History and Culture

To see all current History and Culture courses, click here.

Music and History
Have fun learning with Roger Keller in this great new lunch and learn class featuring music and history.  Class topics will include: The Stripes and Stars, the history of the National flag; the South Pacific action of the magnificent World War II ship, the USS Ringgold; and building a basic Classical music library. This class will meet in the HCC Valley Mall Training Center with easy access parking.  Please bring a bag lunch and a curious mind!

Broken Promises and Compromises
This program encompasses the time frame from the creation of the Articles of Confederation during the American Revolution to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788.  Topics include:  the weakness of the Articles of Confederation; demographics and descriptions of major delegates to the Constitutional Convention; the major compromises that were built into the new government; and the fight for ratification.

George Rogers Clark
This program highlights the life of George Rogers Clark.  We will discuss his contributions to Virginia in the American Revolution and the opening of the Old Northwest for the United States during the American Revolution - particularly those against the British and their Indian allies in the Ohio country.  This program also explores Clark's relationship to Virginia governors Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson during and after the American Revolution.

Jamestown and Plymouth Plantations: A Comparison and Contrast
We will discuss the history of the beginning years of each colony:  Jamestown was founded in 1607 and Plymouth Plantation in 1620. We will explain how the colonization of Ireland served as a role model for English colonization of North America. The focus of this program is upon the comparisons and contrasts between the two permanent settlements. Finally, we will address why the colony of New England has been much more celebrated in our history than the first permanent colony, Virginia.

Inner Lights: Quakerism and Transcendentalism
The tenets of Quakerism are reviewed, as well as the reasons why the Quakers failed in governing Pennsylvania in the 18th century.  The basic beliefs of those of the 19th century movement, Transcendentalism, are reviewed.  We will discover that this movement was more than Thoreau and Emerson.  We will delve into two questions Transcendentalist posed to America regarding liberty: Who was included? What should Americans do with their freedom?  We will discuss why their literature has retained more interest than their religious philosophy.  Finally, basic comparisons and contrasts between the Quaker faith and Transcendentalism will be offered.

Rise of Hilter, Part I
Join Jeff Discoll as he considers the rise of this 20th century monster.  We'll look at Hitler's early life in Austria, including his years in Vienna; the time he served in the German army during World War I; the years in Munich after the war, when he joined a small, right-wing political party known as the German Workers' Party; his rise to the leadership of that party; and finally, the apparent end of his political aspirations with the unsuccessful Munich "Putsch" in November of 1923.

Rise of Hitler, Part II
This class, the follow-up to the Rise of Hitler, Part I, will pick up the story following Hitler's arrest after the unsuccessful 1923 "Putsch", and his subsequent trial in 1924.  Hitler believed his political career was over, but the international economic crisis of the late 1920's provided him and his Nazi party the chance to jump back on the political stage in Germany.  Hitler and his Nazi cronies would take full advantage of that opportunity, leading eventually to his appointment as Chancellor in January of 1933.

The Seeds of Horror
In this three week-long class, we'll consider the origins of the Holocaust, the feelings of Europeans towards the Jews before World War II, and how the Nazis successfully used the Jews as scapegoats in their attempts to gain power in Germany.  We'll then look at how the policies towards Jews changed once Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933, the establishment of the first concentration camp at Dachau in March of that year, the events of the "Krystalnacht" ("Night of the Broken Glass") in November of 1938, and the opening months of the war.  We'll conclude Part I with the infamous January 1942 Wannsee Conference, a meeting which laid the groundwork for the Holocaust.

The Holocaust
Although the seeds were sown long before, it was following the January 1942 Wannsee Conference when most historians consider the Holocaust to have begun.  Certainly hundreds of thousands had already been murdered, but it was after that time when the planned extermination of all European Jews actually began.  We'll look at the horror that was the Holocaust, the camps, the motives, the uprisings, and the aftermath.

For more information or to register, call 240-500-2236.