Mandylion
Omnipotence personified
- Messages
- 75
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Seattle
- Ethnic group
- very far removed Southerner-Viking; explains a lot
-- Going to start this one here, and see if it needs to be moved later, depending --
How important is your family history to you? How far back can you trace your ancestors?
I'm sure culture and upbringing plays a role in how much importance we place on these things, but I am wondering, with such a international community here, what history means to you - personally. I'm also curious how different cultures view family history in terms of helping to form a personal or family identity.
At least in my education, being from the US, diversity was always stressed as important to recognize and appreciate. Once every few years, at least before high school (years 9 to 12), I could expect to have to produce some kind of family tree or report on personal history. As a result, and further personal searches for information because I am a history freak and have fun doing my own digging, I have a pretty good idea where my family came from (and I'm not taking about the type-your-name-in-here websites that offer cheap thrills - "oooooh, I'm related to royalty!"). Accordingly I have gotten independent and multi-source confirmation on relatives back to about 1775 on one side and 1880 on another. Want to know more about Mandylion than you ever will need
![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
In Japan, I ask my students where their families come from and they might know where a parent was born - if by chance they were born somewhere besides their current place of residence. I haven't spent a lot of time wondering why this is, and I haven't gotten much further that the standard ideas - not wanting to stand out / be different, stressing conformity and group dynamics, not wanting to boast - concepts that writing a report on your family only tend to challenge and/or disturb. Feel free to add your own.
What about for other cultural groups? How about Europe, South America, Africa, etc. Does having more immigrants and a more mobile population make personal history more or less important (roots vs. new start)? Does coming from a old, stable population inspire historical apathy or a glowing pride?
Just bouncing some ideas around...feel free to join in.
How important is your family history to you? How far back can you trace your ancestors?
I'm sure culture and upbringing plays a role in how much importance we place on these things, but I am wondering, with such a international community here, what history means to you - personally. I'm also curious how different cultures view family history in terms of helping to form a personal or family identity.
At least in my education, being from the US, diversity was always stressed as important to recognize and appreciate. Once every few years, at least before high school (years 9 to 12), I could expect to have to produce some kind of family tree or report on personal history. As a result, and further personal searches for information because I am a history freak and have fun doing my own digging, I have a pretty good idea where my family came from (and I'm not taking about the type-your-name-in-here websites that offer cheap thrills - "oooooh, I'm related to royalty!"). Accordingly I have gotten independent and multi-source confirmation on relatives back to about 1775 on one side and 1880 on another. Want to know more about Mandylion than you ever will need
In Japan, I ask my students where their families come from and they might know where a parent was born - if by chance they were born somewhere besides their current place of residence. I haven't spent a lot of time wondering why this is, and I haven't gotten much further that the standard ideas - not wanting to stand out / be different, stressing conformity and group dynamics, not wanting to boast - concepts that writing a report on your family only tend to challenge and/or disturb. Feel free to add your own.
What about for other cultural groups? How about Europe, South America, Africa, etc. Does having more immigrants and a more mobile population make personal history more or less important (roots vs. new start)? Does coming from a old, stable population inspire historical apathy or a glowing pride?
Just bouncing some ideas around...feel free to join in.