History at Boise State

History courses by Dr. E.L. Skip Knox can be accessed at Boise State University. You'll find four courses:

• History of Western Civilization
• The Crusades
• The Late Middle Ages
• The Reformation

Lots of good material here for lifelong learners. Be sure to check the copyright page.

History of China At UC Berkeley

If you're searching for a framework within which to put your introductory study of the history of China, you might want to consider a course at the University of California at Berkeley. Professor Michael Nylan teaches this course, History 6A - Fall 2008 History of China: Origins to the Mongols.

This course is not podcast, so it is actually just a framework, but it does have a complete reading list, including books for further reading. With a little Google research, you should be able to find some of the additional reading material from the course reader which is not available, but the author and title of the articles are given.

This should be a good resource for lifelong learners interested in the history of China.

Centre for Editing Lives and Letters

Some great work is being done over at CELL, the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters. Of special note to lifelong learners, is the material available on the CELL Projects page. The Hooke Folio Online is an exceptional project. The introduction to it states, "In May 2006 a long lost manuscript of the papers of Robert Hooke was returned to the archive of the Royal Society. Lisa Jardine played a significant role in the recovery of the folio, which she described as 'an absolute treasure trove of new information about the day to day activities of the early scientific establishment'."

Lisa Jardine has done some great work, including On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Life and Tumultuous Times of Sir Christopher Wren, Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution and Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance.

Ingenious Pursuits is an excellent choice to start with, if you aren't familiar with her books. The biography of Christopher Wren was so welcome because it filled a gap in readily available materials on this most intriguing player in the history of science.

There are also some very interesting podcast titles available on the CELL Podcast page. However, I am having trouble opening them, so I'll have to get back to you on that.

A.P. European History

This course from historyteacher.net is not a college course, but a high school Advanced Placement European History course. However, it contains an enormous amount of study material.

Many, many primary document links are most welcome. Plus links to appropriate subject websites are mostly active--only a few broken. Some great PowerPoint slides are also available.

You'll be glad you checked this one out. Have fun.

California History Lectures

Take a look at these Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley) lectures. They're one-hour audio lectures about the history of California--seven of them:

• The California Mission as Symbol and Myth
• Like America Only More So: The Origins and Power of California's Image
• Heaven on the Half-shell: Mark Twain in California
• California's Greatest Thirst: A Glance at the Contentious History of California's Water
• An Entrepreneurial Genius: Henry J. Kaiser
• Kick Out the Southern Pacific
• A Library for California

This is an exceptional collection to supplement any lifelong learner's California history resources.

History of Science at Princeton

Take a look at History 398 Technologies and Their Societies: Historical Perspectives, taught by Professor Michael S. Mahoney.

This 2006 course website offers an enormous amount of information on the history of science, focusing on technology. Almost all of the links are active, though sadly, a few are broken. Each week has extensive readings and links to material pertinent to the current topic.

One link of note is to The Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850 - 1920 at Duke University. I was not familiar with this archive that contains over 9,000 images in this one collection, plus many more collections. One area which I found very interesting was the collection of advertising cookbooks from 1878 to 1929.

Lifelong learners should find this course an interesting addition to learning resources.

The Ancient Olympics

Since the 2008 Olympics is taking place right now, here's a nice little diversion for you from the Perseus Digital Library Project, called The Ancient Olympics.

It's a really easy read, but quite a few "just so you know" bits of information, like the different views on how the Olympics got started. It's a little dated on the modern side as it talks about the "coming Atlanta games." But, since it focuses on the ancient games, that really isn't a problem.

Take a peek and see if you can find a little lifelong learner's nugget about the Olympics that you didn't know. Oh, and enjoy the remainder of the 2008 modern Games.

U.S. History at the University of Minnesota Part II

Today, as promised, we'll highlight History 1302W United States from 1865 to the Present, a U.S. history course at the University of Minnesota. This course website is not as impressive as the one for History 1301 U.S. History to 1865. However, it does give a nice outline for studying the period. Lecture outlines are just that, short outlines. There are no online readings as there are for History 1301, but you will find a nice (active) links page. The assignments will prove to be a good addition to a lifelong learner's collection of material for the study of U.S. history.

All in all, this site offers some good supplemental materials if you're designing your own course of study.

U.S. History at the University of Minnesota

Want a writing intensive U.S. History course? Then, take a look at History 1301 U.S. History to 1865. In the syllabus, it is described as an innovative survey course that uses the themes of “authority” and “rebellion” to explore American history from the early colonial period through the Civil War. The lectures and discussion sections are organized around seven significant topics that offer different viewpoints into the contests over authority in American history:

1. Encountering the “Other” in early America
2. Religion and the Social Order
3. Making a Revolution
4. Framing a New World Order
5. Expansion and Exclusion
6. Slavery and Social Reform
7. War and Memory

You will find detailed writing assignments and links to many of the primary documents referenced. Also available are 21 PowerPoint lecture presentations.

Tomorrow we will look at History 1302W United States from 1865 to the Present.

Clovis to Coronado at University of Arizona

Want to learn about the prehistory of the southwest United States? Here's an excellent course for you. ANTH205 Clovis to Coronado: Prehistoric Peoples of the Southwest, taught by Dr. J. Jefferson Reid, gives access to the syllabus and 24 lectures (notes and links). Some of the readings are not available (password protected), but several are, so be sure to check each one.

You'll also find several links at the bottom of the last page of each lecture.

The Archaeology of Ancient Arizona and Grasshopper Pueblo, A Story of Archaeology and Ancient Life by Jefferson Reid and Stephanie Whittlesey are the texts used.

This is an exceptional class.

The Victorians Are Here!

The Young Queen Victoria

Franz Xavier Winterhalter 1842

Queen Victoria reigned longer than any other British monarch, from June 20, 1837 until her death on January 22, 1902. This period is known simply as the Victorian era.

For those lifelong learners interested in this period in British history, this course at Lewis & Clark College is a gold mine of information. For his research seminar, Hist 450 The Victorians, Assistant Professor of History, David Campion, has done an enormous amount of work. He says, "The goal of this seminar is the development of a substantial and original research paper addressing one aspect of the British experience in India."

He gives you all the resources you need to be able to fulfill that goal, if you choose to do so. But, regardless of whether you write that research paper or just use the information he provides on this website for your study of Bristish history, you'll certainly come away with a much better understanding of the Victorian Era.