Website Spotlight: The War Behind Closed Doors

Website URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

In this post, I limit myself to those specific aspects of the website which I find fit particularly well within our face-to-face class sessions (each student is required to bring a laptop to class) or as the basis for the students' regularly-assigned written reactions.

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I ask the students to work through the following links:
 
Introduction
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/etc/synopsis.html

Chronology: The Evolution of the Bush Doctrine
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/etc/cron.html

Interviews:

John Lewis Gaddis
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/interviews/gaddis.html

William Kristol
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/interviews/kristol.html

Richard Perle
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/interviews/perle.html

Kenneth Pollack
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/interviews/pollack.html

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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Bush+43

2. The other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT 

Website Spotlight: Bush's War

Website URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/

Introductory Note:

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

In this post, I limit myself to those specific aspects of the website which I find fit particularly well within our face-to-face class sessions (each student is required to bring a laptop to class) or as the basis for the students' regularly-assigned written reactions.

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I ask the students to work through the following links:

I. Annotated Video Timeline (175 video clips)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/cron/

With each of the 175 video clips, there are sections entitled "Related Video," Related Pages," and "Interviews" associated with that clip. Those links sometimes take you to other FRONTLINE videos than Bush's War itself.

Click on 10 that interest you the most.

II. Extended Interviews
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/interviews/all.html

Here are some of the ones you should look at:

L. Paul Bremer
John Burns
Ahmad Chalabi
Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Dick Cheney
James Dobbins
Jay Garner
Michael Gordon
Frederick Kagan
Hamid Karzai
Jack Keane
Andrew Krepinevich
Douglas MacGregor
H.R. McMaster
David Petraeus
Tom Ricks
John Yoo

III. Battlefield Stories
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/stories/

Here are some of the ones you should read:

1. Bad Voodoo's War
2. Rules of Engagement
3. A Company of Soldiers: Innovating & Improvising

IV. Timeline: The Evolution of the Bush Doctrine
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/etc/cron.html

V. Map: The Insurgency
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/insurgency/map/

VI. Reporter's Dispatches

Baghdad From a Bulletproof Window
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/report/

A Visit to an Iraqi Police Station
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gangsofiraq/notebooks/smith.html

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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Bush+43

2. The other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT 

Website Spotlight: Endgame

Website URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/endgame/

Introductory Note:

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

In this post, I limit myself to those specific aspects of the website which I find fit particularly well within our face-to-face class sessions (each student is required to bring a laptop to class) or as the basis for the students' regularly-assigned written reactions.

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I ask the students to work through the following links:

I. Introduction
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/endgame/etc/synopsis.html

II. Interviews:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/endgame/interviews/

Michael Gordon
Frederick Kagan
Gen. Jack Keane
Col. H.R. McMaster
Thomas Ricks

III. Timeline:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/endgame/cron/

This section is incredible, providing a blended chronology of what was being done simultaneously in Washington and in Iraq. If a document or interview is referred to, you just click to bring it up.

IV. Themes
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/endgame/themes/

Bottom Line, What Went Wrong?
Rumsfeld and the Generals
General Petraeus and the New Team
Can the Surge Work?
The Colonels' War

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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Bush+43

2. The other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT 

Website Spotlight: Invasion of Iraq

Website URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/

Introductory Note:

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

In this post, I limit myself to those specific aspects of the website which I find fit particularly well within our face-to-face class sessions (each student is required to bring a laptop to class) or as the basis for the students' regularly-assigned written reactions.

++++++++++

I ask the students to work through the following links:

I. Interviews

Thomas Ricks
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/interviews/ricks.html

Lt. General David Mckiernan
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/interviews/mckiernan.html

Lt. Col. Marcone
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/interviews/marcone.html

Colonel David Perkins
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/interviews/perkins.html

II. Chronology
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/cron/

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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Bush+43

2. The other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT

Website Spotlight: George W. Bush

 

Website URL: http://millercenter.org/president/gwbush 

Introductory Note:

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

Among the many worthwhile aspects of the Miller Center (University of Virginia) site, I ask the students to concentrate on the following five essays:

Life Before the Presidency
http://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/essays/biography/2
Campaigns and Elections
http://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/essays/biography/3
Domestic Affairs
http://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/essays/biography/4
Foreign Affairs
http://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/essays/biography/5
Family Life
http://millercenter.org/president/gwbush/essays/biography/6

~~For a review of the Miller Center website:

TeachingHistory.org (National History Education Clearinghouse)
http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/website-reviews/14722

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For additional quality material about President George W. Bush (Bush #43):

Living Room Candidate: A History of Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2008

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2000
http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2004

a. The text box on the right side of the screen displays information about the election: Overview, candidates, results.

b. Commercials: horizontal columns toward the bottom of the screen, grouped by candidate.

c. "For Teachers." Several excellent lesson plans.

d. "Online Resources." Great links to other resources about this election.

~~For reviews of this website:

History Matters (The U.S. Survey Course on the Web)
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6406/
TeachingHistory.org (National History Education Clearinghouse)
http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/website-reviews/14630
Richard Byrne (Free Tech 4 Teachers)
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/06/living-room-candidate-history-of.html

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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Bush+43

2. Other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT