The popular weekly Muskegon Community College World War II Lecture Series continues during the Winter 2015 semester with “The Greatest Generation Revisited” on Monday evenings from Feb. 16 – April 6.
Developed by MCC instructors George Maniates and Kurt Troutman, the lectures take place from 6-8 p.m. at the USS Silversides Submarine Museum, located along the Muskegon Channel at 1346 Bluff St.
Community members are welcome to join the seminar by either (1) purchasing an annual membership through the USS Silversides Submarine Museum entitling them to attend all museum public events including the 2014 WW II Lecture series; or 2) paying a $5 admission fee, payable to the USS Silversides Submarine Museum, to attend any one lecture.
To earn credit, MCC students must enroll in History 216. All other MCC students can attend as guests at any time by paying the $5 donation to the USS Silversides Submarine Museum. For more information on the course, contact Maniates at (231) 777-0364 or Troutman at (231) 777-0639, or visit www.muskegoncc.edu/WWII.
“The enrolled students ranged in age from 17 to 60 years,” noted Troutman in describing the composition of attendees since the series was launched two years ago. “Traditional-aged students interested in discovering WW II for the first time were joined by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking to place their service in perspective, and by area high school teachers studying WW II for self-enrichment and new information to share with their students. Beyond the enrolled students were multi-generational families who came to the talks to share the valor and sorrow from the war that touched all Americans regardless of service.”
This semester’s topics, which are taught by experts in the subject area, are:
- February 16 — The Color of War: How One Battle Broke Japan and Another Changed America – James Campbell, Adventurist and Author
- February 23 — A Disaster that Changed History: The Battle for Moscow -Dr. David Stahel, Lecturer, History Program, University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia
- March 2 — West Point Goes to War: Partners, Brothers and Friends: Patton, Eisenhower and MacArthur -Lt. Col. Ron Janowski (Ret.), US Army, Instructor Junior ROTC
- March 9 — The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines that Battled Japan – James Scott, Author
- March 16 — Fun at the Front: American Women and Entertainment in WW II – Dr. Kara Dixon-Vuic, Associate Professor of History, High Point University, North Carolina
- March 23 — Muskegon’s Early African-American Residents: The Merger of Two Families – Harry and Alberta Brown
- March 30 — WW II Gets in the Swing: An Evening of Glenn Miller -Tim Froncek and the Truth in Jazz Orchestra
- April 6 — And the Skies Rained Blood – Dr. Fred Johnson, Associate Professor of History, Hope College
“World War II is one of the defining events of our country and the entire world,” said Maniates. “Sixteen million American veterans served in WWII. Less than one million of them are still us, but the average age of the surviving veteran is 92 years old. So the history community and public feel a sense of urgency to learn and capture the stories of the Greatest Generation.”