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Did the Greeks and Romans Believe in Their Gods? Issue 1 December 2016 Will time travel ever become a practical reality? Did the Greeks and Romans believe in their gods? To what extent is mental illness a product of society? Should the wide-scale use of nanomaterials be encouraged? WOODARD JOURNAL ISSUE 1, DECEMBER 2016 Forewords _______________________________________________________ Research suggests that a 4 year old asks around 300 This new cross-curricular publication epitomises the ethos questions a day and 40,000 questions between the age of the SCHOLA outreach project, a Woodard initiative to of 2-5 years! I have recently been reading Warren share the systems and approaches which have enabled Berger’s book, ‘A Beautiful Question’. Warren Berger is an scholarship to flourish so richly and abundantly at St American journalist and host of the website “A More Olave’s Grammar School. Given the high quality of the Beautiful Question”. Berger conveys to the reader of the articles contained within this publication, from a range of importance in cultivating a natural questioning learning partner schools, we know we are far from alone in sharing disposition in children, where curiosity is central to being the highest possible aspirations for our students. an inquirer about the world. Today questioning is a highly valued skill in the world. Companies require people to ask Poised at the start of the 21st Century, there has never been a more exciting time for young people to set out on deep questions that will solve real problems in the world. voyages of discovery into science and society. The This first edition of The Woodard Journal is an exploration convergence of mathematics, biochemistry, technology of some fascinating questions, many of them high level and theoretical physics heralds unprecedented industrial ethical and philosophical inquiries. Questions such as: revolutions in biogenetics, human health, robotics and astronomy. Alongside such adventures it will be ever Why do we find immoral characters attractive?’ more important that we retain a sense of culture and Are we morally culpable in our response to acts humanity, and of social and political systems that will of genocide? sustain our species and preserve our planet. How appropriate it is, then, that youngsters in our schools are To what extent has politics become dominated crystal ball gazing and researching into the future or by a professional breed of ‘insiders’? drawing important conclusions from the past to start to Should the primary focus of Western Government dream and map out the way forward into this exciting be on reducing inequality in the aftermath of the scenario. recession? To what extent is mental illness a product of The breadth and depth of independent research society? apparent within the articles which follow is a hallmark of Should active care be continued in brain dead the erudition and spirit of enquiry which characterises our patients? most aspirational students, whose work we celebrate here. These essays are examples of students’ Extended Projects from schools within the Woodard family. They arise out of We trust that there is something to suit all tastes and the work of Woodard’s hub school based at St. Olave’s interests in the pages which follow and hope, having Grammar School. St. Olave’s has a long track record of perused this first edition, that many more schools will feel proven excellence in preparing students to carry out moved to contribute to the next edition. research in preparation for university scholarship. Through sharing well-honed practices and a wealth of specialised Prepare to open the pages of many hours of fascinating resources, St. Olave’s collaborates with schools within the and enlightening reading! Woodard family to support the development of aspirational key performance indicators for Higher Aydın Önaç Education. Headmaster There is something here for everyone: history, mythology, St Olave’s Grammar School philosophy, medical ethics, politics, art history to astrology. Enjoy! David Budds Chris Wright Director of Sixth Form Director of Education St Olave’s Grammar School Woodard Corporation 1 WOODARD JOURNAL ISSUE 1, DECEMBER 2016 Contents We find characters such as Sir John Falstaff Harriet Woodhams, Y13 4 more likeable than many people whose Hurstpierpoint College morals are far better than his. Does this mean that there is something wrong with us? To what extent was literature manipulated as Angus Roughley, Y13 8 a result of the introduction of Socialist Realism King’s Rochester in the Soviet Union? To what extent has art been used as Charlotte Moorman, Y13 12 propaganda in the pursuit of glorifying King’s Rochester Napoleon Bonaparte? The continued popularity of ancient literature Isabella Neergaard-Peterson, Y13 16 is not due to 'timelessness' but due to the Hurstpierpoint College window it gives us onto an excitingly alien world Did the Greeks and Romans believe in their Jake Liebers, Y13 18 gods? Hurstpierpoint College Is there a relationship between Sanskrit and Jeevan Ravindran, Y13 20 Latin, and how has it affected Indo-European St. Olave's Grammar School history? The international response to the Rwandan Andrew Ma, Y13 29 genocide St. Olave's Grammar School Is it possible to ascertain whether the Irish Danielle Herrington, Y13 36 famine of 1845-52 was an act of genocide on The Sir Robert Woodard Academy the part of the British government? To what extent has politics become Edward Oldfield, Y13 41 dominated by a professional breed of King’s Rochester "insiders"? What are the causes of this and has it had an effect on politics? Should the primary focus of western Amy Borrett, Y13 48 government be on reducing inequality in the St. Olave's Grammar School aftermath of the Recession? To what extent can newly industrialised Alexander Mulroy, Y13 57 countries achieve prosperity without St. Olave's Grammar School degrading their environment? How has the illegal wildlife trade facilitated Francesca Moorman, Y13 66 the decline in the Pangolin population, and King’s Rochester what is being done locally and globally to stop this? The future of HIV/AIDS treatment via the Harry Kingsley-Smith, Y13 73 utilisation of genetics King’s Rochester 2 WOODARD JOURNAL ISSUE 1, DECEMBER 2016 To what extent is mental illness a product of Ayobami Moiett-Olatunji, Y13 78 society? King’s Rochester To what extent does the foetal environment Emily O’Sullivan, Y13 84 pre-determine our adult health? St. Olave's Grammar School Should active care be continued in brain Radhika Kumar, Y13 96 dead patients? St. Olave's Grammar School Should the wide-scale use of nanomaterials Gavra Nwamadi, Y13 102 be encouraged? St. Olave's Grammar School How far are the processes of stellar David Van Egghen, Y13 111 nucleosynthesis influenced by a star’s St. Olave's Grammar School evolution? Will time travel ever become a practical Oscar Hinze, Y13 126 reality? St. Olave's Grammar School 3 WOODARD JOURNAL ISSUE 1, DECEMBER 2016 but I would argue that if we are recognising our We find characters own flaws in these undeniably immoral, corrupt characters then surely this hints at a sense of such as Sir John Falstaff immorality present in ourselves. more likeable than Possible Explanations many people whose Firstly, a possible explanation as to why we find immoral characters likeable is offered by Owen Flanagan in ‘Admirable Immorality and Admirable morals are far better Imperfection’. Flanagan argues that we admire the motivation or desires of immoral characters, than his. Does this although the actual means they use are often undesirable. mean that there is For instance, Walter White is, at first, motivated by something wrong with love for his family and the need to generate money for his cancer treatment, which leads him to manufacture crystal methamphetamine. Over us? time, however, White becomes a murderous criminal mastermind. We may seek some comfort in the fact that White’s original intentions (to protect his family) were worthy of admiration and sympathy. Moreover, Faustus’ vehement desire for knowledge results in him surrendering his soul for eternal damnation. A desire to gain knowledge is an admirable, virtuous, and distinctly human desire; we admire We have a tendency to find morally inept scientists, historians and philosophers because of characters attractive. Be it Shakespeare’s thieving their dedication to acquiring knowledge about the Falstaff or Marlowe’s knowledge-hungry Faustus, world we live in. However, it is manifest that selling there is something unequivocally likeable about your soul to the devil is undesirable. Moreover, these characters. As a Leonard Digges, a Michael Slote in ‘Goods and Virtues’ argues for an contemporary of Shakespeare, wrote: “Let Falstaff ‘intermediate thesis’; he states that “sometimes come, Hal, Poins and the rest, you scare shall have certain admirable features of persons are a room”. This is evident in the vast majority of ‘intrinsically connected’ with immorality”. literature, ancient and modern, and is particularly prevalent today, with television and film littered But is it accurate to deem that a desire for with anti-heroes (protagonists who lack the qualities knowledge is intrinsically connected to of a conventional hero). surrendering your soul to the devil? It could be argued that Adam and Eve also disobeyed God in Consider, for example, Breaking Bad’s Walter order to eat from the tree of knowledge; the desire White, Dexter Morgan and The Fall’s Paul Spector. for knowledge does seem to be intrinsically With these characters often being murderous, connected (at least in literary tradition) to thieving and criminal we must question why they disobedience to God. However, what can be said are so alluring and why the anti-hero seems to reign of immoral characters whose desires and the prominent. Perhaps, as Owen Flanagan argues, we means they use to achieve their desires are both are disgusted by the actions of these anti-heroes evidently immoral? but we find their motives admirable.
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