The History of Alaska: America's Last Frontier?
From Indigenous roots to oil booms, this 16-week high school course packs on-location videos, source documents, and narrative lessons into a credit-earning, no-boring-bits trek across Alaska.
$149
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Please note: this item is non-refundable.
The History of Alaska: America's Last Frontier?
Think your teen is ready to tackle the wild story of Alaska? This one-semester course pulls no punches. It starts with Indigenous cultures—the Tlingit, Haida, Athabaskans, Yupiit, Iñupiat, and Unangax̂—then follows Russia’s fur traders, the bargain-basement U.S. purchase, Klondike gold seekers, World War II’s Aleutian battles, Cold War bunkers, oil booms, pipeline protests, and modern debates about what it means to still call Alaska “The Last Frontier.
The Nomadic Professor built this program specifically for high schoolers in grades 9–12, and it checks the official box for Alaska Studies. That means half a credit, about 65 hours of work, spread over 16 weeks. Each session runs 30–90 minutes, depending on how deep your teen digs into the material.
Instead of dry lectures, students get four approaches every week: videos shot on location all across Alaska, source-based document lessons, primary texts to wrestle with, and narrative chapters that keep the story moving. Clever guided notes make sure nothing slips by, while flashcards and quizzes check comprehension. Parents get full dashboards, rubrics, answer keys, and a weighted gradebook in the self-graded version, so managing transcripts is straightforward.
Assignments aren’t just busywork. Quizzes are automatically scored, but the real thinking happens with written responses that parents grade using provided rubrics. The mix of video, text, and source analysis keeps teens engaged while sharpening research, reading, and critical thinking skills.
Families can choose between two enrollment options: a self-paced, self-graded course with full gradebook support, or a personal enrichment path with no grading at all. Either way, the content stays the same—videos filmed in Skagway, Prudhoe Bay, and beyond; rich source documents; and narrative lessons that tie everything together.
By the time your student finishes, he’ll not only have checked off a required credit but will also be able to explain how oil pipelines, Russian fur traders, Cold War radar, and Alaska Native claims all connect in one remarkable story.
