Caroline Winterer is an American historian and the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University. Previously the director of the Stanford Humanities Center, she received her bachelor's degree from Pomona College and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She is the recipient of the American Ingenuity Award, Smithsonian Institution, for mapping the social network of Benjamin Franklin.

One Day University presents a series of audio lectures recorded in real-time from some of the top minds in the United States. Given by award-winning professors and experts in their field, these recorded lectures dive deep into the worlds of religion, government, literature, and social justice.Weather and climate have been shaping human history for thousands of years. Blizzards, hurricanes, droughts, dust storms, and floods: all of them have been turning points. Weather disasters seem so much bigger than we are, but they're accurate barometers for telling us about what we value as human beings. This course will examine some of these major turning points (some of them based on controversial evidence!), from the ancient world, to Napoleon's invasion of Russia, to the Dust Bowl, to Hurricane Katrina. How have weather disasters shaped human history, and what can this tell us about how we think about climate change today?This audio lecture includes a supplemental PDF.