TTC Video - Stories of America’s National Parks
TTC Video - Stories of America’s National Parks
.MP4, AVC, 1280x720, 30 fps | English, AAC, 2 Ch | 5h 55m | 4.87 GB
Lecturer: Megan Kate Nelson, PhD | Course No. 80730
.MP4, AVC, 1280x720, 30 fps | English, AAC, 2 Ch | 5h 55m | 4.87 GB
Lecturer: Megan Kate Nelson, PhD | Course No. 80730
Many Americans remember a family road trip to visit one of our 63 national parks, driving and hiking through the nation’s most awe-inspiring landscapes. Whether it is the geologic majesty of the Grand Canyon, the geysers of Yellowstone, the mountains of the Shenandoah region, or the swamps of the Florida Everglades, the scenery and ecology of the United States is as rich and diverse as our population and cultural heritage.
Why did Americans start preserving these sites of natural and historic interest? How were these parks selected, and what steps did conservationists, activists, philanthropists, politicians, and others take to protect millions of acres against the booming developments of an expanding nation?
An award-winning writer, researcher, and American Studies scholar, Dr. Megan Kate Nelson tackles these questions as she takes you on a marvelous journey through some of the most beautiful places on Earth. Join her in Stories of America’s National Parks for an ideal introduction to a national treasure—our National Park System, managed by the US National Park Service.
In these 12 inspiring lectures of Stories of America’s National Parks, Dr. Nelson traverses America to give you an insider’s look specifically at a dozen national treasures. You’ll explore the origins, cultural legacy, and environmental import of sites from the Hawaiian islands to the Atlantic seaboard, as you:
Origins of the National Parks
Your journey begins with Yellowstone, the oldest and arguably most well-known national park. Travel back to the 1870s, when the West was still wild. Explorer Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden heard about a mysterious land of snow-capped peaks, thundering waterfalls, and sulfur springs. Captivated, he led an expedition west and realized the place that would become Yellowstone needed to be preserved.
So opens a story we will hear time and again: a pristine American landscape and conflicting economic and cultural interests—railroads, timber barons, ranchers on one hand and Indigenous peoples with centuries of history and heritage on the other. Time and again, preservationists recognized something special in need of protection—and they lobbied Congress to set apart these lands for generations to come.
Throughout this course, you will see how explorers such as Hayden, environmentalists such as John Muir, philanthropists such as John D. Rockefeller, politicians like Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt, and countless ordinary citizens recognized a need, organized communities, and gifted future generations with millions of acres of untrammeled wilderness.
Conservation versus Culture
Dr. Nelson also shows how cultures often collided throughout the process of preservation. For example, Sequoia National Park protects the great trees from economic development—but tourists pose a different kind of threat, with too many people visiting too frequently. How do we prevent environmental enthusiasts from loving a park too much?
Meanwhile, Denali National Park was created as a sanctuary for wildlife, but the region has been home to Alaska Natives for thousands of years. While everyone may agree on the importance of preserving the park’s natural wonders, the name of its highest peak—Mount McKinley or Denali—was a point of contention among those with a stake in the region’s history and heritage.
Across the country, in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, controversy surrounds the creation of Shenandoah National Park. In 1926, Congress authorized the park contingent on acquiring land from locals, but Virginia landowners did not want to give up their property—and the issue was eventually settled via eminent domain. How do you balance these public and private interests? Is the park worth the cost?
Newly Appreciate the American Landscape
One important theme of this course is that national parks are not a given. Americans have often disagreed about their importance—and which landscapes are worth saving. From the depths of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky to the ancient ruins of Mesa Verde to the Dark Sky of Death Valley, Dr. Nelson shows that the conflicts over the past 150 years are an important part of the National Park System’s phenomenal achievements, and its complex history.
The foundation of America’s national parks is rife with discussion, debates, and negotiations—but the result is a series of federally designated lands that abound in natural wonder: mountains and waterfalls, volcanoes and oceans, deserts and caves. Stories of America’s National Parks offers a taste of places you can explore and enjoy for a lifetime.
An award-winning writer, researcher, and American Studies scholar, Dr. Megan Kate Nelson tackles these questions as she takes you on a marvelous journey through some of the most beautiful places on Earth. Join her in Stories of America’s National Parks for an ideal introduction to a national treasure—our National Park System, managed by the US National Park Service.
In these 12 inspiring lectures of Stories of America’s National Parks, Dr. Nelson traverses America to give you an insider’s look specifically at a dozen national treasures. You’ll explore the origins, cultural legacy, and environmental import of sites from the Hawaiian islands to the Atlantic seaboard, as you:
- Explore the ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, Colorado,
- Bundle up for a hike through the high peaks of Denali National Park,
- Learn about the timber industry and the protection of the great sequoias in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains,
- Experience paradise on Earth in Maine’s Acadia National Park, and
- Witness the blinding desert of White Sands where atomic bomb tests were held in New Mexico.
Origins of the National Parks
Your journey begins with Yellowstone, the oldest and arguably most well-known national park. Travel back to the 1870s, when the West was still wild. Explorer Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden heard about a mysterious land of snow-capped peaks, thundering waterfalls, and sulfur springs. Captivated, he led an expedition west and realized the place that would become Yellowstone needed to be preserved.
So opens a story we will hear time and again: a pristine American landscape and conflicting economic and cultural interests—railroads, timber barons, ranchers on one hand and Indigenous peoples with centuries of history and heritage on the other. Time and again, preservationists recognized something special in need of protection—and they lobbied Congress to set apart these lands for generations to come.
Throughout this course, you will see how explorers such as Hayden, environmentalists such as John Muir, philanthropists such as John D. Rockefeller, politicians like Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt, and countless ordinary citizens recognized a need, organized communities, and gifted future generations with millions of acres of untrammeled wilderness.
Conservation versus Culture
Dr. Nelson also shows how cultures often collided throughout the process of preservation. For example, Sequoia National Park protects the great trees from economic development—but tourists pose a different kind of threat, with too many people visiting too frequently. How do we prevent environmental enthusiasts from loving a park too much?
Meanwhile, Denali National Park was created as a sanctuary for wildlife, but the region has been home to Alaska Natives for thousands of years. While everyone may agree on the importance of preserving the park’s natural wonders, the name of its highest peak—Mount McKinley or Denali—was a point of contention among those with a stake in the region’s history and heritage.
Across the country, in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, controversy surrounds the creation of Shenandoah National Park. In 1926, Congress authorized the park contingent on acquiring land from locals, but Virginia landowners did not want to give up their property—and the issue was eventually settled via eminent domain. How do you balance these public and private interests? Is the park worth the cost?
Newly Appreciate the American Landscape
One important theme of this course is that national parks are not a given. Americans have often disagreed about their importance—and which landscapes are worth saving. From the depths of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky to the ancient ruins of Mesa Verde to the Dark Sky of Death Valley, Dr. Nelson shows that the conflicts over the past 150 years are an important part of the National Park System’s phenomenal achievements, and its complex history.
The foundation of America’s national parks is rife with discussion, debates, and negotiations—but the result is a series of federally designated lands that abound in natural wonder: mountains and waterfalls, volcanoes and oceans, deserts and caves. Stories of America’s National Parks offers a taste of places you can explore and enjoy for a lifetime.
TTC Video - Stories of America’s National Parks
