This iCue Mini-Documentary describes Bostonian Samuel Adams's encouragement of Committees of Correspondence, which were letter-writing campaigns to monitor British activities in the colonies.
This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the situation in North American following the French and Indian War. The French no longer had holdings in the Americas; since Britain was the only remaining superpower left on the continent, the relationship between the colonists and the British grew increasingly strained.
This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Great Awakening, which broke out in America when several new religious leaders, such as George Whitefield, emerged to revive the church. This brought about new ways of worshiping and ultimately new religious sects such as Baptists and Presbyterians.
This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Half-Way Covenant the church in Puritan New England offered to those members who had not yet experienced a religious conversion, in order to increase church membership.
David Eisenhower of the University of Pennsylvania argues that World War II was a decisive event with an outcome that has moved the U.S. and the world towards a better future. It, he states, should be taught and studied in order to comprehend not only its warnings but the insights it offers into American strengths and those inhering in a free society. The lecture includes many anecdotes on President Eisenhower.
Tim Mulligan, retired from National Archives and currently teaching at the University of Maryland, will speak on the Christmas Truce of 1914. The truce was not one ordered from above, rather the French, German, and Scottish troops in the trenches began singing carols, which lead to a meeting in "no man's land" (the area between trenches) and exchanging of gifts. The presentation will include a showing of the film Joyeux Noel 2005 about the same topic. Mulligan often uses this film in his course "History through Hollywood."
Dr. John Barrett of St. Johns University of Law (one of the foremost Nuremberg Trials historian in the United States) will give the background and importance of the Nuremberg Trials. John Q. Barrett is a Professor of Law at St. Johns University School of Law in New York City, where he teaches constitutional law, criminal procedure, and legal history. Professor Barrett currently is working on a biography of Justice Jackson that will include the first inside account of his year (194546) away from the Supreme Court as the chief American prosecutor of the principal surviving Nazi leaders at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. He will be followed by three veterans of the First Division who were guards or military police during the trials who will share their experiences.
Founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund and bestselling author Marian Wright Edelman examines how to make the nation and world safe and fair for all children. She will also offer insights from her new book The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small.
While much of the press portrays Islam as a monolithic tradition, James Carroll's talk, "Islam: Threat of Gift?," will explore the perception of Islam and its complex relationship with Judaism and Christianity. A response by Asma Afsaruddin, Associate Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Notre Dame and Chairwoman of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, will follow.