Free Summer History Courses!

As a teacher, as much as I like to relax and unwind over the summer, I also try to set aside some time to deepen my content knowledge through a good book, course, or curriculum project.

Recently I discovered that there are a bunch of FREE high-quality courses available that anyone can take. The website MOOC List provides a good searchable database of free courses. Here are a few exceptional classes I found:

1. Women and the Civil Rights Movement through the University of Maryland - Dr. Barkley-Brown examines the U.S. civil rights movement from the vantage point of women, considering both women’s involvement in the legal campaigns and political protests and the impact of civil rights struggles on women’s status and identity. Here is a preview:
   
   
   
2. U.S. History: First Peoples to the Civil War and Reconstruction through Seattle Central Community College - Dr. Weston examines U.S. History from European settlement to the end of Reconstruction.
   
3. The Modern World: Global History since 1760 through the University of Virginia - Dr. Philip Zelikow provides a survey of modern history from a global perspective. It begins with the revolutions of the late 1700s, tracks the transformation of the world during the 1800s, and analyzes the cataclysms of last century, concluding with the new phase of world history we are experiencing today. Here is a video preview:
   
   
   
4. The Ancient Greeks through Wesleyan - Dr. Andrew Szegedy-Maszak leads a survey of ancient Greek history from the Bronze Age to the death of Socrates in 399 BCE. A video preview can be seen here:

Hope you find some of them useful! Enjoy your summers!