Civil War and Reconstruction MOOC

Partner(s): Eric Foner History Department Access: Open to all Revised: September 2015 Released: September 2014 VIEW PROJECT

This history MOOC series, Columbia's first on the edX platform, is divided into three courses that are spread out over 27 weeks of stimulating lectures, interactive assignments, and community discussions. All three courses are available on ColumbiaX.

The first course in the series, A House Divided: The Road to Civil War, 1850-1861, investigates how the issue of slavery came to dominate American politics, and how political leaders struggled and failed to resolve the growing crisis in the nation. Foner examines how generations of historians have explained the crisis of the Union. He traces the impact of key events such as Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry.

The second and third installments in the course - A New Birth of Freedom: The Civil War, 1861-1865 and The Unfinished Revolution: Reconstruction and After, 1865-1890 - continue the experience. Students will dive deeper into a discussion of the political, social, and economic changes in the Union and the Confederacy, and the Civil War's long-term economic and intellectual impact.

Visit Columbia Learn, Columbia University's YouTube channel for teaching and learning, to view all of Professor Foner's lectures from the course.

The Civil War and Reconstruction MOOC is a Online Learning Initiative project.

Related project categories:
History | Online & Directed Learning