Lectures in History

Professor Benjamin Bankhurst talked about Appalachia in the American imagination. He described how the regional stereotype has changed over time, from the view of “backwards hillbillies” during the Industrial Revolution to a people respected for their folk culture in the early 20th century.

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Purdue University Professor Kathryn Brownell taught a class about political advertising in the 1950s, highlighting Dwight Eisenhower’s presidential campaigns. She compared radio and early televised ads and examines what components made them successful.

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Guilford Technical Community College Professor Jeff Kinard taught a class about Civil War weaponry and shared artifacts such as muskets, carbines, and revolvers. He described technological advances, such as breech loading and rifled barrels, that allowed soldiers to fire faster and with more accuracy.

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Texas Woman’s University history professor Cecily Zander discussed the federal government’s efforts to explore and control the American west from the early 1800's through the Civil War. Texas Woman’s University is located in Denton.

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University of California, Davis, law professor Mary Ziegler discussed the history of abortion and contraception laws in the United States.

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Molly Worthen taught a class about the history and the intellectual underpinnings of Protestant fundamentalism in 20th century America. She began with the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, which pitted the teaching of evolution versus creationism in public schools and gained national attention. Later she delved into the origins and growth of Pentecostalism, which strives for a personal connection with the Divine and includes such aspects as faith healing and speaking in tongues.

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Professor Adrian Lewis talked about about Omaha Beach and the 1944 D-Day landings in Normandy, France, during World War II. He described the German and Allied military strategies as well as the command structure on each side. He also enumerated the challenges American troops faced when trying to land on Omaha Beach and argued that the outcome was not inevitable.

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Calvin University Professor Micah Watson discussed C.S. Lewis’s views on law, politics, and government and how they connected to his Christian beliefs. This lecture took place at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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University of Notre Dame military history professor Ian Ona Johnson discussed the contest for control of Atlantic sea routes during World War II. The University of Notre Dame is located in Indiana.

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Prairie View A&M history professor Malachi Crawford discusses the evolution of civil rights law from efforts to dismantle Jim Crow and racial segregation to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

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