There’s a trend going around (or gone around- I’m a little late as I waited to get all of my things set before sharing) about creating our own course curriculums for learning. It is basically a bunch of women giving themselves permission to learn further about the things that intrigue them for nothing more than enjoyment of learning. This was really pushed out be a creator called Elizabeth Jean (@xparmesanprincessx on TikTok) and I’ve not only enjoyed her videos but watching everyone else also come up with their own curriculums. I’ve found some new things to look into for the future!
For me, what I want the course curriculum to be is something that I am interested in, potentially know at a basic level, but want to dig deeper into. I’m trying to steer away from topics that I might have immersed myself in prior (Henry VIII and co I’m looking at you), but I’m also not going to close myself off to them if the desire to go down a path strikes. I’m trying to keep them at the “semester” schedule- so studying across 3 months or so, just to keep myself realistic and have it be enjoyable.
For my first curriculum I’m going to be engaging on topics that has kind of been at the forefront the past few years, is a big part of history and hoping to tie the two courses together in the coming time. I’ve given myself a syllabus and any writing or research or knowledge I gain over this period I’ll share on here
So, first I’ll be studying the Titanic- but not the initial disaster, I think we are all very aware of what happened. I’m going to focus on the aftermath, the testimonies, the judgement, the way the news then handled this great disaster. I might try and tie in some other facets (like looking at our modern obsession with the disaster and where that stems from), but I’m not sure about that yet. I’ve picked up some books and done some initial research for this course- which I am titling Witnesses & Headlines: Testimony and Media Coverage of the Titanic Disaster.
For my reading for this course, I’ve picked up: The Truth About the Titanic by Archibald Gracie IV, Titanic 1912: The Original News Reporting of the Sinking of the Titanic, The Titanic Disaster Hearings by Tom Kuntz, and Titanic on Trial: The Night the Titanic Sank Told Through the Testimonies of her Passengers and Crew. I plan on re watching a couple of more recent documentaries about the Titanic to go along with the course as well.
The second course I’ve picked for myself is a bit of a Gilded Age overview, titled- Class, Power, and Persona: Social Hierarchies of the Gilded Age. I’m going to be looking at social roles, gender dynamics, and class division during the Gilded Age. I think we’re all on the same page when it comes to the Gilded Age (in that we know about it, and we all watch the HBO show, but what was the day to day like? What were the true dynamics? What would it have been like to live in between Mrs. Astor and Mrs. Vanderbilt?). I’m enthralled with learning about the social dynamics and the day to day of era’s long past, much like I imagine someday in the future people might want to know our day by day (ooooofffffff).
For my reading for this course, I’ve picked up: When the Astor’s Owned New York by Justin Kaplan, A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York by Greg King, The Social Graces by Renee Rosen, and Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart. I am working on trying to find some documentaries or podcasts to go along with these books- if you know any, please let me know!
I do plan on doing all my normal reading during this time period as well and I have added some…topic specific fiction books to read during the time just to enhance the experience. I’m hoping to tie both of these together in a future curriculum covering our obsession with these eras and disasters as well as how they compare to the society of today. Alternately I could tie both these subjects together with the Belle Epoque of Paris and look at the time period as a whole leading up to the disaster of the Titanic. But who knows, at the end I could completely move on from the subject matter!
I’m really looking forward to spending a bit more time learning this Autumn and just digging deeper into some topics that I want to learn more about. If you could study anything, create your own curriculum, what would it be? I might grab some ideas for future curriculums.
A Cuppa Cosy 