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Great Decisions 2013 Foreign Policy (I)

HIS1     Session I:   February 28, March 7, 14, 21

Thursdays    10:15 am - 12:15 pm

Do you ever see foreign news reports and wonder what it’s all about?   Global challenges have increasingly become domestic challenges with events in the remotest parts of the world affecting our lives in myriad ways. Get the information you need to figure out what’s happening and to be able to discuss it intelligently with others. Topics for 2013 Session I are:

     •Future of the Euro      •Egypt     • NATO    • Myanmar and Southeast Asia

This program was developed by the Foreign Policy Association.   Read essential background information in the briefing book, then come to class for a video analysis of the topic by experts, followed by a group discussion.   The Great Decisions 2013 Briefing Book is available from the OLLI office for $22. Read Chapter 1 before the first class meeting.

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Films of War

HIS2    Session I: March 1, 8, 15, 22

Fridays      1:00 - 4:30 pm (end time may vary)

This course will show four films of war. Before each film there will be a discussion of its historical setting. A discussion of historical accuracy will follow the films. The four films in this inaugural year have all been used in UAF’s HIST 442.

Instructor Paul Renschen, LTC RET USA, taught military history at West Point and directed the ROTC instructors' course in Military History.   He is a history adjunct at UAF, teaching The Military History of the United States.

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Project Jukebox: Alaska’s History on the Web  

HIS3    Session II; April 2, 9, 16, 30  

Tuesdays 2:45 - 4:00 pm    **Special Dates: No class April 23**

Learn about Alaska’s history from the very people themselves through Project Jukebox, the digital branch of the Oral History Program at UAF that provides access to audio and video recordings, transcripts, maps, historic photographs and films from across Alaska.   Explore Alaska’s Digital Archives as it presents innumerable historical photographs, albums, oral histories, moving images, maps, documents and physical objects all held at museums and archives across the state.   The goal is to learn about these fabulous resources and how to use them.   No computer experience necessary.

Instructor, Leslie McCartney, is the curator of Oral History at UAF.   As an anthropologist/oral historian, she has recorded the life stories of an array of people in projects in Alaska, Canada, England and Ireland.

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Great Decisions 2013 Foreign Policy (II)

HIS4     Session II: April 4, 1, 18, 25

Thursdays    10:15 am - 12:15 pm

Do you ever see foreign news reports and wonder what it’s all about?   Global challenges have increasingly become domestic challenges with events in the remotest parts of the world affecting our lives in myriad ways. Get the information you need to figure out what’s happening and to be able to discuss it intelligently with others. Topics for 2013 Session II are:

     •Intervention     •Iran    • China in Africa    • Threat Assessment

This program was developed by the Foreign Policy Association.   Read essential background information in the briefing book, then come to class for a video analysis of the topic by experts, followed by a group discussion.   The Great Decisions 2013 Briefing Book is available from the OLLI office for $22. Read Chapter 5 before the first class meeting.

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The Pernicious Decade: The Birth of Political Parties in the United States

HIS5 Session II:   April 5, 12, 19, 26, May 3

Fridays 9:00 - 10:15 am       **5 classes**

Contrary to contemporary opinion, the worst period for vicious partisan politics in this country was not from 2000 to the present.   This class will examine the origins and development of party conflict during the first 10 years of the new federal government, from the ratification of the new Constitution and George Washington’s first administration through the election of 1800.   We will pay particular attention to the words and actions of the Founders, sometimes ironically at odds with one another, as in the statement of Thomas Jefferson, founder of America’s first opposition party, to a friend in 1789, “If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.”   This will be the final course in our OLLI exploration of the origins and consequences of the U.S. Constitution, and this time we really will get to 1800!! No special background knowledge is necessary beyond an intellectual curiosity about the early days of this American experiment.   A reading list for further study will be provided for those interested.

Instructor Susan Stitham team-taught Advanced Placement Government at Lathrop High School, and in 2008 designed and taught a high school course analyzing both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.   Last spring, she taught an OLLI course on the writing of the U. S. Constitution.

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The Alamo and the War for Texas Independence

HIS6 Session II: March 29, April 5, 26, May 3

Fridays 1:00 - 2:15 pm       **Special Dates: Starts March 29, No class April 12 or 19**

The war for Texas independence will be explored with emphasis on facts and legends surrounding the Alamo and that event’s significance in the war. We’ll examine the northern Viceroyalty of New Spain and the background of events leading to Mexican independence.   We will also cover unsuccessful attempts by northern “filibusters” to take Texas from New Spain.  

Instructor Stephen Heckman, retired Alaska State Trooper, former adjunct with Tanana Community College, and retired history teacher and vice principal of Monroe Catholic High School has an undergraduate degree from the University of Alaska.

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