Department of History

The Immigrant Charlie and Edna Purviance are immigrants to the land of Liberty. The venturer stars Charlie as an escaped convict posing as a wealthy yachstsman, ending up at the Judge

Moderns Times, Charlie Chaplin's last outing as the Little Tramp, puts the iconic charater to work as a giddily inept factory employee who becomes smitten with a gorgeous gamine (Paulette Goddard). With its barrage of unforgettable gags and sly commentary on class struggle during the Great Depression, Modern Times-though made almost a decade into the talkie era and containing moments of sound (even song!)-is a timeless showcase of Chaplin's untouchable genius as a director of silent comedy.

A tour throughout the world of the colonial farmer in the year 1777, when most of the 13 original colonies were still one vast forest. Farms consisted of small, rough clearings cultivated by hand or with primitive tools. Farm animals were smaller, wilder, and tougher than they are today. There were few roads of any kind. Historian Burt Kummerow shares his extensive and enthusiastic knowledge of the time in a stroll through an authentic re-creation of a Chesapeake farm of the period, and the people who worked it.

China: A Century of Revolution is a six-hour tour de force journey through the country's most tumultuous period. First televised on PBS, this award-winning documentary series presents an astonishingly candid view of a once-secret nation with rare archival footage, insightful historical ocmmentary and stunning eyewitness accounts from citizens who struggled through China's most decisive century. China in Revolution charts the pivotal footage, insightful historical commentary and stunning eyewitness accounts from citizens who struggled through China's most decisive century. China in Revolution charts the piviotal years from the birth of tne new republic to the establishment of the PRC, through foreign invastions, civil war, and a bloody battle for power between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek. The Mao Years examines the turbulent era of Mao's attempts to forge a "new China" from the war-ravaged and exhausted nation. Born Under the Red Flag showcases China's unlikely transformation into an extraordinatry hybrid of communist-centralized politcs with an ever-expanding free market economy. Mounumental in scope, China: A Century of Revolution is critical viewing for anyone intersted in this increasingly powerful and globally influential country.

China is rapidly becoming a world power, but much of the country and its people rremain hidden to those outside its borders. China From The Inside includes visits to temples in Tibet, border areas of Muslim Xinijang, Communist Party meetings, a village election, court rooms, newspaper officies, a womens labor camp, and a country wedding. From these domainsm viewers observe the difficulties of navigating poitics and culture in this vast country. In only four hours, viewers will be able to discern a China

In the strange and barren landscape of Yanan, a world away from the glitter of Shanghai, a young Mao Zedong and his followers lived in caves, planning a devolution that would change history. For the first time, Western filmmakers have been allowed to visit the "yellow earth" of Yanan to learn the secret history of the Chinese Communist Party. CHINA RISING tells how the communists regrouped after the Long March, and how they planned the defeat of two enemies: the Japanese and the nationalists. In remarkable interviews, survivors remember the deadly, 6,000 mile March, which killed two out of three people. They also share their memories of the declaration of the People's Republic in Tiananmen Square and the many strange and tragic experiments of the early years of Communist China.

Whole classes of people were swept away. Children were turned against their parents, and each other. Tradition, education, and art were strangled. As many as 400,000 people died. Hear the story of Mao's "Cultural Revolution" as told by the men and women who experienced it. In this remarkable program, the people of Guangzhou-now China's most prosperous city-recall the waves of cruelty, bloodlust and demagoguery that turned their lives upside-down for ten years. A surviving judge remembers the dramatic "Gang of Four" trial that finally ended the madness after Mao's death. The tempest of modern China is brought vividly to life, from the frenzied rampages of the Red Guards in the 60's to the daring economic reforms of recent years.

Academy Award winners Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger start in this triumphant, powerfully inspiring true story. In a time when America needed a champion, an unlikely hero would arise, proving how hard a man would fight to win a second chance for his family and himself. Suddenly thrust into the national spotlight, boxer Jim Braddock would defy the odds against him and stun the world with one of the greatest comebacks in history. Driven by love for his family, he willed an impossible dream to come true.