Great Courses: Native Peoples of North America

The Pound Ridge Library is pleased to announce the continuation of a series of lectures which mark the eleventh year of courses which are part of the library’s continuing presentation of a new educational concept in life-long learning: a series of DVD seminars from The Teaching Company/The Great Courses encompassing a wide variety of subjects, given by outstanding scholars from major colleges and universities throughout the United States. This program, the first of its kind in the country, is designed to provide collegial, small group-setting for courses “you didn’t get to take at college, but wanted to.” The seminars, developed by the late Lawrence Brotmann of Pound Ridge, NY are held at the library on Thursdays at 12:30 pm and consist of four 30-minute (closed-captioned) lectures per session, most from 3 to 6 weeks per course.

Registration is not necessary but parking is limited. The library encourage carpooling or being dropped off.

Course Overview
History, for all its facts and figures, names and dates, is ultimately subjective. You learn the points of view your teachers provide, the perspectives that books offer, and the conclusions you draw yourself based on the facts you were given. Hearing different angles on historical events gives you a more insightful, more accurate, and more rewarding understanding of events – especially when a new viewpoint challenges the story you thought you knew.

Now, The Great Courses has partnered with Smithsonian to bring you a course that will greatly expand your understanding of American history. This course, Native Peoples of North America, pairs the unmatched resources and expertise of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian with the unparalleled knowledge of Professor Daniel M. Cobb of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to provide a multidisciplinary view of American history, revealing new perspectives on the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous peoples, and their significant impact on the history of our country. Professor Cobb brings his experience as an author and teacher to recount an absolutely fascinating, larger-than-life story across a timespan of more than 500 years.

This insightful and unique 24-lecture course is filled with images and rare artifacts from Smithsonian’s famed collections, and informed by fascinating insights from Smithsonian historians. The National Museum of the American Indian, headquartered on the National Mall and visited by millions of Americans every year, is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the Native Americans of the Western Hemisphere. Museum input into this course—both in helping to shape the riveting curriculum as allowing use of their spectacular collections—has allowed us create a truly engaging course that will thoroughly change your understanding of American history.