"This course will examine military aspects of the war, as well as political developments during it, including the political history of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. The course also examines the post-war Amendments and the Reconstruction era."

"A study of the sectional conflict beginning with the nullification crisis. The course will not only examine the political, social and economic developments in the period leading to the Civil War, but will emphasize the political thought of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, and John C. Calhoun."

"This course will explore the history of black Americans as they strove to secure their dignity as human beings, and rights as American citizens, in the face of racial prejudice. It will examine the diverse viewpoints of leading black intellectuals and activists on human equality, slavery, self-government, the rule of law, emancipation, colonization, and citizenship. Contemporary issues to be considered may include affirmative action, black reparations, racial profiling, and the 'achievement gap' in education."

"Alexis de Tocqueville's 'Democracy in America' is the best study of America to be written by a foreigner. It examines government, religion, the races, private associations, literature, the family, and much else, all the while contrasting democratic America with old aristocratic Europe. This course will examine as much of the book as we can, focusing especially on Tocqueville's account of the love of equality (and its dangers) and his prescriptions for the preservation of liberty."

Professor John Wood Sweet "uses the dramatic story of Venture Smith, an enslaved African in New England who earned his freedom, to anchor an analysis of the colonial dynamics that brought together — and kept apart — a series of disparate regions and peoples in the increasingly global early modern world."

"A panel discussion featuring Elizabeth Alexander, Natasha Trethewey, and Caryl Phillips."

Professor Diane Mutti-Burke "explores the diversity found within Southern plantations by illuminating how region and the size of slaveholding altered slavery. This lecture is part of the Gilder Lehrman Center Brown Bag Lunch Series."

Scholar Robert Bonner "examines a multi-faceted 'proslavery Americanism' that sought to nationalize Southern slaveholding within the late antebellum U.S. before providing a platform for the Confederate departure of the early 1860s. This lecture is part of the Gilder Lehrman Center Brown Bag Lunch Series."

Author Edward Ball explores Southern memory and interpretation of slavery, as part of the Gilder Lehrman Brown Bag Lunch Series.

University of Pittsburgh professor Marcus Rediker will discuss his book "The Slave Ship: A Human History," which explores life and relationships, for and between both crew and slaves, on slave ships traveling between Africa and the Americas.