Democracy in America: The Courts - Our Rule of Law

This course examines the role of courts as institutions dedicated to conflict resolution, with the power both to apply and to interpret the meaning of law in trial and appeal courts. It shows the increased power of the Supreme Court through its use of judicial review and the difficulty of creating a judiciary that is independent of politics.

Democracy in America: Understanding Media - The Inside Story

This course explores the media as an integral part of American democracy, highlighting the scrutiny they impose on the performance of public officials, the interdependence of politics and the media, and the power the media wields in selecting the news.

Democracy in America: Public Opinion - Voice of the People

This course examines the power of public opinion to influence government policy, the increasing tendency of public officials to rely on polls, and the need to use many forms of feedback to get an accurate measure of public opinion.

Democracy in America: Political Parties - Mobilizing Agents

This course shows how political parties perform important functions that link the public to the institutions of American government. Parties create coalitions of citizens who share political goals, elect candidates to public office to achieve those goals, and organize the legislative and executive branches of government.

Democracy in America: Elections - The Maintenance of Democracy

This course explores the crucial role of strategy in the two-stage electoral campaign system; the opportunities for citizens to choose, organize, and elect candidates who will pursue policies they favor; and the need for campaigns to increase voter turnout by educating citizens about the importance and influence of their vote.

Democracy in America: Interest Groups - Organizing to Influence

This video lesson shows how America's large number of corporate, citizen-action, and grass-roots interest groups enhance our representative process by giving citizens a role in shaping policy agendas.

Democracy in America: Global Politics - U.S.A. and the World

This course examines the need for the United States to use the tools of foreign policy in ways that recognize the growing interdependence of nations - implementing both traditional and new forms of military, trade, and diplomatic strategies to promote benefits for America and the world as a whole.

The Crisis Mr. Faubus Made: The Role of the Arkansas Gazette in the Central High Crisis

This course details the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957 and the role Governor Orval Faubus and the Arkansas Gazette played in the event. It outlines the series of events that led to Federal troops being enlisted to guard Central High.

This course meets the scheduled Arkansas history requirement as set forth in the Rules Governing Professional Development and required by ACA 6-17-703.

The Old Gray Lady: Arkansas's First Newspaper

This course details the history of the Arkansas Gazette. From its inception, the Arkansas Gazette was highly influential in politics, as illustrated by the elections of 1828 and 1954, among others. Its coverage of desegregation during the 1950s earned the newspaper a number of national awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes in 1958. But after a fierce economic and journalistic battle with its rival, the Arkansas Democrat, the Arkansas Gazette published its final issue on October 18,1991.

The video segments contained within this course were produced cooperatively by Kevin Clark of Clark Documentary Productions and Dr. Donna Lampkin Stephens, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Central Arkansas. 

This course meets the scheduled Arkansas history requirement as set forth in the Rules Governing Professional Development and required by ACA 6-17-703.

The Buffalo Flows

The Buffalo Flows was written and produced in 2008 by two-time Emmy award winning filmmaker Larry Foley, professor of journalism at the University of Arkansas. The Buffalo River begins in the Ozark Mountains, flowing through hills and rock-framed valleys - a place people fought to preserve. 

"There's not just one thing that makes the Buffalo so special, so unique," Foley said. "When the ‘Battle for the Buffalo' was won, protecting the river from being dammed, we saved a national natural treasure."

"This story is about the bluffs and the trees, the flowers and the birds and the giant elk. It's about hiking and floating and camping and fishing. And, it's also about the people who make their home in Buffalo River country year round, and have for generations."

This course meets the scheduled Arkansas history requirement as set forth in the Rules Governing Professional Development and required by ACA 6-17-703.