History & Politics   

Engage with a stirring correction of United States history that emphasizes Black survival and resistance, Michael Harriot’s history, “simplifies complex issues into easily understandable, digestible bites with blunt, entertaining, irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes laugh-out-loud statements." It’s a provocative explanation of how the United States came to be and, “how money-focused, self-serving intentions made it what it is today.” (Library Journal). As we delve into it, some of the chapters we’ll discuss are: ”Earth, Wind and America,” “The Church Fight That Started Slavery,” “So Devilish A Fire: The Black Women Behind The Civil Rights Movement,” “Race War III,” and ”The Great White Heist.”

We will read the book In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. This book explores the rise of Nazi Germany in 1933-37 through the eyes of the first and last American Ambassador to Berlin. The book provides a firsthand account of Hitler's early rise to power through the experiences of the Dodd family.

“We are all captives in today’s world: captives of a political system, of circumstances, of obligations or illusions, to say nothing of those who are captives in a literal sense. The world seems full of misplaced people trapped in captivity, sometimes self-imposed, but feeling nonetheless alienated from a hostile world.”-- a “Prisoner of the Caucasus.”  If Russia has a cultural subconsciousness, it lies in the Caucasus. Its greatest writers, Pushkin, Lermontov and Tolstoy all wrote either a poem or a story called “Prisoner of the Caucasus.” Its land, an area straddling two continents but smaller than France, is called Hajiz Iskender “the barrier of Alexander.” It was the home of the Amazons, Medea, the Golden Fleece, and the mountain to which Prometheus was chained. It currently contains four countries, four major religions, over fifty-three ethnic tribes and languages, two disputed countries, and ten Autonomous Republics. Prepare to be a temporary captive of the Caucasus in order to explore its impact on Russian literature, media, and world history.

Take some time to explore the complex and intertwined histories of Israel and Palestine. The book Side By Side: Parallel Histories Of Israel - Palestine provides a “dual narrative” of Israeli and Palestinian conflict, providing both perspectives on key historical events.

Using Ken Burns' PBS documentary The Dust Bowl, this class will chronicle the worst human-made ecological disaster in American history. Clear-cut logging and frenzied farming followed by a decade of drought during the 1930s nearly swept away the breadbasket of our nation. This is also a morality tale about our relationship with our land and with the planet that sustains us.

What are the real possibilities of nuclear warfare occurring in the near future? We will discuss those possibilities as well as study the history of the development of nuclear weapons and instances in history where the world came very close to a nuclear holocaust.

History is not always about facts but about reworking the past to serve new political, cultural, and social situations. This class will review the controversies that played out when past "history" needed to be "changed." These historical arguments will be presented as a spur to analysis and discussion of current efforts to change "history." LIMIT 15

During its short life as a country and a concept, the United States has transformed the world through its revolutionary enshrinement, as governing principles, of the rule of law and sovereignty of the people. For eons, monarchs and chieftains ruled by force, whim, and fiat and were “the law” and beyond its reach. Heeding Thomas Paine’s call “to begin the world all over again,” America consciously made law – not any individual – king.

Within the United States, “democracy” has been employed as a pejorative, an inevitable result of reasoned governance, a weapon clothed in religious righteousness, and a challenge to established ways. Worldwide, our odes to “democracy” have alternately inspired oppressed peoples and spawned dictatorships cloaked in electoral clothing. This class will explore the complicated travels and travails of “democracy” as a governing principle throughout history and the many surprising flavors of “democracy” on offer here and around the world today.

"Mrs. Satan" was the nickname for Victoria Woodhull, America's first woman presidential candidate (1872) and a women's rights advocate. It was given to her by critics for her advocacy of “free love” and spiritualism, and her challenging of Victorian norms. Cartoons often depicted her as the devil tempting wives away from traditional domesticity. Join us as we explore her life and activities and society's reactions to her.

The Victorian Era’s stark social divisions and uneven advancements are vividly illustrated in the fascinating tales of everyday individuals and prominent personalities. The period comes alive through accounts of authors, programmers, suffragettes, and journalists, as well as grave robbers, fasting girls, and scam artists. All paint a rich portrait of an age defined by gas lamps and horse-drawn carriages.

NOTE: This class covers material different from the Fall 2025 Victorian Era course.

This class explores World War II through the personal stories of the people who lived it. From Pearl Harbor to the Pacific Theater, from Richard Bong and John Blatnik to the women of the WASP program and the families on the homefront, we’ll look at the war’s major events through a local lens. Each session includes clips from the Bong Center’s oral history collection, allowing participants to hear veterans and community members share their memories in their own words. The last day of the session will be a tour of the Bong Veterans Museum in Superior. Participants will meet at the museum and receive a guided tour of the museum and a behind-the-scenes tour of the archives.