Feluccas on the Nile (Aswan, Egypt)

Feluccas on the Nile (Aswan, Egypt)
Originally uploaded by laurenz.

The Nile and Tigris-Euphrates valleys have a common name: Fertile Crescent. The name links these two most ancient places of the civilized world.

This week's work will demand that stuidents draw a free-hand map of SW Asia.
* 4 seas
* 10 nations
* 5 great cities

Demonstrating that you know metropolis coordinates:
1. 24N, 83W
2. 33N, 83W
3. 48N, 2E

shibboleths are words or phrases - or the pronunciation of words - that mark the in-group and identify the outsider. Hip-hop culture says "crunk" instead of excited. Academic culture says TIMZ instated of Thames. Internet culture says lol instead of We are amused.

Megalopolis: when nearby cities grow together and become mega-cities. Ex: an unbroken urban stretch runs from Boston to Washington, DC. The mega-city is built around the metropolis of NYC. You should be able to name two other megalopoli, such as Tokyo and Los Angeles.

Ethnic groups

Anglo-Americans / WASP's: white, Anglo-Saxon protestants . They are the longstanding, dominant group of the US power structure.
German-Americans are an enormous group and are known for their assimilation (blending in).
Jewish-Americans are a small group but wield great political power.
Hispanic-Americans include people from many nations - all of whom speak Spanish.
African-Americans make up about the same percentage of US population as Hispanics: both are about 13%.

Ethnicity may be defined by race, nationality or even language.

patois: an informal language, such as Creole or the Jamaican patois.
scatalogical: referring to bodily functions, usually as in humor. Scatology is the study of skat (Gk), usually as a historic, archaeological inquiry.