In 28 short video clips, ranging in length from 40 seconds to over three minutes, a range of experts, including both politicians and scholars, discuss the history of nuclear weapons, the present political and military global situation and views of nuclear weapons, and the future of nuclear weapons. Intended to accompany the Choices Program's curriculum The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons, these clips may still be used independently.

Registration is required, but free.

Maurice Jackson discusses Anthony Benezet, the founder of the antislavery movement in America in the mid-1700s. Benezet believed the British ban on slavery should have been extended to the colonies, and worked to convince his Quaker brethren that slave-owning was not consistent with Christian doctrine.

Two dramatically different English settlements, New England in the North and Virginia in the South, develop in the 17th century, beginning a collision of values, cultures, and economies that prevails throughout U.S. history. This presentation explores the founding of these settlements and their development.

To view this video, click the small "VoD" graphic in the left hand column. In the new window, if you cannot see the play button, try clicking near the left corner just under the video.

As Elihu Root once put it, we study war "not to promote war, but to preserve peace." Indeed, it is impossible for students to learn U.S. or world history without frequent reference to war. The Foreign Policy Research Institute's Wachman Center presents two webcasts with Jeremy Black, one of the world's most distinguished historians of war, and enabled students from the online and live audiences to "interrogate" this guest as well.

The process explored a wide range of questions: How important is technology in war? How important is morale? What were some of the great errors on the battlefield? Who were the greatest commanders? Why were the 13 American colonies able to defeat the British, the world's greatest power, in America's Revolutionary War? Why did the U.S. play such a crucial role in World War II?

The session is divided into morning and afternoon sections, and is offered in video and audio formats.

This online workshop includes video segments from a workshop presented by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in February 2001 in Baltimore, MD. The guidelines and methodological suggestions in these video segments—including suggested lesson plans and 14 points to consider in teaching the Holocaust—are at the core of every teacher workshop and conference presented by the Museum. In addition to video of the actual workshop session, segments include historical and artifact photographs, text, and links to related sites within the Museum's website.

Ed Linenthal, editor of the Journal of American History, speaks with Professor Thomas W. Zieler about his article, "The Diplomatic History Bandwagon: A State of the Field," considering the state of diplomatic history in the face of and as a contributor to the new emphasis on globalization.

To listen to this interview, select "200903.mp3" under "March 2009."

Dr. Edward Ayers explores the complex legacy of the Civil War and Reconstruction as it resonates within American culture, domestic and foreign policy, and citizenship.

Dr. Peter Black, the Chief Historian of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, explores the response in the United States to the events of the Holocaust era, focusing on the issues of immigration, pre-war refugee policy, and wartime rescue policy.

Many Americans think Lewis and Clark were sent west simply to explore the newly-acquired Louisiana Purchase. In fact, the Lewis and Clark Expedition was part of an international contest to control North America and exploit its wealth and an important part of Thomas Jefferson's plan for the development of the United States and the future of its Native American population.

Dr. Dan Thorp of Virginia Tech explores the nature of earlier European activities in the North American West and how they shaped the timing and nature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Dr. Julie Solometo of James Madison University attempts to reconstruct the lives of Native Americans as they stood on the eve of and during contact with European colonists in North America. She examines particularly the impact of disease and drought on Native Americans and colonists both, and at the collapse of the Powhatan Chiefdom.

To listen to this lecture, select "Part 2" under the April 19th listing.