Colonial America

In this six-week class, we will do a deep dive into what made a rag-tag group of religious fanatics in England decide to abandon everything they knew and re-start their lives on the coast of Massachusetts in the year 1628. Our main "text" will be the PBS series Colonial House, in which seventeen modern-day participants agreed to spend four months living as colonists did 400 years ago. Questions we'll ask include:

—What circumstances were colonists leaving behind in Europe?

—What technologies did they have in the 17th century, and what conveniences were they lacking?

—How did they rationalize occupying an abandoned Native village as part of "God's plan"?

—How did men and women experience life in the "New World" differently?

—What punishments did reluctant church-goers endure?

—What were the things early colonists feared most?

—How have early relationships between European colonists and indigenous peoples been romanticized?

—What’s the difference between “a colony” and “a community”? What did the colonists still owe England?

—Why did one 21st-century Black participant in the Colonial House project decide to leave the experiment because he "could see where this was going"? What future for America was he predicting, and what evidence did he have to support that?

—How did colonists envision their future? How are their 400-year-old views still with us? Why do we give them such an outsized importance when we try to develop a national identity as "Americans"?

Prerequisite: 1492

Instructor: Laura Fokkena

DETAILS:

Suggested age range: 13+

Outside work: 1-2 episodes of Colonial House per week + short videos and readings

When & where: Fridays on Zoom from 12:30-1:30 Eastern Time, Jan. 10 - Feb. 14, 2025.

Fee: $150 ungraded/$200 graded; this includes a non-refundable registration fee of $10. We offer discounts for groups, siblings, and students who enroll in multiple classes. (Discount information.) Payment plans available. Fees waived for families with financial need.  (Waivers and payment plan information.) Questions about how classes work? Read our course FAQ.

Photo credit: Laura Fokkena