The WWII continuing education track provides a rich sequence of online courses that will allow WWII experts and educators to learn at their own pace, while gaining premier knowledge that can be used in their professional careers. Learners of all backgrounds will be able to increase their knowledge of the war, as well as their critical thinking skills, while achieving quality personal growth and intellectual development through the vanguard coursework.
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.
Meet Our Instructors
Taught by the scholars of The National WWII Museum’s Institute for the Study of War and Democracy; Museum historians, curators, and educators; as well as leading faculty from Arizona State University, the WWII continuing education program provides lifelong learners in-depth insights into the war and its legacies. Get to know some of the course instructors:
Stalingrad: Chaos on the Volga
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 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?
Throughout this course we will look at the German advance and siege of Stalingrad—the Sixth Army's attempt to destroy the forces of the 62nd Army within the confines of the city. The course will also explore 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.
While no reading is required, course participants will also receive exclusive access to a curated list of relevant books and articles as well as an online discussion board where they can interact with instructors and fellow enrollees.
Enrollment opens on August 1, 2022.
Holocaust: Origins
Fire with bystanders in Ober Ramstadt, Germany. November 10, 1938. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Trudy Isenberg
Holocaust: Origins looks at the long-term and short-term causes that created Hitler, the Nazi party, fascism, and the Holocaust. Taking a wide purview, the course juxtaposes broad post-Enlightenment trends of nationalism, imperialism, racism, and totalitarianism with the specific components of anti-Semitism, pan-Germanism, and Hitler's rise to power.
Explore Further
-
Online Master's in World War II Studies
Through a partnered effort to offer learners the opportunity to discover new insights into the most significa... -
Service on Celluloid
Service on Celluloid is a captivating podcast that takes a deep look at depictions of World War II on film over the last 70-plus years.
