The Student Experience

The continuing education program aims at the student who is less concerned with grading and accumulation of academic credit hours, and more interested in the satisfaction and intellectual stimulation of lifelong learning. Continuing education courses will be briefer and more concise, while still drawing upon the combined resources and personnel of The National WWII Museum and Arizona State University.

Continuing education courses will also take participants “behind the lines” at the Museum, allowing them to see artifacts and documents that are not displayed as part of the regular exhibits. Without assignments, papers, or exams, the continuing education experience amounts to education for the purest reason of all: the challenge of learning.

WWII: Stalingrad - Chaos on the Volga

Course Description:
The Battle of Stalingrad is familiar to many of those interested in the Eastern Front of World War II. It was one of the main turning points, along with the Moscow Counteroffensive and the Battle of Kursk, that sealed the fate of the Wehrmacht and the Third Reich. But much about the battle remains shrouded in myth and is often influenced by hindsight. The city on the Volga bearing Stalin's name was never the main target of Operation Blau. How was it that a city that was initially supposed to be bypassed came to define the 1942 campaign and set the stage for one of the greatest defeats suffered by the German army during the war? Conversely, for the Soviets, Stalingrad became the perfect opportunity to test new tactics and implement sophisticated operational planning, resulting in an outcome that few could have predicted.

Throughout this course, we will look at the German advance and siege of Stalingrad, the Nazi Sixth Army's attempt to destroy the forces of the Soviet 62nd Army within the confines of the city, and the Soviet attempts to keep Vasily Chuikov's troops supplied and reinforced as they scrambled to figure out how to defeat the Germans in the depths of the Soviet Union while fighting to save Stalin's namesake. Even with the success of Operation Uranus, the Sixth Army's fate was not sealed and Soviet success was never assured. And with the final surrender of the remnants of the Sixth Army, both sides would use the legacy of the Battle of Stalingrad for their own needs, clouding the truth of what really happened to save reputations and ensure a heroic legacy for the Soviets and that of forsaken victims for both the dead and those who survived from the Sixth Army.

Registration: June 9 – July 21
Course Run: July 14 – September 29

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This is a Continuing Education course offered in partnership with Arizona State University. These courses are asynchronous, noncredit, and offer additional learning opportunities for those interested in specific topics that we are able to offer. They are created with flexibility in mind with respect to when participants can access the lectures, roundtables, and information within the course. There are no mandatory online zoom meetings or required assignments.

If you are enrolled in and require assistance in accessing a course, please contact ASU's learner support team at cc-support@asu.edu