Reactions
from the
United States of America
Virginia
School: Falls Church High Falls Church
Contact: mberzonsky@fc.fcps.k12.va.us
Date: 4-6-2001
Mercator, Vesalius, Breughel, Rubens and Van Eyck are all in my textbook. None of the rest are.
Hope this information is helpful, Mike Berzonsky, History Teacher, Falls Church High School
School: J.E.J. Moore Middle School Disputanta
Contact: vabbott@pgs.k12.va.us
Date: 4-10-2001
Hi,
I asked several of my history teachers about the persons you are inquiring about. The only one in our text at this level is Meractor. I hope this is of help to you. Maybe, at the high school level, you will find others in the history books. Hope this is helpful.
Vera Vera Abbott-Young Assistant Principal J.E.J. Moore Middle School
School:
Contact: Blackwood, Jean
Date: 4-14-2001
The following persons are a part of our curriculum in Fairfax County, VA. - Mercator, Vesalius, Breughel, Rubens, Van Eyck.
School: Catholic High School in Arlington
Contact: mschepps@home.com
Date: 4-12-2001
Dear Fellow Teachers in Belgium,
My name is Elizabeth Schepps and I teach at a large Catholic High School in Arlington, VA. My subject area is history and I am fortunate enough to teach the gifted students. I have three classes of World History Honors which covers the time period up to 1700, and two classes of Advanced Placement US History which is intended to prepare students to take a National Exam that will give them college credit if they get a passing score. Today was the day they took the test which explains why I was late in answering your question about the teaching of Flemish history at our school. The textbook I am using in World History Honors is called CIVILIZATION IN THE WEST (1998) by Kishlansky, Geary, and O'Brien. It is an excellent college-level text. I checked and found out that only three of the names on your list were included in the book: Andreas Vesalius, Pieter Paul Rubens, and Father Damien. However, I supplement the text with numerous slides of paintings and show them to my classes. The artists are Breughel the Elder and Anthony Van Dyck. Since my class is more conceptual than many high school courses, I teach about Flanders in other ways. The students work with maps of Europe and know the geography of your area very well. We also studied extensively the importance of the woolen industry in Flanders. The students learned about the trading cities of the Hanseatic League and made a map of that period of history. Recently, we studied about the revolt in the Netherlands against Spanish rule. I think you would find that they are quite knowledgeable about the history of Flanders and the exceptional artists your region has produced. I hope that the information I provided you will help with your research. I will not be able to help you in the future as I am retiring June 8 after 20 years of teaching. I would be interested in the results of your research for my personal knowledge. Elizabeth S. Schepps Social Studies Department Bishop O'Connell High School Arlington, VA 22213 USA