Mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba describes the effects of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on the city and on the lives of the survivors, and calls for nuclear disarmament.
Black history and studies scholar Manning Marable looks at the necessity for "revolution" in the field of Black studies. He looks at the history of education, scholarship, and the loss and construction of collective memory by and for African Americans.
Black history and studies scholar Manning Marable looks at the significance of Malcolm X's work and life to contemporary scholarship and African American identity. Marable focuses on the importance of accurately preserving information and materials on important public figures like Malcolm X and on the dangers of losing and misinterpreting such information.
Black history and studies scholar Manning Marable explores African American perceptions of history and major historical figures, particularly those of the Civil Rights Movement. Marable focuses on how and why African Americans have chosen some figures as representative of Black history and culture—that is, as heroes.
Authors Philip McFarland and Debby Applegate trace the lives of the Beechers, a family which included the siblings Henry Ward Beecher, a famous preacher, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Audio and video options are available.
Historian Kate Clifford Larson reviews the life of Harriet Tubman and Tubman's work in freeing other slaves along the Underground Railroad. Larson focuses on unsimplifying Tubman's life story and presenting it in its complexity and full breadth.
Historian Charlie Bahne fleshes out the historical context of the 1773 Boston Tea Party, discussing the role of tea in everyday colonial life and reexamining the event from a modern perspective.
An mp3 version of the lecture may be downloaded.
Professor Gerald L. Early discusses cultural observations on Curt Flood, the first player in Major League Baseball to challenge the infamous "reserve clause" which opened the doors to free agency. Early focuses on the significance of sports as a public arena.
Christian Appy, associate professor of history at MIT, discusses perceptions and memories of the Vietnam War from all possible sides: American civilians, antiwar protestors, and soldiers, as well as Vietnamese civilians and soldiers.
Professor Raymond Arsenault discusses the Freedom Rides of 1961, in which participants rode public buses into the South to protest transportation segregation. He focuses on the personal stories of the Freedom Riders.