This seminar will examine the lives of African American women from Reconstruction through the latter twentieth century. Using primary source materials from leading African American female intellectuals, activists, and organizations, we will concentrate on African American women’s experiences in politics, the workplace, race and social movements, and on historical debates about men and women’s private […]
The First Amendment defines and shapes America by guaranteeing five core freedoms: Religious Liberty, Freedom of Speech and Press along with the Right to Peaceably Assemble and Redress Grievances of our Government. These few words create a unique civic identity built on individual conscience, democratic accountability, and limits state censorship or intrusion. This seminar will […]
How did the Founders try to translate the ideals of the Revolution into a form and system of government that would empower, yet restrain the Executive? How have the interpretations of those powers changed over time, especially in the face of crisis? Explore the constitutional powers, legal authority and evolution of the 'soft power' of […]
From a young age Abraham Lincoln was a voracious reader, especially of the writings of William Shakespeare. He was known to carry a worn-out pocket-sized copy of Macbeth while law […]
This workshop will examine primary documents to consider how American participation in World War I transformed American society. We will analyze debates over entering the war and expanding the postwar role of the United States in the world, the homefront mobilization required to fight overseas, challenges to civil liberties during the conflict, the wartime fight […]
With the death of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman inherited one of the most challenging national security environments to ever greet an incoming president, as he was forced to both complete the great work of securing a lasting victory in World War II and navigate the complex dynamics of the emerging Cold War. By the […]
This seminar will focus on America's westward expansion and its "Manifest Destiny" to expand from sea to shining sea. We will consider the purposes for westward expansion, Jackson's Indian Removal Policy, and westward expansion's impact on slavery. This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with […]
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy vowed to land an American on the moon by the decade’s end, the biggest challenge yet in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the United States’s enthralling moon landing in 1969, space exploration took on new forms, bringing exciting opportunities (the Strategic Defense […]
The era of Andrew Jackson was a time of great change, both socially and politically. Jackson’s life was turbulent and violent in which he seemed to go from one crisis to another in both his private and public life. He was a man of great determination, who was devoted to friends and family and was […]
Women’s political, social, and economic status has undergone several transformations in American history. This seminar will explore readings and documents in those stages: Women of Reform and Revolution, Women in the Progressive Era and Voting Booths and Is Suffrage Enough – the Lasting Impact. This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source […]
