The Pace-Gilder Lehrman MA in American History Summer Courses

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Pace University offer a Master of Arts in American History through online courses for K–12 teachers everywhere. The online program offers the unique opportunity for educators to work with two dynamic and eminent institutions dedicated to lifelong learning and career preparedness.

The Pace–Gilder Lehrman MA in American History allows participants in the Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School network to pursue a graduate degree or take individual courses as desired, on their own schedule, from anywhere in the world, with top professors from Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Pace, CUNY, and more. Students can successfully complete a master’s degree in American history for minimal cost.

After two successul semesters of fall and spring course offerings, the program continues with new courses for Summer 2019:

American Indian History
with Professor Ned Blackhawk, Professor of History and American Studies, Yale University

Ignored for generations, American Indian history has recently become among the most dynamic fields of historical inquiry. As scholars now recognize, Indian peoples have fundamentally shaped and defined the modern world. From the founding of the first European settlements in North America to continuing debates over the meanings of American democracy, Indian history remains integral to understandings of US history and culture. This course introduces this complex and often ignored field of study.

Democracy in the Early Republic
with Professor Andrew Robertson, Associate Professor, CUNY Graduate Center

Historian Andrew Robertson argues that democracy was America’s “other peculiar institution” in the era of the Early Republic. Robertson will lead students in an exploration of the primary and secondary sources from this pivotal era in American history, when the possibilities of the Revolution were first explored and tested. The course, spanning the period from the 1790s to the eve of the Civil War will feature Robertson in discussion with specialists in the field.

Slavery in America
with Professor Jim Walvin, Professor Emeritus, University of York

This course looks at slavery in the colonial period, the Revolutionary era, and the 1800s throughout the North American continent. Topics include Native American slavery, the transatlantic slave trade, the development of African cultures in America, and the anti-slavery movement. We will try to understand the diversity of slavery and slave cultures in North America’s different regions as we assess the central role slavery played in the creation of American society.

Social Change in the Civil War Era
with Professor Catherine Clinton, Denman Endowed Professor in American History, University of Texas at San Antonio

The years between the first shots being fired at Ft. Sumter and the official declaration of war’s end at Appomattox represents one of the most dramatic watersheds in US history. The multiple meanings to emerge from this dynamic era continue to ripple across the decades and create a powerful legacy into the twenty-first century.

This course will be divided into thematic and chronological exposition. The first section will examine the origins of the Civil War, with special emphasis on the role of slavery and antislavery as factors of disunion. Then we can look at aspects of the war itself, emphasizing the civilian experience, looking particularly at the role of the social divisions—men and women, whites and blacks, free and slave, natives and immigrants with the republic in crisis. The emancipation of slaves was the dramatic centerpiece of the conflict, and thus the Civil War as a war of liberation and a war of reconstruction must be confronted. Finally, we must examine the contested memory and legacy of the Civil War, in both commemoration and popular culture.

For students finishing the MA degree, the Thesis/Capstone course will be offered every semester.

Applications are open. Click here to apply.