For many of us, the love of history began with the desire to better understand where we as individuals, or members of a group came from. Whether we are attempting to contextualize our family’s history, to better comprehend our unique regional cultures, or to just figure out why on earth that monument of a giant prairie chicken exists, understanding our local city and state histories is an excellent way to further nuance our understanding of the overall narrative of American history.
While this knowledge is invaluable to our own academic growth, the ability to inspire our students, and foster their love of the past is its greatest benefit. With this in mind, we at the Gilder Lehrman Institute and Adams State University invite you to join us for our upcoming State Histories online course.
State Histories: Big Questions in Small Places will take place online from June 4 to August 4 and will be led by Dr. Richard Loosbrock. Students will choose a state and explore its history, including the geography and cultural distinctiveness of the state’s sub-regions. Reading lists have been assembled for all 50 states. These include textual readings, as well as a series of books that represent monographic studies for a more detailed exploration of each state’s history.
Assignments consist of essay exams, reviews of books from provided monographic lists, and a research paper completed in consultation with a professor. Research papers provide the opportunity to engage in an in-depth study of a particular era, region, or topic within each state’s history using primary and secondary sources–for anyone preparing to undertake a master’s thesis, this is an excellent opportunity to begin your research.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History offers an affordable, high-quality, online MA degree program for K-12 teachers, through a partnership with Adams State University. Courses feature lectures by eminent scholars. While enrolled in Gilder Lehrman’s MA program, students are given access to the Gilder Lehrman expansive digital collection, as well as ASU’s digital database.
Dr. Loosbrock specializes in the history of sports in the U.S. and serves on several committees for the NCAA. He travels frequently in the service of college athletics, and has published many articles on the topic, including the 2016 article, “Integrating the gridiron: black civil rights and American college football” in the Journal of Sport in History.
For those of you who are interested in this course–or one of our other great Summer offerings–you can begin the registration process here.
