History Course Revised to Eliminate Textbook Costs: HIS325: African American History
Beginning in the Summer I 2016 term, a popular upper-level history course, HIS325: African American History, no longer includes any required textbook costs for students. Instead, students have access to the two volume textbook, To Make Our World Anew by Robin D.G. Kelley and Earl Lewis, as a free e-book through the Excelsior College Library. (Students who prefer a hardcopy can still opt to purchase it through the Excelsior College Bookstore). Along with the free textbook, the course has been revised to replace the traditional primary source reader with primary and secondary source materials from online databases such as Project Gutenberg, the National Park Service, the National Archives, History Matters, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and more.
HIS325: African American History has consistently been a popular course at Excelsior College since it was first offered in 2005. The Subject Matter Expert and Faculty Program Director who worked on the revision believe the new changes will reduce the financial burden on students and generate additional enrollment in the class without compromising the high-quality content in the course.
