FREE OPEN COURSES

Nature and Nation, 1700-1850

This free, not-for-credit online course offered through HarvardX spans the poetry of America’s early years, directly before and after the birth of the Republic. We examine the creation of a national identity through the lens of an emerging national literature, focusing on such poets as Phillis Wheatley, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, among others. Distinguished guest discussants in this part of the course include writer Michael Pollan, economist Larry Summers, Vice President Al Gore, Mayor Tom Menino and others.

 

Before you begin, you can get a head start on Poetry in America: Nature and Nation using the Module 2 Reading List.

We also invite you to explore the following resources to learn more about the history and literature of the early Republic:

PRIMARY SOURCES

FURTHER READING