Historyspeaking topic
Was ancient Athenian democracy really a democracy? Let's compare a system that excluded women, slaves, and foreigners with our understanding of democracy today.
— Ancient Athenian democracy (5th century BC)
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- Some researchers argue that societal collapse has historically benefited the ordinary 99 percent, leaving survivors more equal and healthier. Is collapse always a catastrophe?
- Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, the great symbol of the Enlightenment: why was the idea of collecting all human knowledge in one work so radical?
- The Library of Alexandria and the knowledge humanity lost forever. What knowledge might we be losing right now without realizing it?
- What stopped the army of Genghis Khan's grandsons, one of the largest empires the world has known, at the gates of Europe was not a battle but the news of a single ruler's death; the commanders turned back to elect a new khan. If the fate of a continent hung on the timing of one man's death, how much can we trust the belief that history is driven by great forces?
- Robespierre and the Reign of Terror (1793-94): why did a revolution made in the name of liberty spiral into the guillotine and mass executions?