The Problem of Pamela Bradley (1 Viewer)

[xeuyrawp]

Yeah, you're right.

It's taken on a life of its own.

I have a feeling that the thread's going to be closed. After classics_chic gets her right to reply, I think it should be.

It's really going nowhere.

 

[angelduck]

and yet they havnt closed our mafia thread yet....

*pleads temporary insanity to mike the ancient war god and asks that he wreaks his vengence on those silly little minions in modern history instead...*

 

[xeuyrawp]

and yet they havnt closed our mafia thread yet....

*pleads temporary insanity to mike the ancient war god and asks that he wreaks his vengence on those silly little minions in modern history instead...*

Mike doesn't have the power to touch anywhere but Ancient History and its subforums. He's only a mod here. I'm sure he could get one of the supermods to smite the modern historians.

I don't think he's going to close the mafia thread- it's good to have all the spam centralised

 

[AsyLum]

Haha yeah, i dont have any powers in modern (and i really dont want to, sif touch that boring modern military stuff Real men fought face to face via swords dammit!)

 

[xeuyrawp]

Haha yeah, i dont have any powers in modern (and i really dont want to, sif touch that boring modern military stuff Real men fought face to face via swords dammit!)

hehe, noone has any arete behind the butt of a gun!

 

[AsyLum]

hehe, noone has any arete behind the butt of a gun!

Haha damn straight!

 

[silvermoon]

and yet they havnt closed our mafia thread yet....

*pleads temporary insanity to mike the ancient war god and asks that he wreaks his vengence on those silly little minions in modern history instead...*

mike won't close our mafia thread - we shall bribe him with virgin sacrifices

 

[xeuyrawp]

we shall bribe him with virgin sacrifices

You're volunteering?

 

[Magister]

Bradley and Hillard

Tom Hillard taught me at UNE (some moons ago!!) and he was great fun. Let's start up a fan club!!??

Despite all the negative and sometimes downright nasty comments about Pam Bradley's texts, I have always valued them and my students found them very user-friendly. I really like her new text on Pompeii and Herculaneum designed for the Core Study. Has anyone else seen it or bought it?? Along with all of the other AH texts available on the market, hers hold their own. And it beggars belief that some schools/teachers get by on relying on one or two texts (yes, it still happens!!).

Anyway, I'd like to see some more positive feedback about Pam's books and less pompous and ignorant opinions.

Good wishes for the HSC, everybody!!

Magister

 

[Götterfunken]

Yeah, Tom Hillard or bust!

Always interesting to see a teachers opinion on these matters.

 

[xeuyrawp]

Always interesting to see a teachers opinion on these matters.

Isn't it coincidental that the only teacher in this forum and the only HSC marker in this forum totally agree

Thanks, Majister, for your wise words.

It's hard arguing with pompous people and show them why you think you're right, but I think in the end, you need to wave the 'I know best' badge and leave it at that.

 

[AsyLum]

The Tom Hillard F C!!!!!!

 

[trekkie]

I have to disagree with classics Chik, like any secondary historian pamela Bradley can be quoted in the exam but she should never be used on her own, use her to support or refute another historians claim and dont rely too heavily upon her work. You'll find that in most of her books Bradley actually provided large slabs of ancient texts to support her work and personally im a fan of hers. i used Bradley in this way in my ancient history exam and managed a band 6, but the basic rule of thumb for ancient is too rely on primary historians, not secondary

pm me if you want to argue or need any help
______________________________
"Pamela Bradley is a waste of time."
Dr. Ben Brown, University of Sydney
NOT TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Magister]

Pam Bradley

Hi all!!

Good to see some support for Pamela Bradley. Let's see some more!!

For Tom Hillard, 3 cheers for making AH interesting and fun !!!

Magister

 

[rcandelori]

I don't see how any person in this forum has the authority to judge historical sources as inadequate or innappriate to quote. And, if any of you have done the Extension History course, you will understand that it is no-one's right to judge a person an historian or otherwise. Pamela Bradley, whether a textbook writer or not, is a legitimate historian who may be quoted by a student - she is not merely an author, as someone writing about issues concerning the nature and constructs of history is undoubtedly an historian, whether she brings new insight or not. The Board of Studies, likewise, do not have any historical authority to judge the historical credibility of a scholar like Bradley. Rather, they are merely there to judge the level of analytical sophistication and historical knowledge applied within scripts - that is all.

 

[Magister]

Re Bradley

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Hear! Hear! Very well said!

Magister

 

[ancient_nut]

I don't see how any person in this forum has the authority to judge historical sources as inadequate or innappriate to quote. And, if any of you have done the Extension History course, you will understand that it is no-one's right to judge a person an historian or otherwise. Pamela Bradley, whether a textbook writer or not, is a legitimate historian who may be quoted by a student - she is not merely an author, as someone writing about issues concerning the nature and constructs of history is undoubtedly an historian, whether she brings new insight or not. The Board of Studies, likewise, do not have any historical authority to judge the historical credibility of a scholar like Bradley. Rather, they are merely there to judge the level of analytical sophistication and historical knowledge applied within scripts - that is all.

I see what you're saying. However, I'm partially with classics_chic on this one. I think that Bradley has her uses- she's a great summary for some elements of the Greece course, and I continue to find her useful for terminology for Rome, as I'm not so familiar with Latin. However, relying on her extensively can cause problems becaus, especially for such periods as the Persian Wars, she doesn't show a lot of depth and there are many important details that are lacking. From memory, the Battle of Artemisium is dismissed in something like 2 lines in Bradley, which I find incredibly problematic. She's fine as a back-up, but I do believe that you need to look well beyond her if you want to get good marks. There are plenty of books which are almost as easy to read which give a lot more detail, and are written by scholars of far greater distinction than Bradley (Bury for Greece, Scullard for Rome, there are plenty of others). Also there are plenty of online sources which are increasingly reliable (I never thought I'd say that!). If you look to Wikipedia, inaccuracies are edited out pretty quickly so you're relatively safe, and quite often universities (especially in the States) provide quite detailed information on areas in Ancient History. I remember doing Mycenae and finding a university site with incredibly comprehensive information on Bronze Age Greece (something like a thousand pages, 3/4 of it I found relevant to the course).

I think that all people studying history are historians, but you can still say that some are more reliable/ useful than others (yes, I did Extension, and continue to study equivelant courses at university). I'd much rather read Herodotos on Ancient Greece than many modern scholars, although Herodotos' methodology is outside what is normally understood to be history. Also, I'd rather read Thucydides than Plutarch on the Pel. War- surely we can make these kinds of judgments on who is more qualified than others?

 

[AsyLum]

I don't see how any person in this forum has the authority to judge historical sources as inadequate or innappriate to quote. And, if any of you have done the Extension History course, you will understand that it is no-one's right to judge a person an historian or otherwise.

If you paid attention to anything in the extension history unit, you would have found out that is exactly what history is, the analysis of events, sources and information and making a judgement on it, based upon the information you have, and logically formulating an argument for its support as well as stating why it is.

Keep the post-modern relativism out of ancient history kthxbai.

 

[rhapsody11]

I see what you're saying. However, I'm partially with classics_chic on this one. I think that Bradley has her uses- she's a great summary for some elements of the Greece course, and I continue to find her useful for terminology for Rome, as I'm not so familiar with Latin. However, relying on her extensively can cause problems becaus, especially for such periods as the Persian Wars, she doesn't show a lot of depth and there are many important details that are lacking. From memory, the Battle of Artemisium is dismissed in something like 2 lines in Bradley, which I find incredibly problematic. She's fine as a back-up, but I do believe that you need to look well beyond her if you want to get good marks. There are plenty of books which are almost as easy to read which give a lot more detail, and are written by scholars of far greater distinction than Bradley (Bury for Greece, Scullard for Rome, there are plenty of others). Also there are plenty of online sources which are increasingly reliable (I never thought I'd say that!). If you look to Wikipedia, inaccuracies are edited out pretty quickly so you're relatively safe, and quite often universities (especially in the States) provide quite detailed information on areas in Ancient History. I remember doing Mycenae and finding a university site with incredibly comprehensive information on Bronze Age Greece (something like a thousand pages, 3/4 of it I found relevant to the course).

I think that all people studying history are historians, but you can still say that some are more reliable/ useful than others (yes, I did Extension, and continue to study equivelant courses at university). I'd much rather read Herodotos on Ancient Greece than many modern scholars, although Herodotos' methodology is outside what is normally understood to be history. Also, I'd rather read Thucydides than Plutarch on the Pel. War- surely we can make these kinds of judgments on who is more qualified than others?

classics_chic- did you lose your old password?

 

[ancient_nut]

considering I don't agree with classics_chic in entirety, I don't know how you can say that I am this person. Unless I have multiple personalities, of course.