Lectures in History

Former Charleston, South Carolina Mayor Joseph Riley and professor Kerry Taylor co-teach a course at The Citadel military college looking at why a new African American history museum is being built in the city. They're joined by author Edward Ball who discusses his books, "Slaves in the Family" and " Life of a Klansman: A Family History in White Supremacy." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

City University of New York professor emeritus Joshua Brown teaches a class on the 1863 New York City Draft Riots and Civil War newspapers. He describes how citizens across the country saw drawings and read articles chronicling the events. This class is part of a National Endowment for the Humanities Institute for college and university teachers hosted by the City University of New York Graduate Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina is slated to open its doors in the summer of 2022. We sat in on a course at the Citadel looking at how and why the museum came into existence. Former Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley -- who first proposed the idea for the museum more than 20 years ago -- co-taught the course with history professor Kerry Taylor. Their guest speaker for this class session was Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, who shared his experiences as the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The Citadel provided this video. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Marwil talked to students about perceptions and remembrances of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The class discussion revolved around a photograph by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. During his remarks, he responded to questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Indiana University Bloomington professor Stephen Andrews taught a class about conspiracy culture in American history. He described how conspiracy theories have changed over time, but often include the involvement of groups such as the Illuminati, Freemasons, and Skull and Bones. He talked about how in the 1950s a prominent aspect of conspiracy theories was the threat of communism, but in later decades a global “New World Order” was a more common feature. This is the first of a two-part seminar hosted by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Maria Cristina Garcia talked about the United States' refugee policy since World War II. She spoke about qualifications to be a refugee and how those have changed as well as legislation governing quotas and procedures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Central Florida professor Yanek Mieczkowski teaches a class about some of the people who challenged the status quo of the U.S. auto industry from the post-World War II era to the present day. He discusses the successes and failures of people such as Harley Earl, Preston Tucker, John DeLorean, and Elon Musk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iowa State University professor Tracy Lucht talked about women journalists in the late-19th and early 20th centuries. She described the careers of some pioneers, such as Nellie Bly and Dorothy Dix, and the societal pressures for women writers to balance traditional femininity and a career in journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Delaware Professor Zara Anishanslin taught a class about how colonial history is remembered through historic sites and monuments, and sometimes contested. She argued that people’s assumptions about Colonial America are influenced by material and popular culture, including paintings depicting early American history in the U.S. Capitol and statues of Columbus and Pocahontas. This video was provided by the University of Delaware. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baylor University Professor Thomas Kidd taught a class on the First Great Awakening in the Americas, a period in the mid-18th century of Christian revitalization that swept through the colonies. He explained how the Salem witch trials and the decline of Puritanism led to an era of traveling preachers, such as George Whitefield, and an emphasis on evangelism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Joseph Glatthaar talked about the Korean War, General Douglas MacArthur’s removal from command by President Harry Truman, and civil-military relations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Maurice Jackson talked about the philosophy of W.E.B. Du Bois, an influential African-American sociologist, author, and civil rights activist in late-19th and early 20th centuries. He described Du Bois' early life, his role as an educator, and his relationship with other activists of the time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emory University professor Felix Harcourt teaches a class on how conspiracy theories about UFOs have shaped America culture. He begins in the late 1940s and describes how public opinion about extraterrestrials changed over the course of the 20th century, often paralleling societal anxieties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of California, Riverside professor Catherine Allgor teaches a class on the lives of women during the American Revolution and the Early Republic. The history of the period has often focused on the actions of men and battlefields, with women portrayed as strictly home-centered and only achieving political influence through their husbands. Professor Allgor argues for a broader view of Revolutionary-era women, looking at how they exercised a small but increasing amount of political and economic freedom during and after the war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brown University professor Megan Kate Nelson teaches a class about guerilla warfare, which is largely characterized by its tactics, including ambushes and surprise raids on unsuspecting troops and towns. She talks about the guerrilla soldiers fighting on both the Union and Confederate sides during the Civil War. These small bands of men on horseback were nimble and difficult to capture, especially Confederate guerrillas who often did not wear uniforms and blended back into the population after an attack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Northeastern University professor William Fowler taught a class about early Atlantic exploration, Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the Caribbean and the Americas by Europeans. He described the oceanic ventures of the Vikings, Portuguese and Spanish as well as the navigation assumptions of the time period. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Johns Hopkins University professor Nathan Connolly teaches a class about the “promise of suburbia” after the civil rights movement. He explores the role of zoning, eminent domain, and property rights in the making of racial housing categories. He also explains how these tools were often used by local governments to impede desegregation of neighborhoods. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a guest lecturer at the Citadel Military College in Charleston, South Carolina in 2012, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld gives a talk he calls “The Bush Doctrine, Compassionate Conservatism, and the War on Terror." This class is from a course called “The Conservative Intellectual Tradition in America” taught by Citadel International Politics and American Government professor Mallory Factor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We visit the James Madison University classroom of professor Rebecca Brannon as she teaches about the concept of age around the time of the Revolutionary War. She debunks the myth that the Founding Fathers were all old men, and describes how fertility rates and perceptions of childhood changed during this founding period, leading to a more child-centric family culture by the early 1800s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Delaware professor Alison Parker teaches a class about activist Mary Church Terrell's 1923 fight against the United Daughters of the Confederacy's attempt to erect a black "Mammy" statue in Washington, D.C. She describes how Terrell, a civil rights activist and suffragist, organized opposition and successfully prevented this "Lost Cause" statue from being built. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Tech professor Jessica Taylor teaches a class about trade relationships between English colonists and Native peoples in Virginia. She talks about the trade networks between tribes prior to European contact, periods of conflict between colonists and Native Americans, and how slavery impacted the economy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Dayton professors John Heitmann and Todd Uhlman teach a class about 1970s American car culture and films of the era. Using examples like "Easy Rider," "American Graffiti" and "Badlands," they argue these films reflected many Americans' disillusionment and glorified the open road as a way to take back control in the face of societal changes. They also talk about the impact of oil shortages, the rise of coast-to-coast races called "Cannonball Runs," and the popularity of trucker movies and music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Alan Kraut lectured at American University on the economic progress made by the South during the 1920s as part of his history course on the South since Reconstruction. He said that at half a century after the Civil War it was necessary for the South to turn from its past in order to chart a new future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Newport University professor Jonathan White teaches a class about the 1864 presidential election pitting incumbent Abraham Lincoln against his former top general, Democrat George McClellan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iowa State University History Professor Charles Dobbs talked about President John F. Kennedy’s foreign policy. Topics included the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, the raising of the Berlin Wall, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also talked about President Kennedy’s policy toward Vietnam. This episode is from 2013. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American University’s W. Joseph Campbell teaches a class on CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite’s pessimistic assessment of the Vietnam War in February 1968 and looks at whether the impact of those comments has been overstated and is merely a media myth. www.oracle.come/goto/cspan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville professor Kenneth Moffett teaches a class about notable Speakers of the House, from Henry Clay and Joseph Cannon to Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Stephen Berry talked about coroners in the 19th century South. He discussed the role of a coroner as an agent of the state and talked about the records created from coroner inquests. He argued that coroners can shed light on the emerging patterns of death within a society and spot potential threats to public health such as diseases or a lack of industrial safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iowa State University professor Tracy Lucht talked about women journalists in the late-19th and early 20th centuries. She described the careers of some pioneers, such as Nellie Bly and Dorothy Dix, and the societal pressures for women writers to balance traditional femininity and a career in journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Hitchcock lectured about the U.S. foreign policy strategy of containment between 1946-1950. After World War II, President Harry Truman initiated policies to prevent the spread of communism in Europe and Asia. This strategy of “containment” would result in decades of Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. Professor William Hitchcock presented the topic in a class lecture at the University of Virginia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Caroline Janney lectured to her class on women in America from 1600-1870 on the role of women in the Civil War. During her illustrated lecture Professor Janney argued that women provided invaluable services to the soldiers while maintaining the home front. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tulane University professor John “Ray” Proctor taught a class about playwright August Wilson, his contribution to African American theatre and his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Fences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catholic University professor and former CIA historian Nicholas Dujmovic teaches a class about national intelligence during President Kennedy’s administration. He talks about the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and other covert operations during the Cold War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Army War College professor Douglas Douds gives a lecture about the causes and military objectives of the Civil War prior to a day-long staff ride at Gettysburg for the college’s resident class. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victor Hanson, a professor emeritus of Classics at California State University, Fresno, lectured to a history class on masters and commanders during World War II. In this fall seminar in classical and military history Professor Hanson examined how leaders, both civilian officials and generals on the battlefield, conducted themselves in wartime. That day’s class focused on Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill and how those very different American and British leaders learned to work together to defeat Nazi Germany. This episode was recorded in 2010. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Clayborne Carson talked about Martin Luther King Jr.'s early life, why he decided to become a minister, and how that contributed to his work in the Civil Rights movement. This class took place at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where King followed in his father’s footsteps as pastor. The class was from a course that was part of a Stanford University program in which students could take a three-week seminar that included field trips before their sophomore year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stonehill College professor Peter Ubertaccio taught a class on the history of State of the Union addresses. He described George Washington’s first address -- delivered in person -- but explained that many presidents who followed simply elected to send Congress a written statement until Woodrow Wilson in 1913. He explored how, since then, State of the Union speeches have evolved along with new technology and, in modern times, have been used to bolster political platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington University in St. Louis professor Peter Kastor leads a discussion comparing several first ladies' memoirs from Sarah Polk to Michelle Obama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Delaware professor Zara Anishanslin teaches a class about how Colonial history is remembered through historic sites and monuments, and sometimes contested. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Kathleen DuVal teaches a class about the end of the American Revolution and the 1783 Treaty of Paris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee visiting professor John Prevas teaches a class at IMG Academy about the First and Second amendments to the U.S. Constitution, using court cases to demonstrate how these rights have been interpreted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Flagler College professor Michael Butler teaches a class about music in the post-Civil Rights era, highlighting artists such as James Brown, Marvin Gaye and George Clinton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Texas at Arlington professor Stephanie Cole teaches a class on the life and work of antebellum social reformer Lucretia Mott. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Mary Washington professor Christine Henry talks about the history of roadside attractions and her own experience travelling to a freshwater pond in Ohio called the Blue Hole. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eastern Connecticut State Univ. professor Thomas Balcerski teaches a class on the relationship between two prominent 19th century politicians: James Buchanan, elected president in 1856, and William Rufus King, who served briefly as vice president in 1853. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Maryland, Baltimore County professor William Blake teaches a class about New Deal-era politics and the role of public opinion on issues such as court packing and executive power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emory University professor Patrick Allitt teaches a class about President Richard Nixon, his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger and some of their key foreign policy initiatives, including overtures toward the Soviet Union and China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Utah Political Science Professor James Curry taught a class about the creation of the Electoral College and explained how it works as a part of the presidential election process. Professor Curry taught the class prior to the 2020 vice presidential debate, which took place October 7 at the University of Utah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mary Ellen Pethel and Jennifer Duck of Belmont University teach a class on the history of presidential campaign advertising, from the print and cartoon ads of the 19th century to the Internet and social media content of the present day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Utah political science professor David Buhler teaches a class about presidential debates and their influence on voters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices