Review: The Nomadic Professor American History, Parts 1 & 2

Today, I’m sharing my review of The Nomadic Professor American History course, Parts 1 and 2.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary subscription for review from Timberdoodle and The Nomadic Professor. All views expressed are my own.

Overview

The Nomadic Professor offers a non-sectarian and non-partisan history course that strives to teach students how to think critically. “While we can’t (and don’t want to) escape the narrative we find most convincing, we are forthright with the students: we constantly remind them that they are reading an argument, not an authoritative, voiceless textbook, posing as The Final Answer. Further, we actively and rigorously train them in how to identify evidence and challenge conclusions, even our own evidence and conclusions, while avoiding the unnecessary headache of pretending that ‘all answers are equally valid.'”

The Nomadic Professor American History course has a total of four parts:

Pre-1492 to 1788: From the pre-Columbian Americas to the ratification of the Constitution
1789 to 1877: From Washington’s presidency to the end of Reconstruction
1878 to 1941: From Crazy Horse to Pearl Harbor
1942 to near the present: From World War II to the 21st Century

The Nomadic Professor American History, Parts 1 and 2, is a 10-month online subscription geared toward high school students. Each part is typically completed in one semester, with both parts for a full school year. (Parts 3 and 4 would be completed the following year for a robust two-year U.S. history study. I’ll be back soon with a review of Parts 3 and 4.)

What’s Included

Each unit presents the information in various ways to reinforce the concepts and cater to a broad spectrum of learning styles.

On-screen text to read
Historical photos, maps, and charts to illustrate the text throughout
Video lectures filmed on location to tie in with the historical period or subject matter
Guided notes to utilize alongside the video
Downloadable audio files that include both the on-screen text and video lectures
Illustrated timeline to show when events happened in relation to one another
Document lessons to examine primary sources
Glossary to learn or review
Activities and worksheets to reinforce concepts
Discussion topics
Writing prompts

Resources for the parent or instructor include:

Course handbook
Answer keys for the guided notes
Grading rubrics
Online record-keeping
Tracking and scheduling options

Part 1: To Begin the World Over Again

The 10 units in Part 1 include:

Before Columbus: Central America, South America, North America
The Explorers: pre-Columbian explorers and their different European and American contexts
The Spanish Empire: Mexico, Peru, the Southwest, Florida
French/English: Canada, Louisiana, Jamestown, Puritans and Separatists
North and South: political, economic, and social differences between the northern and southern colonies
The Mid-Atlantic: colonial and native relations in the Mid-Atlantic, mostly during the seventeenth century
Colonial Experience: from slavery, to economic policy, to religious revivalism
European Rivalries: different viewpoints that fueled resentment and conflict between the colonists and the British in England
Revolution: the course of the Revolutionary War, and the motivations and other immediate causes of the fighting
Constitutions: the transition from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution, and the ideologies of the different interested parties

Part 2: The Noise of Democracy

The 10 units in Part 2 include:

To 1797: the European rivalries that impacted colonization in the Americas, as well as the different viewpoints that fueled resentment and conflict between the colonists and the British in England
To 1806: American foreign policy in Great Britain, France, and the Mediterranean, as well as momentous domestic policy decisions regarding state versus federal power
To 1815: the transition from Jefferson to Madison, the banning of the slave trade in America, frontier conflicts, and the War of 1812
To 1823: the third decade of the new American Union, including the creation of new states and territories, and developing sectional tensions introduced by Missouri statehood
To 1831: a wide range of historical content, from the Marquis de Lafayette, to the presidential election of 1824, to Indian Removal, to a new political party system, to Johnny Appleseed
To 1841: territorial expansion and some of its attendant complications, American relations with the natives, the national bank, and the developing American party system
To 1850: westward expansion, especially after the Mexican-American War, as well as huge political and demographic changes from immigration to abolitionism to women’s rights movements
To 1859: the first decade of the new American Union, and the growing tensions between its emerging political factions
To 1865: the Union from John Brown’s Raid to Lincoln’s assassination, and everything in between
To 1877: Reconstruction and westward expansion

My Thoughts

While I prefer to read and teach from materials that support my own worldview and beliefs, I think it’s vitally important to teach our kids how to think and consider other viewpoints rather than blindly just accepting whatever they hear or whatever seems most compelling at the moment. Lack of critical thinking has led to significant problems in our current social and political situation. I appreciate the emphasis on thinking skills in this course.

The Nomadic Professor American History course is so in-depth and engaging that I have thoroughly enjoyed going through it myself without getting bored reviewing material I am already familiar with. I love the multi-media approach. For families on the go, it is handy to have the audiobook download available. I like that it is read conversationally by the Professor, which helps it tie in seamlessly with the videos.

Speaking of the videos, how cool is it that they are filmed on location? As an eager traveler myself, I make it a point to search out and stop at historic locations. I realize that I will likely never have the opportunity to visit all the sites the Nomadic Professor has visited, so it’s great to see them in the videos.

If you’re looking for an immersive American history course for your high school student (or for your own enrichment), I definitely recommend The Nomadic Professor.