Chicago History 101

Self-paced, online, Chicago History course created by a teacher with a Master's degree in history. Contains information for professional development credit for social studies teachers.. Scroll down the page to learn more.

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  • Illustration of an aerial view of the Chicago Fire of 1871, Chicago, Illinois. Image shows a portion of the city on fire and ships and boats in Lake Michigan.

    Welcome to Chicago History 101. This site is an informational page for an online, self-paced, on-demand course about Chicago history that is hosted on the Udemy educational platform. The course follows an actual college-credit history course taught by a teacher with Master’s degree in history from De Paul University and over 25 years of teaching experience. The course is also aligned to teaching and learning standards and contains lessons and activities for teaching Chicago history.

    With a great deal content of overlap between Chicago/urban history and United States history, information on how social studies teachers can obtain 20 professional develop credit hours is also contained in this course. A sample two-week syllabus and description of the teaching and learning standards can be downloaded and presented to school districts for possible professional development credit. Sample PD forms from ISBE are included for Illinois teachers. Since Udemy is a global platform, it is not an approved professional development provider in any particular state. PD credit is at the discretion of the school district.

    Designed as a series of lectures on various topics in Chicago history, each lecture is accompanied by images, photographs, additional resources, citations, and bibliographic entries. Over a hundred historical and contemporary images are included with the lectures, including images from the Chicago History Museum, the Newberry Library, the Library of Congress, and the Special Collections Library from the University of Illinois at Chicago, all used with permission.

    Highlights of the course include:

    • Lifetime access to course & materials on Udemy
    • 30-day money-back guarantee
    • Aligned to teaching and learning standards.
    • Worth 20 Professional Development credit hours for teachers
    • Follows a college-credit Chicago history course
    • Covers the geologic forces that shaped the region to more modern events in Chicago
    • Early growth and development into a metropolis
    • Native American presence & influence
    • Industrialization, urbanization, and labor history
    • Chicago architecture
    • Immigration, migration, and neighborhood history
    • Politics and organized crime
    • Important people and events in Chicago history
    • Over 100 historical and contemporary images
    • Includes projects and activities for students
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