifacts that help us understand learning in a historical context, but these
ideas are still prevalent everywhere in our modern society. This semester, I have really noticed how
learning affects my life. I have come to
understand that learning really is an ongoing process that I will never stop
doing. The trick is how we all go about
learning to benefit us the most. I have
found that as I struggled last semester in school, I needed to change my
learning style and starts with my definition; a process of positive change and
growth through experiences, observations, and other’s examples. I took my negative experiences from last
semester and decided that I needed a change.
My outlook on school wasn’t great, so I looked at other people who
succeeded and noticed that they were happy to go to class, excited to learn,
and they performed very well. I learned
that learning is best accomplished with a positive attitude and sense of
optimism. This is just one of the many
ways I have learned to learn better. I
believe that if all people in our modern-day civilization would start with a
positive attitude, a smile on their face, and an optimistic outlook on life,
our world would explode with learning, creativity, and innovation. If everybody wanted to learn and tried their
best throughout their entire lives, there would be no end to the future
possibilities in learning and creativity.
Works
Cited:
Strong and Davis. History of Creativity in the Arts, Science, and Technology:
1500-present. Second ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub., 2012. Print.
