Martin Luther King Jr.: Inner Life, Global Vision, and Archival History

To truly understand influential historical figures, we must look beyond popular summaries and examine the actual letters, speeches, and personal documents they left behind. This course offers a deep, text-based exploration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and global impact. You will develop the skills of a historian, learning how to read, contextualize, and analyze primary source documents. Through these surviving records, you will uncover the evolution of his philosophy, his global vision for human rights, and the inner thoughts that guided his leadership. What you'll learn: - Analyze primary source documents, letters, and speeches to reconstruct historical context. - Understand the core philosophical and theological foundations of MLK's nonviolent resistance. - Explore his global vision for human rights and how it connected international struggles to the civil rights movement. - Evaluate historical evidence critically, distinguishing between direct records and retrospective interpretations. - Utilize modern digital archives and research methodologies to conduct independent historical inquiry. The journey begins with foundational historical concepts and a guide to working with archives. From there, you will read through key chronological texts, tracing his intellectual growth from early sermon notes to his final global campaigns. This course is designed for beginners, history enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the civil rights movement, with no prior background in historical research required. Start reading today to discover the profound legacy of a global leader through the words he wrote himself.