The problem with distance-learning telecourses is that students are unlikely to receive in a mere 13 hours what they would in a full semester of traditional instruction. Yes, The Biography of America features big name historians, but the topics are so wide and the 30-minute time frame for each subject so small that students are seriously shortchanged. Episode 6, "Westward Expansion," looks at the Louisiana Purchase and, briefly, the journey of Lewis and Clark, but when it comes to the "discussion" section with Stephen Ambrose, Pauline Maier and series host Donald Miller, they jump the topic rails and worry about the slavery question. Nowhere do we hear about Texas, "manifest destiny," or the Mexican War, those key ideas and events that ultimately added even more territory to the American map than the Louisiana Purchase (the study guide points out that the episode covers 1800-1825, which would indeed leave out the far westward expansion, but these essential topics do not appear to be addressed in other episodes, although two more episodes cover slavery and the coming of the Civil War. Guess the history of the West doesn't matter!). In Episode 22, "World War II," the coverage is so anecdotal and full of human interest stories that the Pacific arena of the war isn't addressed until the following episode, anachronistically titled "The Fifties." Here are the topics covered in "World War II": Pearl Harbor, less than one sentence on North Africa, D-Day, the Death Camps, and V-E Day. While the anecdotal part of history is always interesting and even essential to understanding the big picture, the suffering and sacrifices of ordinary people makes little sense without the big picture. While the tapes are attractively priced for inclusion in circulating or reference collections, schools and universities considering licensing the series for college credit telecourse use ($500 per term plus $20 per student license fee, which includes a textbook, study guides and faculty guides) are perhaps better off with traditional instruction supplemented by meatier topical programs, such as Liberty! (VL-5/98) on the American Revolution. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)
The Biography of America
(2000) 13 videocassettes. $39.95 each ($389 series price). Annenberg/CPB Project. PPR. Color cover. Closed captioned. Vol. 16, Issue 1
The Biography of America
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