History   

The narrative of 19th century Japanese immigration to California typically overlooks the contributions of women. This lecture course will complement the field trip to the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony Farm. 
Separate registration for field trip is required. 

A majority of Americans still do not believe the Warren Commission Report.  Many key witnesses met strange deaths. Film, police crosstalk, acoustical and forensic evidence suggest three shooters. Roger Peterson has met and talked with several people who witnessed the assassination. 

Our criminal justice system has been compared to a massive ocean barge: efficient, predictable, but slow to change direction. Sometimes, though, forces collide that provide courts with unique opportunities to radically alter our laws. From famous examples such as Watergate to little known cases like the prosecution of drug kingpin Nicky Barnes, we will explore the dramatic stories of how our system can be upended.

On the 50th anniversary of the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, perhaps it is time to admit that much of the nation was mistaken. As discovered in Part One, the Nixon Administration was spied upon by the Pentagon, infiltrated by CIA, and deeply disserved by its White House counsel John Dean III. Following the June 17, 1972 arrest of CIA assets for the break-in at the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office building, President Nixon made the disastrous decision to cover up the collusion of the Committee to Re-Elect the President. That action began a two years-long odyssey that ended with his resignation. What was little known, but will be explored in this course, is how the President’s enemies conspired to remove him from office in a silent coup d’etat. Abusing the media, the judicial process, and the Bill of Rights, Nixon’s foes achieved through a scandal what they could not at the ballot box. Following the scholarship of Len Colodny, Robert Gettlin, Jim Hougan, Geoff Shepard, Ken Holland, and other researchers, we will discover what actually happened from August 1972 through August 1974.

The militia was a long-standing English institution transplanted to Britain's North American Colonies. Colonists were obligated to serve as soldiers in local conflicts. During the revolution, colonists took control of the militia system. Organized militias became a function of the federal and state governments. In the election of 1860 there was a mass militia movement to elect Lincoln as president and end slavery. Since 1990 there have been a growing number of unorganized militias including many groups that are anti-government. 

This course will analyze how liberals and conservatives gradually flipped positions on the role of using government in American life. 

The course will follow the most recent book of the same name that Mr. Fraser recently completed and will cover a broad sweep of American history from colonial times to the election of FDR.

The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 was the single largest event which opened up the Western U.S.. The class will explore the politics behind Lincoln's decision to sign the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, the role of the Big Four (Stanford, Hopkins, Huntington and Crocker) and the fateful story of Theodore Judah. Furthermore, we will understand the impact of using Chinese and Irish laborers to construct the greatest American engineering achievement of the 19th Century. Hope you can also join us on the Transcontinental Railroad Field Trip! Field Trips

The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 was the single largest event which opened up the Western U.S.. The class will explore the politics behind Lincoln's decision to sign the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, the role of the Big Four (Stanford, Hopkins, Huntington and Crocker) and the fateful story of Theodore Judah. Furthermore, we will understand the impact of using Chinese and Irish laborers to construct the greatest American engineering achievement of the 19th Century. Hope you can also join us on the Transcontinental Railroad Field Trip! Field Trips

Swearing appears to be part of the human condition, but it has been expressed in different ways throughout history. From the obscenities of ancient Rome to the religious oaths of the Middle Ages to the rice of racial slurs after World War II swearing continues to evolve and change in both practice and significance.

Earp is one of the most memorable of Old West figures. More than 20 films have been made about him plus a popular TV series. But he wasn't like what the movies claimed...and he didn't think of himself as a lawman either. Roger Peterson interviewed three people who personally knew Earp. His work has been cited in Earp's biography and that of his third wife Josie, and American History magazine published Peterson's cover story on Earp's life. The Wild West History Association Journal gave the 2020 Best WWHA Journal Article to Peterson for his story "Wyatt Earp: Boomtown Sport."