Coursera |The Modern World: Global History since 1760 by UVa Professor Philip Zelikow | Final Thoughts

I was not surprised to see that The Modern World: Global History since 1760 by UVa Professor Philip Zelikow is listed as the number one history course on CourseTalk!

I enjoyed the entire course, but especially the lectures covering the time after WWII as I had never taken a history course covering years when I was alive.

I still remember so vividly our family’s move to Germany in 1949 as part of the American occupation.  The country was in ruins from allied bombings, and we American grade-school children walked every day past ruined buildings and large bomb craters on our way to school. No wonder we were terrified by the “Duck and Cover” movie that we watched in school before practicing hiding under our desks.

I remember looking at a Civil Defense flyer  that showed my high school in Washington, DC, in the “totally destroyed” area resulting from a direct hit on the US Capitol building and wondering what good it would do to crouch under a wooden desk.

I remember our fear during the Cuban Missile crisis, and on and on …

In short, this course was really a new experience for me – listening to a lecture and remembering what I was doing and thinking at the time.  The Time Magazine covers were perfect as markers along the way.

 Thanks so much, Professor Zelikow, UVa, and Coursera!