Origin Stories

Hi Jason Manning I do basically the same as Kimberly Milligan does with her students. I let them choose an origin story, though I try to diversify the narratives and give them those that are unknown to them (Chinese, Iroquois, Mayan, Zulu, and Efik) because Judeo-Christian and Greek are or were covered in other courses. I give them ample variety of modalities as Kimberly mentioned. The one thing I request is that they bring a 3-D representation model of their origin story. It doesn't have to be time consuming. I encourage them to utilize materials available at home, apply their creativity, and bring props to better illustrate their story, something meaningful. Some students create dioramas, others bring a figure that symbolizes the creator of their origin story, and others who are experts in animation, create a story using an ad hoc software. I also ask them to guide their presentations with these ideas in mind:

• What is the source of the world? or What happened before creation?
• What or who created the world?
• How was the Earth created or formed?
• When was the Earth created?
• What life forms were created?
• How were humans formed or created?
• What was the relationship between humans and animals/plants? Were they powerful, independent, subservient? 
• Is there any moral in your story?
• How do people live or behave today according to this origin story? Explore if they perform rituals, build architecture, dance, etc. 

At the end of the presentations, which take no longer than 5 minutes each, we debrief and reflect upon them, realizing that there is neither logic nor scientific evidence. Then we compare their stories with the scientific origin story of Big History. My goal is that students realize that all origin stories try to make sense of a world prior to the scientific and chronometric revolution.

Hi Jason Manning I do basically the same as Kimberly Milligan does with her students. I let them choose an origin story, though I try to diversify the narratives and give them those that are unknown to them (Chinese, Iroquois, Mayan, Zulu, and Efik) because Judeo-Christian and Greek are or were covered in other courses. I give them ample variety of modalities as Kimberly mentioned. The one thing I request is that they bring a 3-D representation model of their origin story. It doesn't have to be time consuming. I encourage them to utilize materials available at home, apply their creativity, and bring props to better illustrate their story, something meaningful. Some students create dioramas, others bring a figure that symbolizes the creator of their origin story, and others who are experts in animation, create a story using an ad hoc software. I also ask them to guide their presentations with these ideas in mind:

• What is the source of the world? or What happened before creation?
• What or who created the world?
• How was the Earth created or formed?
• When was the Earth created?
• What life forms were created?
• How were humans formed or created?
• What was the relationship between humans and animals/plants? Were they powerful, independent, subservient? 
• Is there any moral in your story?
• How do people live or behave today according to this origin story? Explore if they perform rituals, build architecture, dance, etc. 

At the end of the presentations, which take no longer than 5 minutes each, we debrief and reflect upon them, realizing that there is neither logic nor scientific evidence. Then we compare their stories with the scientific origin story of Big History. My goal is that students realize that all origin stories try to make sense of a world prior to the scientific and chronometric revolution.

Hello Laura Massa  I love your last question here about performing rituals and building architecture.  It is certainly something that I can come to as my class begins the story of human history.