Professor Gallagher does a fantastic job! Even though this is a broad overview of the Civil War, it goes into way more detail than any standard American history class would ever go. I learned so much! His lectures were very easy to listen to. I found myself not wanting to turn them off. I greatly appreciated his unbiased approach. I did not feel like he was taking sides but rather presenting facts and dispelling myths from both sides. I'm a 38 year old biracial (black and white) female from Central Louisiana. I chose to listen to this lecture in light of the recent events surrounding the Civil War monuments in New Orleans. I wanted to know more about the figures represented in them and about the war in general. I learned so much more than I anticipated! I learned that Abraham Lincoln was not necessarily the patron saint of black Americans, as I feel he has often been depicted. I can empathize with the South, in why they were bitter and how they were so badly crippled by the war. Having grown up in the South, I can see the remnants of the effects of that period still impacting life there today. I found myself fascinated with the strategy of war in general. I appreciated how Prof. Gallagher illustrated all the factors that play a part in in going to war: The politics behind it all. Even his description of the various political parties and their agendas. In some ways so much has changed, but in many ways nothing has changed. It took 100 years after the abolition of slavery to establish equal rights (through the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s). That was not that long ago, relatively speaking. We must acknowledge that we have all been affected (infected) by our nation's history and that some changes will just take time...perhaps the passing of a few more generations. As a student, throughout all of my schooling (elementary through graduate school), I never really enjoyed history class. It is a shame because there's so much to learn from it. Thank You professor Gallagher for your enthusiasm and for sharing your knowledge with all of us! You were anything but boring!
"It is impossible to understand the broader sweep of the United States history, without coming to terms with the Civil War, its antecedents, and its seismic consequences."
Dr. Gary W. Gallagher is the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia. He graduated from Adams State College of Colorado and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in History from The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to teaching at UVA, he was Professor of History at The Pennsylvania State University. Professor Gallagher is one of the leading historians of the Civil War. His books include The Confederate War, Lee and His Generals in War and Memory, and Stephen Dodson Ramseur: Lee's Gallant General. He has coauthored and edited several works on individual battles and campaigns and has published over 100 articles in scholarly journals and popular historical magazines. Professor Gallagher has received many awards for his research and writing, including the Laney Prize for the best book on the Civil War, the William Woods Hassler Award for contributions to Civil War studies, the Lincoln Prize, and the Fletcher Pratt Award for the best nonfiction book on the Civil War. Professor Gallagher was founder and first president of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites and has served on the Board of Directors of the Civil War Trust.
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/professors/gary-w-gallagher/
No comments:
Post a Comment