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audiobook
(23)
Famous Romans
by J. Rufus Fears
read by J. Rufus Fears
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
These 24 lectures retell the lives of the remarkable individuals - the statesmen, thinkers, warriors, and writers - who shaped the history of the Roman Empire and, by extension, our own history and culture. Among the fascinating gallery of individuals whose lives, ideas, actions, and legacies you'll explore are Hannibal (who caused the Second Punic War personally, much as Adolf Hitler caused World War II), Augustus (who, beginning at the age of just 19, brilliantly followed a doctrine of ruthless expediency in order to rescue Rome from a century of civil war), and Marcus Aurelius (that most noble and philosophic of rulers who may have hastened the Empire's decline by tolerating the wicked cruelty of his heir). Professor Fears divides his presentation into three "turning point" epochs in Roman history: Rome's war with Hannibal (the Second Punic War); Caesar and the end of the Roman Republic; and the imperial era between Augustus and Marcus Aurelius. As he presents the great figures of each period, he makes them seem personal and immediate. As you study these and many other significant Romans, you'll probe fundamental questions about the political and cultural history of Rome. What was the impact of Greek civilization on the Romans? Why did the Roman people, at the height of military, political, and economic power, abandon their republican liberty for the dictatorship of Caesar and his successors? What made the 2nd century A.D. one the most creative periods in world history? And why did the central figures of Roman history hold so much appeal for America's Founding Fathers?
audiobook
(12)
Advanced Investments
The complete course contains all 24 lectures
by Steve L. Slezak
read by Steve L. Slezak
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
This is an advanced course for investors in the market, covering cutting-edge investment principles and practices used by professionals. You learn hands-on techniques for analyzing the central problem of investing: How to determine if a potential investment is a good deal. Employing concepts from probability and statistics, you learn how to measure risk accurately. Then you explore methods for determining if a given security, such as a stock or bond, will generate returns that compensate for its risk. Throughout these 24 in-depth lectures, you weigh the relative advantages of active and passive investment strategies. An active approach takes advantage of mispriced securities that can be traded for a profit. A passive strategy seeks to build a well-diversified portfolio that can be put on automatic pilot. Many investors combine these strategies, and Professor Slezak takes you through a wide range of cases that show how to devise a balanced approach. His many useful tips include how to avoid the most common mistakes that investors make, why you should think in terms of net present value in evaluating a company, how to combine securities in order to control risk, and the importance of analyzing an investment before you act. Professor Slezak is an expert who knows how to communicate effectively. He enlivens his presentation with colorful anecdotes and object lessons from the recent history of Wall Street. His parting advice: Don't be afraid of the market. Nothing is a sure thing, he stresses, but the market has performed consistently over the long term.
All Lectures:
1. Investment Decisions and Goals
2. A Framework for Investing
3. Mistakes Investors Make
4. The Characteristics of Security Returns
5. The Theory of Efficient Markets
6. Evidence on Efficient Markets
7. Valuation Formulas
8. Bond Pricing
9. The Term Structure of Interest Rates
10. The Risks in Bonds
11. Quantifying Interest Rate Risk
12. Value Creation and Stock Prices
13. Present Value of Growth Opportunities
14. Modeling Investor Behavior
15. Managing Risk in Portfolios
16. The Behavior of Stock Prices
17. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
18. How to Exploit Mispriced Securities
19. Performance Evaluation
20. Market Making and Liquidity
21. Understanding Derivatives
22. Using Derivatives
23. Pricing Derivatives
24. Trade Opportunities or Risk?
audiobook
(34)
Food, Science, and the Human Body
The complete course contains all 36 lectures
by Alyssa Crittenden
read by Alyssa Crittenden
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
What foods did the human body evolve to eat, and why? How does the food we eat affect our genes and our minds? What foods are (and aren't) optimal for our everyday health? How can we use cutting-edge science to end world hunger?
In these 36 lectures, get eye-opening answers to these and other perplexing questions about the evolution of the human diet and its relationship to our bodies. Bringing together insights from a range of fields including history, anthropology, nutrition, economics, biology, and sociology, this exciting partnership between The Great Courses and National Geographic lays bare what science can teach us about food.
Taking you far beyond the supermarket and the laboratory, these lectures cross cultures, span time, and hop around the world from the most underfed to the most overfed human societies. Bringing a broad range of disciplines to these lectures, Dr. Crittenden offers an intriguing and illuminating catalog of some of the most pressing questions and concerns.
You'll compare and contrast food-related crises from mass starvation to the obesity. You'll explore food trends and ideas, from the Mediterranean and MIND diets to the farm-to-table movement and the controversy surrounding GMOs. You'll bust common myths about how food acts on the body and mind. And you gain powerful scientific insights that will always be there in the back of your mind, every time you get hungry.
All Lectures:
1. Paleo Diets and the Ancestral Appetite
2. Our Hunter-Gatherer Past
3. Stones, Bones, and Teeth
4. Did Meat Eating Make Us Human?
5. Insects: The Other White Meat
6. Was the Stone Age Menu Mostly Vegetarian?
7. Cooking and the Control of Fire
8. The Neolithic Revolution
9. The Changing Disease-Scape
10. How Foods Spread around the World
11. The History of the Spice Trade
12. How Sugar and Salt Shaped World History
13. A Brief History of Bread
14. The Science and Secrets of Chocolate
15.Water: The Liquid of Life
16. Beer, Mead, and the Fun of Fermentation
17. Humanity's Love of Wine
18. Coffee: Love or Addiction?
19. The Roots of Tea
20. The Fizz on Soda
21. Food as Ritual
22. When People Eat Things That Aren't Food
23. Food as Recreational Drugs
24. Food as Medicine
25. The Coevolution of Genes and Diet
26.The Scoop on Poop
27. The Gut Microbiome
28. Brain Food
29. You Are What Your Mother Ate
30. Civilization: Diets and Diseases
31. What the World Is Eating
32. The Overnutrition Epidemic
33. World Poverty and Undernutrition
34. Should the World Eat Meat?
35. Should We Be Powered by Plants?
36. The Future of Food
audiobook
(34)
Earth's Changing Climate
The Complete Course Contains All 12 Lectures
by Richard Wolfson
read by Richard Wolfson
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change-representing a global consensus of hundreds of scientists-concluded that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal," citing observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level. And they noted that human activity is "very likely" the cause. Whatever your views on climate change, it's important to understand how the current scientific consensus on global warming evolved out of basic physical principles and a broad range of observations. This lucid series of twelve lectures is designed to do exactly that-reviewing the most up-to-date research and explaining the concepts, tools, data, and analysis that have led an overwhelming number of climate scientists to conclude that Earth is indeed warming and that we humans are in great part responsible. In clear and accessible lectures designed for nonscientists, you'll learn about the "fingerprints" of global climate change-ranging from borehole temperatures to melting glaciers to the altered behavior of plant and animal species and other indicators-that convince scientists that our Earth has been warming at an unprecedented rate in recent decades. The lectures address only scientific issues and make no policy recommendations. Instead, they have been designed to serve as your personal scientific briefing to equip you to engage knowledgeably in one of the most important environmental issues of our time.
All Lectures:
1. Is Earth Warming?
2. Butterflies, Glaciers, and Hurricanes
3. Ice Ages and Beyond
4. In the Greenhouse
5. A Tale of Three Planets
6. Global Recycling
7. The Human Factor
8. Computing the Future
9. Impacts of Climate Change
10. Energy and Climate
11. Energy - Resources and Alternatives
12. Sustainable Futures?
audiobook
(14)
American Ideals: Founding a "Republic of Virtue"
by Daniel N. Robinson
read by Daniel N. Robinson
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
What is the significance of the phrase "the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence? Why does it read "We the people" in the preamble to the Constitution? What were the philosophies and social forces that made this country unique - that enabled it to become the first successfully self-governing republic? Answer these questions and more with this insightful 12-lecture course, which explores the principles that guided the founding of the United States, the conditions that led to the break with Great Britain, and the creation of such founding documents as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. You'll deepen your understanding of fundamental ideas that inspired American independence and that continue to have a profound influence on American thought. You'll also receive insight into what historians call "the long conversation" in American society - questions that have been the focus of debate and controversy since the nation was born. As the world's oldest democracy, the United States stands as the "test case" for those who regard self-government as inherently unstable, inherently self-destructive. Examining the founding documents, such as the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution, Professor Robinson considers the principles under which the United States evolved.
audiobook
(4)
How to Talk About Race
by Anita Foeman
read by Anita Foeman
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
There was a time, not too long ago, when talking openly about race was considered in poor taste. Even now, many people feel the topic of race is better left alone. What if we say something that's misunderstood? What if we're labeled a racist? Professor Anita Foeman understands those worries. In How to Talk about Race, she gives common-sense guidance and step-by-step instructions you can employ to develop safe and productive dialogue about race.
audiobook
(16)
The United States and the Middle East: 1914 to 9/11
by Salim Yaqub
read by Salim Yaqub
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
At the dawn of World War I, the United States was only a rising power. Our reputation was relatively benign among Middle Easterners, who saw no imperial ambitions in our presence and were grateful for the educational and philanthropic services Americans provided. Yet by September 11, 2001, everything had changed. The United States had now become the unquestioned target of those bent on attacking the West for its perceived offenses against Islam. How and why did this transformation come about? And how did each of the factors that make the Middle East so complex contribute to this transformation?
This series of 24 lectures by an award-winning scholar is a narrative history of U.S. political involvement in the Middle East from World War I to the present day. Presented from a historian's balanced perspective, it will strengthen your ability to place today's headlines into historical context, evaluate what is most likely to happen next, and understand those oncoming events when they occur.
Step by step, with attention to the viewpoints and motivations of each nation and leader involved, the lectures explore growing American involvement in the Middle East; the ongoing quest for political independence and self-mastery by Middle Easterners; the difficulty the United States has experienced in weighing diverse and conflicting objectives in the region, especially as the cold war against the Soviet Union intensified; and the increasing antagonism between Americans and Middle Easterners that came to such a shocking culmination on September 11, 2001.
audiobook
(12)
Augustine: Philosopher and Saint
by Phillip Cary
read by Phillip Cary
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
These 12 illuminating lectures paint a rich and detailed portrait of the life, works, and ideas of this remarkable figure, whose own search for God has profoundly shaped all of Western Christianity. You'll learn what Augustine taught and why he taught it - and how those teachings and doctrines helped shape the Roman Catholic Church. These lectures are rewarding even if you have no background at all in classical philosophy or Christian theology. Professor Cary explains any special religious or philosophical concepts you need to know in order to appreciate Augustine's impact, with real-life examples and analogies that make even the most subtle concepts clear and easy to understand. You'll gain a sense of what Augustine was saying, how his own experiences led him to say it, and how his thoughts fit into the theological, philosophical, and political worlds that swirled around him. First, you'll study Augustine's life, with a three-angled look at the Confessions, his great spiritual autobiography, written when he was a 45-year-old bishop. Then, you'll investigate key concepts of Augustine's thoughts on faith and love, grace, original sin, the Church, and more. And finally, you'll gain a greater familiarity with Augustine's concept of persons, both human and divine, by focusing on his great work, The City of God.
audiobook
(2)
The Power of Storytelling With Ari Shapiro
by Ari Sharpiro
read by Ari Sharpiro
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
In The Power of Storytelling with Ari Shapiro, the award-winning host of NPR's All Things Considered reveals the storytelling secrets he's learned during his career, from finding a good story and choosing the right characters to conducting interviews and even delivering a story effectively out loud.
audiobook
(94)
Crashes and Crises: Lessons from a History of Financial Disasters
The complete course contains all 24 lectures
by Connel Fullenkamp
read by Connel Fullenkamp
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Professor Connel Fullenkamp of Duke University guides you through four centuries of economic disasters-from tulip mania in the 1600s to the Great Recession of 2007—2009. Each of his 24 lectures covers a notable incident of financial misfortune or folly that is worthy of a Hollywood thriller. You hear how Charles Ponzi conducted the moneymaking scam that bears his name; how mining companies in the Old West sprang up like internet startups, with a similar imbalance of winners and losers; how hyperinflation destroyed Germany's economy at the beginning of 1920s and how its resulting stock market crash nearly sank America's stock market. You also hear how the Great Depression deepened through a wave of bank panics; how in more recent times the U.S. savings and loan industry went belly-up; how Orange County in California went bankrupt; how Japan's hard-charging economy came to a screeching halt; how currency crises swept the globe; how subprime mortgages nearly sparked a second Great Depression, and much more. You also learn how technology has transformed stock trading, how cryptocurrencies work, and why we live in an era of financial instability. As well as entertaining you with riveting stories, Professor Fullenkamp inoculates you against the gullibility, overconfidence, and herd mentality that have lured many to financial ruin. You won't have any trouble staying awake through these stimulating lectures. And, armed with the knowledge of how to stay out of harm's way, you may even sleep better at night.
All Lectures
1. Fintech, Crypto, and the Future of Disaster
2. The Con Men Charles Ponzi and Ivar Kreuger
3. A Boom in Busts
4. The Tulip Bubble
5. The South Sea Bubble
6. The Mississippi Bubble
7. Holes in the Ground: Mining Stock Frauds
8. The Panic of 1907
9. Hyperinflation in Germany and Zimbabwe
10. The Crash of 1929
11. The Great Contraction of 1931-1933
12. The Savings and Loan Crisis
13. The Crash of 1987
14. Japan's Lost Decade
15. Bankers Trust Swaps
16. Asia, Greece, and Global Contagion
17. The Orange County, California, Bankruptcy
18. The Dotcom Bubble
19. Rogue Traders at SocGen and Barings
20. Unhedged! Long-Term Capital Management
21. The London Whale and Value at Risk
22. The Goldilocks Economy and Three Bads
23. Subprime Debt and the Run on Wall Street
24. China's Shadow Banks
audiobook
(32)
The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History
by Craig R. Koester
read by Craig R. Koester
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
What are we to make of the book of Revelation, with all its dramatic events and rich symbolism? Get an authoritative guide to this extraordinary work in 24 thought-provoking and enlightening lectures, divided into three parts: the historical and intellectual background of the Apocalypse; a close reading of John's text, focusing on the meaning of its images; and the wide-ranging impact of the book on Christian and Western history. Throughout these lectures, Professor Koester focuses on what John actually wrote in the Apocalypse, what his situation tells us about his meaning, how that meaning can be applied to our own lives, and how contemporary biblical scholars relate Revelation to the modern world. He also introduces major figures in history who have been powerfully drawn to the Apocalypse, among them St. Augustine (who saw it as timeless and symbolic rather than literal), Martin Luther (who decoded it to reach a remarkable theological insight), and Sojourner Truth (who was inspired by the book to work tirelessly for women's rights and the abolition of slavery). Describing the Apocalypse as a roller coaster that hurtles you down into the abyss amid scenes of monsters and plagues, only to send you flying upward toward views of pure light, Professor Koester stresses that if you are reading Revelation and want to despair, then you've stopped reading too soon. You need to turn the page and look to the next chapter, because there will be a wonderful message of hope waiting for you. And as you learn with this lecture series, you'll find that the Apocalypse you've heard about pales beside the real one.
audiobook
(22)
Explaining Social Deviance
by Paul Root Wolpe
read by Paul Root Wolpe
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
How do deviants reconcile their behavior with society's norms? This set of 10 lectures examines the complex topic of deviance and how major sociological theories have attempted to define it and understand its role in both historical and modern society. Professor Wolpe introduces deviance as "a complex, often ambiguous, social phenomenon that raises numerous questions about how a varied and often arbitrary set of characteristics can be used to name the same idea."
Intended for those with some understanding of sociology, these lectures trace Western theories of deviance from classical demonism to constructionism. Along the way, you'll get a chance to investigate a range of fascinating, thought-provoking, and sometimes even frightening topics and issues.
You'll discover the relationship between deviance and criminology, and come to terms with three major sociological perspectives on deviance in human society. You'll explore the concept of demonism, with divides the world into good and evil, and see how it's often been used to explain and categorize bad behavior when no other explanations are available. You'll learn about the influence of science on sociological thought as proposed by a range of important thinkers, as well as the impact of this science on everything from the IQ controversy to the eugenics movement to Social Darwinism.
Professor Wolpe has crafted an engaging series of discussions that are sure to have you looking at the world around you (and the people in them) in a new way.
audiobook
(24)
Freedom: The Philosophy of Liberation
by Dennis Dalton
read by Dennis Dalton
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Professor Dalton explores the meaning of freedom and examines the progress of both personal and political freedom. These eight lectures are a guided tour along the byways of the philosophy of liberation, beginning with its ancient roots and ending in 20th-century America.
Throughout these lectures, you'll follow the progress toward personal liberation and spiritual freedom found in the lives of those who were often consumed by fierce and difficult struggles for political freedom. And you'll see that the results achieved along the way are not separate mysteries but truths linked by the same path.
But you'll also learn that the philosophy of freedom was never intrinsically American and has its roots in diverse ancient cultures. For example, you'll learn about the ancient Hindu philosophy of dual freedom as described in the Bhagavad Gita, the Greek philosopher Plato's study of freedom in the republic of Athens, and the major contributions Christian philosophy has made to the ideal of freedom. Traveling from the ancient world to the modern, you'll consider the lives and work of John Stuart Mill (the 19th-century philosopher who defined the meaning of freedom with extraordinary clarity), Mahatma Gandhi (the political leader who led the Indian subcontinent out of British domination), Martin Luther King, Jr. (who synthesized the teachings of Jesus and Gandhi to create a method of nonviolent resistance), and others.
audiobook
(14)
Skeptics and Believers: Religious Debate in the Western Intellectual Tradition
by Tyler Roberts
read by Tyler Roberts
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Beginning in the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation and the Scientific Revolution began to erode the position of authority. As a result, new philosophers began constructing a universal rationality independent of faith. This schism fundamentally changed the course of Western civilization, and it has had consequences that remain with us to this day. This 36-lecture journey will help you understand exactly what the debate has been and will continue to be about. By gaining a richer understanding of the debate's key aspects - including the nature of the conflict, the meaning of the arguments, and what is at stake both philosophically and theologically - you can add significantly to the level of sophistication you already bring to one of today's most far-reaching issues and increase your understanding of both our past and the direction of our future. These lectures examine more than three centuries of debate in the Western world about the nature of religious faith and its compatibility with reason. Drawing on some of Western civilization's greatest theological and philosophical minds, Professor Roberts even-handedly follows and analyzes the arguments of a broad range of skeptics and believers, including the likes of Thomas Aquinas, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Daniel Dennett, Martin Luther, Immanuel Kant, Soren Kierkegaard, and many others.In addition, these lectures maintain the sense of a true conversation across time, so that you'll never lose the thread of how one idea relates to another as he weaves a vast amount of material into a coherent whole that amounts to far more than the sum of its parts. The result is one of the most intellectually satisfying plunges into philosophical and theological thought you will ever take.
audiobook
(22)
Unexpected Economics
by Timothy Taylor
read by Timothy Taylor
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Why are we choosing to have fewer children, even as we put more time into raising each one? Why are we so often willing to follow the herd and the opinions of strangers when making important decisions, even when those decisions are deeply personal? Most surprising: Why are questions like these increasingly attracting the attention of economists? Find out why with these 24 fascinating lectures that will help you grasp as never before the ways in which these mechanisms for making choices are operating even in areas in which you may never have considered the forces of economics to be at work. Professor Taylor puts to rest the oft-quoted misconception of economics as "the dismal science." Instead, you'll take part in a wide-ranging and enjoyable investigation of how economic thinking - whether applied personally, nationally, or globally - relates to, and sheds fresh light on, just about everything. With the aid of findings from recent Nobel Prize winners and rapidly evolving leading-edge fields like behavioral economics, you'll look at subjects ranging from discrimination and natural disasters to charity and risk-taking, and even whether terrorism can be considered a "career choice." As you roam with Professor Taylor across this fascinating landscape, you'll discover unique vantage points from which to survey and understand these exciting and vital territories being explored every day by economists. And you'll gain a deeper understanding of the role of choice in your own life, whether choices you've made for yourself, or those made for you by leaders you've entrusted with that authority.
audiobook
(4)
Building Love That Lasts
by Suzann Pileggi Pawelski, MAPP
read by Suzann Pileggi Pawelski, MAPP, James O. Pawelski, Ph.D.
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Have you ever been in love? Falling in love is the easiest thing in the world. The difficult part comes later, when you are trying to stay in love.
Half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. As it turns out, failing in love is just as easy as falling in love.
Enter our experts, Professor James Pawelski, cofounder of the world's first degree program in positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and his wife, Suzann Pileggi Pawelski, writer, consultant, and positive psychology expert.
Together, this husband-and-wife team will share vital insights and practical steps for developing long and harmonious relationships in an inspiring 12-lesson course, Building Love That Lasts. Using scientifically-based research from positive psychology coupled with ancient wisdom from ancient Greek philosophy, our experts take us on a series of visits to what they call the Relationship Gym™.
Just like building a healthy body at a fitness gym, you will need effort, consistency, a willingness to try new things, and expert guidance to get the full benefits from this Relationship Gym™. Here, you will learn about what James and Suzie call "Aristotelian love" and how it differs from the more common concept of soulmates.
All of this will help you discover how to use positive psychology to enrich your relationships. Our experts focus on four research areas to guide you in your quest for lasting love: passion, positive emotions, savoring, and character.
Whether you are looking to start a relationship off on the right foot, weather difficult times, reignite the passion, or transform a good duo into a great one, Building Love That Lasts will offer you a healthy view of human connection and give you science-based tools to create the enduring, loving relationship you want.
audiobook
(24)
A History of Freedom
by J. Rufus Fears
read by J. Rufus Fears
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
It can be argued that one simple idea - the concept of freedom - has been the driving force of Western civilization and may be the most influential intellectual force the world has ever known. But what is freedom, exactly? These 36 engaging lectures tell the dramatic story of freedom from ancient Greece to our own day, exploring a concept so close to us we may never have considered it with the thoroughness it deserves. In exploring what freedom meant to Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, and other great historical figures, you'll probe a range of provocative issues related to a concept we in the 21st century sometimes take for granted. What does it take to be free, to have and to hold liberty? What role do the liberal arts and the world of the intellect play in the life of a free society or a free individual? How should we understand the relationship among freedom, religion, and morality? With Professor Fears guiding and informing your thinking, you explore the birth of the idea of freedom in Greece and the story of the world's first democracy; the status and meaning of freedom in both the Roman Republic and the Empire; the role of Christianity in that flowering of freedom, and the Christian view of the true meaning of human liberation; the debates about freedom that informed the framing and ratification of the United States Constitution; its awful testing on the battlefields of the Civil War; the struggles of free peoples against domestic injustices and foreign dictatorships during the 20th century; and the questions about freedom we still face today.
audiobook
(18)
Robert E. Lee and His High Command
by Gary W. Gallagher
read by Gary W. Gallagher
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Few events have captivated students of American history like the Civil War. Its most striking personalities seem somehow outsized, magnified beyond the ability of books or even legend to contain them. And few among those personalities have ever held our attention like General Robert Edward Lee. With his Army of Northern Virginia, Lee came to embody the cause of the Confederacy itself, inspiring a commitment from troops and civilians that eventually overshadowed even those given to its political leaders and institutions. This riveting series of 24 lectures from one of the nation's most respected Civil War historians explains how this came to pass, and how - in a war that produced no other successful Confederate armies - this amazing leader was able to create and inspire an army whose achievements resonated not only across the Confederacy but also throughout the North and in foreign capitals like London and Paris. You'll learn what Lee was actually like, and gain insights into his ideas about strategy and tactics. You'll grasp how battlefield events influenced public opinion on the home fronts of both the Union and the Confederacy. And, most of all, you'll grasp how crucial Lee's choices in forming his high command were to the war's events and outcome. These lectures have been designed to appeal to everyone who wants to understand more about the Civil War and why it unfolded as it did, whether your interest is in the strategy and tactics underlying its major battles or in the broader context within which those battles took place.
audiobook
(17)
Medieval Heroines in History and Legend
by Bonnie Wheeler
read by Bonnie Wheeler
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
This series of 24 fascinating lectures draws on the latest modern scholarship to explore the lives of four medieval women who still shimmer in the modern imagination: Heloise, the abbess and mistress of Abelard; the prophet Hildegard of Bingen; Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine; and Joan of Arc.
These lectures exemplify today's golden age of medieval scholarship, in which the role women played in medieval life is being clarified for the first time. You examine both old legends and new facts to address several provocative questions, such as: Were Hildegard's visions the result of migraines? How did Joan conduct herself in battle and react to its bloody reality? What does Eleanor's life tell us about a woman's role in the Crusades? As you journey through a past we are only now beginning to understand fully, you learn how these remarkable heroines have been both understood and misunderstood throughout history, and you'll better understand how history passes judgment on both women and the Middle Ages.
audiobook
(15)
Business Law: Negligence and Torts
by Frank B. Cross
read by Frank B. Cross
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
These eight lectures address two important questions: When is someone else legally responsible for harm done to you? When are you legally responsible for harm done to someone else? This course of eight lectures discusses torts, the body of law designed to redress through civil litigation harms done to persons. As with all bodies of law, in order to analyze the legal implications of a potentially tortious action, it is necessary to blend common sense and pragmatic thinking with an understanding of legal definitions as they have evolved over time. This series not only explains the basics of this substantive body of law, but it also gives insight through examples of how the law is based on a logical idea of a just outcome. Topics you'll explore here include the basic foundations of torts law, the three categories of which it is composed, and the legal factors necessary to find a person liable for a tort; negligence, especially of property owners, and the defenses that can be offered against allegations of negligence; the expanding tort of infliction of emotional distress, which can be either negligent or intentional, but which must pass several specific tests before it can be definitely labeled tortious; third-party intervention in contracts and prospective business; the legal implications of misappropriation of information; and trademark law.
Please note: This course is not intended to provide financial or investment advice. All investments involve risk: Past performance does not guarantee future success. You acknowledge that any reliance on any information from the materials contained in this course shall be at your own risk.
audiobook
(17)
European Thought and Culture in the 20th Century
by Lloyd Kramer
read by Lloyd Kramer
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
As a sequel to European Thought and Culture in the 19th Century, Professor Kramer tackles the major intellectual themes and debates that decisively shaped 20th-century European culture. These 24 lectures cover an amazingly wide range of thinkers and writers, the key historical circumstances and challenges they faced, and the fascinating and subtle ways in which their works relate to one another and to the larger story of modern European culture. You'll look at influential writers such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Joseph Conrad, Henrik Ibsen, Virginia Woolf, and Primo Levi; important painters such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Wassily Kandinsky; philosophers and theorists such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, Albert Einstein, Edmund Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Jürgen Habermas; and other key figures in the human and social scientists, including Émile Durkheim, John Maynard Keynes, Hannah Arendt, and Carl Jung.
With a focus on context, cultural innovations, and responses to World War I and World War II, Professor Kramer lends coherence and liveliness to what might otherwise seem a bewildering gathering of intellectuals. But by learning about their lives, their works, and the connections between their ideas, you'll gain a keener insight into a host of movements and trends in the modern intellectual life-including positivism, literary modernism, feminism, structuralism, and Cubism and Abstract Expressionism in painting.
audiobook
(26)
A Historian Goes to the Movies: Ancient Rome
by Greg Aldrete
read by Greg Aldrete
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
How have films like Ben-Hur, Spartacus, Gladiator, or even a satire like Monty Python's Life of Brian created our popular perceptions of ancient Roman history? In what ways have they led us astray? And why, despite the occasional box-office flop, do movies set in ancient Rome still have the power to captivate us, and to turn each of us into theater-going history buffs?
In these 12 lectures, an award-winning historian gives you a front-row look at the great movies that have shaped ancient Rome's role in popular culture and memory. Packed with insights into both history and filmmaking, this series immerses you in the glory and grandeur (and, sometimes, the folly) of classic and contemporary films featuring over 50 years of cinematic talent, including directors like Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott and actors such as Elizabeth Taylor and Russell Crowe.
You'll investigate portrayals of ancient Roman life on the big screen and small screen; learn how to tease out fact from fiction in some of Hollywood's most stunning spectacles; and deepen your appreciation for films that, when made right, can be thrilling time machines into the past. Some films you may already be a fan of; other films you might have only heard of in passing. But all of them are essential to a well-rounded understanding of the intricate relationship between the world of ancient Rome and the world of the movies.
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Masters of Mindfulness: Transforming Your Mind and Body
by Various Authors
read by Various Readers
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Mindfulness as a practice is very simple and its effects are well- documented. Now, modern biology and neuroscience can actually quantify many of the effects of mindfulness and you may be surprised by how powerful the impact can be.
In Masters of Mindfulness, 11 top researchers and proponents of mindfulness discuss what modern science and contemporary research have revealed about this ancient practice and the many ways in which it can benefit your life. These 22 lectures present a unique and extraordinary opportunity, bringing a diverse group of renowned specialists together in one place for the first time to share their own personal experiences and their latest research, and to guide you through several mindfulness exercises. Acting as your primary guide through the many concepts and presenters, psychologist and mindfulness expert Dr. Shauna Shapiro brings together some of the greatest minds in the field to give you an immersive, 360-degree experience of mindfulness, its practice, and its benefits.
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(21)
The Life and Writings of John Milton
by Seth Lerer
read by Seth Lerer
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
There is no disputing that John Milton is considered one of the supreme writers in the history of English letters. Yet, for a number of reasons, many modern readers are unaware of the pleasures of his poetry and prose. These 12 lectures examine Milton's life and work in order to understand the richness and depth of his poetry, its ways of representing 17th-century English life and culture, and its impact on later writers and on English literary history as a whole. You'll learn about Milton's works in all their fullness, whether or not you've read them in the past. You'll get both an introduction to Milton's achievements and a means by which you can cultivate your own thoughts and opinions about works including Paradise Lost and Areopagitica. While Paradise Lost alone could easily be the subject of an entire lecture series, Professor Lerer chooses not to restrict himself to this unique masterwork, but rather to make it manifest in the context of its maker's life and career, and to give you a foundation on which to build your future enjoyment of Milton. Because of this, you'll get a chance to explore Milton's early poetry, "Lycidas," his various political works, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes, and more. Professor Lerer describes these lectures as "an invitation to the modern reader to find ways of enjoying, appreciating, valuing, and even struggling through a poetry that says as much about human nature and political life now as it did over three centuries ago." And in learning to feel the living pulse of Milton's world, you'll join generations of readers and authors, including William Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot, and Mary Shelley, who have taken inspiration from his genius.
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(36)
War and World History
The Complete Course Contains All 48 Lectures
by Jonathan P. Roth
read by Jonathan P. Roth
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
This fresh and challenging inquiry into human societies takes a deep look at the effects and roles of war. As the most complex of all human endeavors, warfare - from ancient to modern - has spurred the growth of essential new technologies; demanded the adoption of complex economic systems; shaped the ideology and culture of nations; promoted developments in art and literature; and spread faith across the globe. Over the course of 48 highly provocative lectures, Professor Roth explores armed conflict across five continents. Far from a traditional approach to military events, this panoramic series is not the history of battles or military campaigns, but the story of the intimate interconnections of war with human cultures and societies and how these connections have shaped history. You'll study the complex effects of culture, economics, politics, and religion on war - and war's influences on them. In this context, you chart the colorful history of the practice and methodology of warfare. Among many other things, you'll learn about the development and evolution of history-making military weapons such as bows, horses, swords, and gunpowder; the interface of warfare with religion, which has bred some of the most unusual and poignant conflicts in history; the 17th-century European nation-state, where militaries were "nationalized" into central governments and military service was imbued with ideology of citizenship and loyalty to state; the crucial military underpinnings of nationalism, Communism, Fascism, and other political movements from the modern era. Probe these pivotal and revealing features of history and deepen your understanding of our extraordinary, evolving world.
All Lectures:
1. What Is War?
2. The Historiography of War
3. The Stone Age War
4. Peace, War, and Civilization
5. The Chariot Revolution
6. The Sword Revolution
7. Steppes, Standing Armies, and Silver Trade
8. Pirates and Hoplites
9. Great Empires of West and East
10. War and the Rise of Religion
11. The Greek Way of War
12. An Age of War throughout the Core
13. New Empires and an Armed Peace
14. Monotheisms and Militaries
15. Barbarians and the Fall of Three Empires
16. Conquest Links the Core
17. The Middle Ages and a Common Way of War
18. Armored Horsemen and Global Feudalization
19. Crusade, Jihad, and Dharma Yuddha
20. The Mongols Conquer a World
21. The Business of War in Medieval Europe
22. The Gunpowder Revolution
23. War at the Margins
24. A World Apart - War in the Americas
25. Renaissance and Military Revolution
26. Conquest and Colonies
27. The Gunpowder Empires
28. More Holy Wars
29. The Rise of the Regiment
30. The Wooden World
31. The Global War to Control Trade
32. Warfare and the Nation-State
33. War and the Making of the Americas
34. War and the Unmaking of Africa and Asia
35. The Industrialization of War
36. The Nationalization of War
37. Race and Class at War
38. Imperialism and the Triumph of the West
39. The 19th-Century Culture of War
40. A Common Way of War - The 20th Century
41. War and 20th-Century Ideology
42. War and the Persistence of Nationalism
43. Economies and Economics at War
44. Culture and War in the 20th Century
45. The Weaponization of Information
46. Guerrilla War and Terrorism
47. The Struggle for Peace and Justice
48. Warfare at the Turn of a New Century
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(9)
Abraham Lincoln: In His Own Words
by David Zarefsky
read by David Zarefsky
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Abraham Lincoln was one of America's greatest public orators. The cadence, argument and power he brought to his speeches, like those of the Gettysburg address almost every American learns in school, still stir the hearts of not only Americans, but countless millions around the world. This series of 24 lectures examines Lincoln's rhetoric - the public messages in which he evolved his views on slavery and the preservation of the Union and by which he sought to persuade others. By tracing significant moments in Lincoln's career from the fresh perspective of his use of public persuasion, you'll learn how Lincoln was able to navigate the constraints imposed by both audiences and situations, and you'll understand exactly how he was able to take advantage of creative opportunities. You also see the extent to which Lincoln's public career developed through his public speeches and writings, and gain valuable insight into the importance of both thinking rhetorically and reasoning with specific audiences and situations in mind.
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(23)
The Great Debate: Advocates and Opponents of the American Constitution
by Thomas Pangle
read by Thomas Pangle
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in and interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Its authority and stature are routinely invoked by voices from every point on the political spectrum, with frequent references to the Founding Fathers and their true "intent." What really was their true intent? As these 12 surprising lectures show, many of those Founding Fathers - including Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry - were highly critical of the new Constitution and staunchly opposed it when it was first put forth for ratification by the states as a replacement for the Articles of Confederation. The debate over the Constitution raged for the better part of two years, and beneath its rhetorical flourishes lay not only the longest and most profound civic argument in our nation's history, but also a civics lesson that deserves to endure for all time. It was an argument that would result not only in the ratification of the Constitution, but also in what that Constitution would become. Professor Pangle takes you into this debate. You'll see which Founders opposed the new Constitution, which Founders led the battle for it, and how both sides helped define the result. In an era when contemporary arguments on the national stage so often mirror the same conflicts debated by the Founders, our own reenactment of that original debate can enrich our ability to be active and participating citizens.
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(20)
The Life and Works of Jane Austen
by Devoney Looser
read by Devoney Looser
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Born to the ranks of the lower English gentry in 1775, Jane Austen led what some have mistakenly described as an ordinary and unremarkable life-a life that ended all too soon at the age of 41. But from this life, Austen drew inspiration for six novels that all rank as literary masterpieces, including the widely beloved Pride and Prejudice. So, what do we really know about Austen's life and influences?
With Professor Devoney Looser of Arizona State University, you will get invaluable insight into Austen's everyday reality in the elegant and tumultuous Regency period and a more thorough understanding of her influence and lasting legacy. Over the course of the 24 lessons of The Life and Works of Jane Austen, you will explore her six completed works, as well as her raucous teenage writings and unfinished novels. You will also get a guided tour of Austen's world-the politics, social dynamics, major events, cultural markers, and class structures that defined the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Great Britain-and how these elements shaped her life and inspired her work. While there may always be a certain amount of mystery about Austen's life, this course offers a fuller understanding of her world and how she brilliantly captured it on the page.
Jane Austen's work was shaped profoundly by the world she lived in, and The Life and Works of Jane Austen offers you the chance to explore this world and to see how the novels Austen published over two centuries ago continue to engage and entertain readers and influence popular culture through countless adaptations on page and screen. Whether you are a fan, a casual reader-or even someone who has always been a little confused by "Austenmania"-this course will illuminate the worlds, both real and imagined, of Austen's fiction and her astonishing contributions to literature.
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(16)
America's Long Struggle Against Slavery
by Richard Bell
read by Richard Bell
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
We're all familiar with the Underground Railroad and the Emancipation Proclamation, but the fight against slavery was not some sudden movement that sprang up in the middle of the 19th century. Resistance from the enslaved started on the western coast of Africa in the 15th century and continued as the institution of slavery was codified in America, culminating with the War between the States.
This 300-year struggle has too often been glossed over by history books enamored with American ingenuity, Manifest Destiny, and tales of Revolutionary freedom. But to understand America-to fully understand our country today-one must examine the whole history of struggle, oppression, and resistance, not only by famous figures like Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Tubman, but also by an enormous and often unfamiliar cast of characters.
What these disparate figures had in common was they gradually coalesced into a movement. Individuals gradually organized, and then the abolitionist movement led to war which led, in theory, to freedom. America's Long Struggle against Slavery is your chance to survey the history of the American anti-slavery movement, from the dawn of the transatlantic slave trade during the late 15th century to the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and beyond. Taught by Professor Richard Bell of the University of Maryland, these 30 eye-opening lectures give you an up-close view of a venal institution and the people who fought against it-and who often paid for their courage with their lives.
As Professor Bell examines the different means and methods that Americans, white and black, have used to escape slavery, he presents the grand problems that animated everyone engaged in this great struggle.
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(16)
The Age of Pericles
by Jeremy McInerney
read by Jeremy McInerney
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The career of Pericles, the leading Athenian politician and general from c. 450 to 429 B.C., is a prism through which to view the "Golden Age" of Greece, a brief but remarkable era when Athens experienced a cultural flowering of extraordinary power and importance for Western culture.
In the generation that followed Pericles' appearance on the public stage shortly after the Persian wars, Athens rapidly transformed the alliance of Greek states - an alliance first created as a defense against the Persians - into a true Aegean empire, dominated by the Athenians and their mighty navy. But this dramatic increase in military power, cultural influence, and prestige was also accompanied by something unique: the growth of full participatory democracy. But in examining the lives of Athenian men and women, one has to ask what freedom and autonomy really meant to a society that relied on slaves and was ruthless in its treatment of its subjects.
These 24 stimulating lectures present a well-rounded portrait of almost every aspect of Athenian life during the Golden Age, including. the different ways Athens and Sparta raised their children; the fate of Athenian girls as mothers and managers of the household; young Pericles' role in bringing Aeschylus's masterpiece, The Persians; why the Spartans rejected the aid of Athens in putting down a slave revolt; and Thucydides' terrifying description of the plague's physical and social impact on Athens - including the death of Pericles - and its possible role in the ultimate defeat of Athens by Sparta.
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(14)
Storytelling and the Human Condition
by Alexandra Hudson
read by Alexandra Hudson
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The stories we tell ourselves are central to how we engage with the world around us. Stories help us make sense of the world, tell us who we are and why we're here, and define our purpose for existence. Stories empower us to learn from the experiences, successes, and failures of others, and can guide us as we make difficult choices in our own lives. They can entertain us; instruct us; and, above all, connect us-to the world, to people in other times and places, to each other, and to our innermost selves. Stories remind us of the remarkable constancy in human nature and the human experience, while simultaneously helping us to learn and grow.
We are perpetually interested in questions related to the human condition: What does it mean
to be human? Why are we here? What is the best way to live? These stories comprise
"The Great Conversation"-the iterative dialogue between thoughtful people across time and place about questions of origin, purpose, and destiny. Studying stories from The Great Conversation across media, across history, and across culture allows us insight into how people have answered these questions for themselves. Doing so helps us become better able to understand who we are and how we can live life richly and, well, in the here and now.
To examine the connection between the storytelling impulse and our implicit desire to understand our lives and our place in the world, you will go on a globe-spanning, time-travelling, media-traversing tour in the 12 lectures of Storytelling and the Human Condition. Your guide is award-winning journalist, author, and storyteller Alexandra Hudson, founder of Civic Renaissance, a community of lifelong learners, which she invites you to join at Civic-Renaissance.com. In this course, she will illuminate the many ways stories shape our lives throughout history and across cultures.
In the Beginning ...
We're storytelling-and story-listening-creatures from day one. According to narrative paradigm theory, conceptualized by communication scholar Walter Fisher, all meaningful human communication occurs through storytelling. This theory argues that, whether we realize it or not, each of us are storytellers, or listeners of stories, at different times in our lives.
This isn't just true for our own moment-but for people in all times and places. Every civilization and culture have stories they use to explore the big questions of the human condition, beginning from their earliest, pre-literate days. From the art on the walls of caves to oral storytelling traditions to the (much later) impact of writing and literacy, stories are always central to living lives of meaning in our world. As you examine ancient and influential stories like the Enuma Elish of Babylon, the creation story of Genesis, or the histories of Hesiod, you will gain a better understanding of how these earliest of stories share many of the same questions people have pondered across the history of our species.
The stories that Alexandra presents explore the breadth of the human experience: beginning with origin stories and progressing through themes such as suffering, humor, love and sex, pride, death, freedom, and much more. In each lecture, she crosscuts culture, era, and medium to show how stories from different disciplines, people, and places are in conversation with each other across generations and continents. All great art tells a story, as Alexandra shows. Whether you are examining ancient creation stories, analyzing the plays of Shakespeare, diving into modern poetry, or considering the lyrics of a song from the 20th century, you are invited to see how the drive to understand our world and ourselves in story is universal.
The Plot Thickens
The human condition, said 17th-century French polymath Blaise Pascal, is defined by the greatness and wretchedness of man. As there is duality to our nature as human beings, there is duality to our stories. Great stories lay bare a cu
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(6)
How to Turn Your Passion into Profit
by Tara McMullin
read by Tara McMullin
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Most Americans these days consider entrepreneurship to be a good career. More than half of all American adults will start at least one business during their working life. Due to the shutdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home became a common practice that many Americans would like to see as a permanent work option. This means that if you're like most Americans, you've either already started your own business or you're seriously considering it. If so, you've definitely come to the right place.
In How to Turn Your Passion into Profit, business expert Tara McMullin will guide you through the process of creating your own business, turning some commonly held ideas completely upside down in the process. For example, you might think your first task would be to identify what you want to sell. Not so fast, Tara says. You think your goal should be to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible? Think again.
Instead of rushing headlong into selling a product, Tara suggests you take a step back to ask what you want to get out of this business. Yes, you certainly want to make money. But as Tara explains in five modules, there are some more important basic questions to ask yourself. For example, what are the guiding principles you live by and how can they be incorporated into your new business? Do you become animated with excitement when talking to groups of people or do you prefer one-on-one communication? Do you want to develop a business that can be supported by your local community face to face or would you be more excited by international sales? With Tara's guidance, your answers to these and other questions will lead you to the appropriate business model and development of a successful, long-term endeavor you will enjoy.
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(10)
Understanding Your Inner Genius
by Laura Helmuth
read by Laura Helmuth
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
In Understanding Your Inner Genius, presenter Laura Helmuth reveals the latest scientific thinking on genius and intelligence-from the making of a genius, to the increase of worldwide IQ scores, and the mysteries of acquired savantism. With Dr. Helmuth as your guide, you'll explore the groundbreaking work conducted by distinguished psychologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, and educators. With myth-busting exhilaration and more than a bit of controversy, scientific studies point the way to increasing the intellect.
We all start learning automatically from the moment we're born, if not before; our brains are made for it. But it's also normal for parents to want to help their children in their intellectual development. In this course, you'll learn the results of scientifically sound studies that suggest you encourage your child to try new tasks and praise your child for persistence and resilience.
Learning new skills and working puzzles are both great ways to keep your mind active and have a lot of fun. But scientists warn that companies are often marketing mind-exercising products with strong claims about their effectiveness-claims that have not been backed up by scientific studies. What does work? Research shows you can best maintain a mental edge as you age by physical exercise, having a positive attitude, and social engagement.
In Understanding Your Inner Genius, you'll be surprised to discover the myths that many, if not most, of us take as fact, including the left brain/right brain dichotomy, among others.
But if you still believe some of these myths, don't worry. Understanding Your Inner Genius will introduce you to the new, scientifically valid concepts that take the place of these myths-concepts you can use to your advantage when educating your children, your students, or yourself.
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(8)
Understanding Disorders of the Brain
by Sandy Neargarder
read by Sandy Neargarder
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The brain is a complex and mysterious organ. When everything goes right, it is a finely tuned machine that serves as our body's central processing unit. But like computers on the fritz, things occasionally go haywire in the brain, and the effects can be absolutely crushing. What happens when things go wrong?
Now you can delve into the mysteries of what can go awry inside our central processing unit. Taught by esteemed Professor Sandy Neargarder, the 24 eye-opening lessons in Understanding Disorders of the Brain survey some of the most common, and not-so-common, disorders that disrupt the many ways our brains function.
Professor Neargarder explores what we know about diseases ranging from autism, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer's to traumas such as head injuries and strokes. For each disorder, she walks through the genetic and environmental factors that underlie the pathology, shares insight about the signs and symptoms to look out for, and looks at the latest research on treatment and cures.
Science has come a long way in solving the mysteries of the human brain, but we still have a long way to go. Building a better understanding of these disorders can help all of us minimize our risk factors, recognize symptoms, and ensure the best course of action for ourselves and those we love. This course offers a powerful introduction to the journey of brain science in the 21st century and an excellent addition to your lifelong learning library.\
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(8)
Hannibal: The Military Genius Who Almost Conquered Rome
by Eve MacDonald
read by Eve MacDonald
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
While Hannibal Barca may be famous for crossing the Italian Alps and almost conquering Rome, questions about his life and legacy remain unanswered and under-explored. Where, for example, did he and his family come from? What caused the Punic Wars to break out between Rome and Carthage, and to what extent did the conflict shape Hannibal's early life and beliefs? What did Romans think of Hannibal's invasion, the defection of allies, and grave human losses across Italy? How did the Carthaginian army manage to control the Italian peninsula in the Second Punic War, in the first place? And perhaps most important, why did Hannibal and his army ultimately fail in their long and impressive fight against Rome?
Answer these questions and more in Hannibal: The Military Genius Who Almost Conquered Rome, a 15-lecture course on the legendary Carthaginian general who devastated the Italian peninsula in the Second Punic War. With Eve MacDonald, Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at Cardiff University, as your expert guide, learn about Hannibal's family background and upbringing. Follow the young commander as he and an impressive cadre of calvary men, foot soldiers, and even elephants crossed the treacherous Alps. Reconstruct key battles in the Italian, Iberian, and North African theaters. See the conflict through Roman eyes, understanding strategy and state of mind from the other side. And investigate what became of both Hannibal and Carthage after the dust of combat and conquest had settled.
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(80)
The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History
The complete course contains all 24 lectures
by Bart D. Ehrman
read by Bart D. Ehrman
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Without the presence of Christianity, our world would be considerably different. Whether we view it in religious, social, or political terms, Christianity has deeply and integrally influenced the Western worldview and way of life. Yet, throughout Christian history, compelling controversies have existed surrounding the faith's first three centuries, when it grew from a persecuted sect into a powerful religion. These controversies bring into question many commonly accepted beliefs about Christianity. In this course, an award-winning professor and New York Times best-selling author offers a penetrating investigation of the 24 most pivotal controversies, shedding light on fallacies that obscure an accurate view of the religion and how it evolved into what it is today. In each lecture, you'll delve into a key issue in Christianity's early development: Did the Jews Kill Jesus? Was Jesus Raised from the Dead? Did the Disciples Write the Gospels? Did Early Christians Accept the Trinity? Is the Book of Revelation about Our Future? Who Chose the Books of the New Testament? You'll delve into the conception of the meshiach (messiah) in Jewish tradition, and the basis for the core Christian claim that a suffering messiah was predicted in the Jewish scriptures. In grasping Paul's role in the early faith, you contemplate the key differences between the teachings of Jesus himself and the Christian view of his death and resurrection. And you trace the ambiguous role in early Christianity of the Jewish scriptures, and how these books came to be accepted as the Christian Old Testament. Explore these and other intriguing questions in this unique inquiry into the core of Christian tradition.
All Lectures:
1. Was Jesus Born in Bethlehem?
2. Was Jesus's Mother a Virgin?
3. Did Jesus Have a Twin Brother?
4. Is Jesus in the Dead Sea Scrolls?
5. Did Jesus Expect to See the World's End?
6. How Close Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene?
7. Was Jesus Married?
8. What Secrets Did Judas Betray?
9. Did the Jews Kill Jesus?
10. Was Pontius Pilate a Secret Christian?
11. Was Jesus Raised from the Dead?
12. Did the Jews Expect a Suffering Messiah?
13. Is Paul the Real Founder of Christianity?
14. Did the Disciples Write the Gospels?
15. Does the New Testament Contain Forgeries?
16. Is the Book of Revelation about Our Future?
17. Who Were the Original Christians?
18. Is the True Jesus in the Gnostic Gospels?
19. What Happened to the Apostles?
20. Was Christianity an Illegal Religion?
21. Is the Old Testament a Christian Book?
22. Did Early Christians Accept the Trinity?
23. Do We Have the Original New Testament?
24. Who Chose the Books of the New Testament?
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Discovering Your Roots: An Introduction to Genealogy
The complete course contains all 15 lectures
by John Phillip Colletta
read by John Phillip Colletta
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Genealogy is a journey of self-discovery that can teach you as much about yourself as about those who came before you. But there's an obstacle that holds many of us back from unearthing our family history: uncertainty about how to go about it. With Dr. Colletta's 15 lectures, you'll learn the same skills and methodologies the experts use to solve genealogical mysteries, to create compelling nonfiction narratives, and to uncover information from the long-forgotten past in the most effective ways possible. These lectures provide you with smart and savvy ways to find-and use-the most helpful online and print resources available today, including U.S. population censuses, the Periodical Source Index (PERSI), and the National Archives and Records Administration. You'll also learn tools of the trade for working with these and other sources, as well as countless tips for making your own research more useful. You'll also discover how to write engaging historical narratives that can inform and entertain family members or general audiences. You'll explore seven steps for personalizing biographical facts; specific ways to construct and narrate the timeline of an ancestor from birth to death; four fundamental questions you need answers to before you start writing about your ancestors; and more. So grab that old photograph, sit down with an elderly relative, comb through old records, and prepare to embark on a personal adventure that can dramatically reshape how you think about your past - and yourself.
All Lectures:
1. Interviewing Kin and Mining Home Sources
2. Genealogy Online-Gems and Junk
3. The Library-Shelves Full of Family History
4. Military Service and Homestead Records
5. How to Build Historical Context
6. Your Ancestors in Ship Passenger Lists
7. Your Ancestors in Naturalization Records
8. The Genealogical Proof Standard
9. Your Ancestors in the County Courthouse
10. Your Ancestors in State Records
11. How to Write Biography
12. Dos and Don'ts of Writing History
13. Searching in Your Ancestors' Backyards
14. Assembling an Account of Your Discoveries
15. Extending Your Family Tree Overseas
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(13)
The Soul and the City: Art, Literature, and Urban Living
by Arnold Weinstein
read by Arnold Weinstein
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
These eight lectures are a celebration of humanity and the rich texture of human experience. They are a fascinating focus on the complex artistic representations of city life from the 18th to the 20th century. Join Professor Weinstein as he reveals the portraits of humanity that came from several of the period's greatest artists, writers, and thinkers.
Among them:
Painter Edvard Munch, who depicts the emptiness of urban living,
Poet Charles Baudelaire, who celebrates how crowds impact his imagination,
Author Daniel Defoe, who dramatizes the freedom the city offers people who want to change their identities, Author Theodore Dreiser, who views the city as a huge, brutal, industrial machine that systematically grinds up individuals, and Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who believes that the city is like the mind: a receptacle for the past, as well as for hidden lives and passions.
These lectures reveal several vital themes that appear in artists' subjective renderings of urban living: orientation (finding our way), the marketplace (exchanging goods and services), anonymity (experiencing solitude or freedom), encounters (fearing or connecting with others), history (maintaining contact with other times), and cultures (entering the cities' ever-changing cultural forms).
Why use art as a guide to city life? According to Professor Weinstein, "Art usually supports what we learn from scientific studies of urban life. Art provides us with something social science cannot: a subjective rendering of city experience that is not quantifiable. Such a depiction includes our fears, desires, and dreams. Art serves as a record for these experiences."
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(34)
Masters of War: History's Greatest Strategic Thinkers
The complete course contains all 24 lectures
by Andrew R. Wilson
read by Andrew R. Wilson
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
From Napoleon's revolutionary campaigns to the way insurgency, terrorism, and nuclear weaponry have defined the nature of warfare in the 21st century, the results of military strategy have changed the course of history. These 24 thought-provoking lectures give you an inside look at both the content and historical context of the world's greatest war strategists. From the triremes and hoplites of ancient Greece to the Special Forces in 21st-century Afghanistan, strategy is the process by which political objectives are translated into military action - using the means at a nation's disposal to compel an enemy to bend to its political will. In this concise and rigorous survey, Professor Wilson introduces: Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War; Sun Tzu's famous The Art of War; Machiavelli's strategy for a republic with a citizen-army; Jomini, Clausewitz, and the Napoleonic revolution in warfare; the development of naval strategy and the rise of airpower; Mao Tse-tung, David Galula, and Roger Trinquier's reflections on insurgency and counterinsurgency and their influence on the U.S. Army's Field Manual 3-24; Just-war theory, from Thucydides' Melian Dialogue to Operation Iraqi Freedom; nuclear war, terrorism, and other strategic challenges for the 21st century. You'll come away from this course with new insight that will allow you to take an informed, active interest in political and military debates - which ultimately will determine the course of our nation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this course are those of the professor and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.
All Lectures:
1. Why Strategy Matters
2. Thucydides on Strategy
3. Thucydides as a Possession for All Time
4. Sun Tzu's The Art of War
5. Sun Tzu through Time
6. Machiavelli's The Art of War
7. Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy
8. The Napoleonic Revolution in War
9. Baron Jomini as a Strategist
10. Clausewitz's On War
11. Jomini and Clausewitz through the Ages
12. From Sail to Steam - The Sea-Power Revolution
13. Alfred Thayer Mahan
14. Sir Julian Corbett
15. Mahan, Corbett, and the Pacific War
16. Air Power in Theory and Practice
17. From Rolling Thunder to Instant Thunder
18. Nuclear Strategy
19. Mao Tse-tung in Theory and Practice
20. Classics of Counterinsurgency
21. Just-War Theory
22. Terrorism as Strategy
23. Strategies of Counterterrorism
24. From the Jaws of Defeat - Strategic Adaptation
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(18)
How the Medici Shaped the Renaissance
by William Landon
read by William Landon
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The remarkable Medici family, through a prodigious exercise of wealth, political ingenuity, and dynastic power, ruled the city-state of Florence for three centuries. Hugely controversial, their positioning within Florentine society and politics led them to play a key role in the world-changing phenomenon of the Renaissance.
In these 12 engrossing lessons, you'll study the extraordinary trajectory of the Medici from the late 14th century to 1737. You'll learn how the Medici came to dominate Florence and how they influenced politics, religion, and culture. See how they remained in power, and you'll study the political upheavals, treachery, assassinations, intrigue, and military actions that characterized the Medici's dramatic history. In charting the arc of the Medici dynasty and its far-reaching impact, you'll investigate subject matter such as:
• The Rise of the Medici: Trace the founding of the Medici family bank by Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici; observe how Cosimo de' Medici built on Giovanni's foundations to amass vast wealth and power.
• The Medici, the Humanities, and Art: Learn how the Medici played core roles in the preserving of classical texts and the commissioning of iconic works of art and architecture.
• Towering Personalities: Take the measure of many of the Medici family's outstanding members, from Lorenzo the Magnificent, a political genius of the highest order, to Catherine de' Medici, cultural influencer and queen of France.
• The Trials and Triumphs of Medici Rule: Follow the reversals through which the Medici were exiled from Florence and returned to power numerous times, ultimately becoming hereditary rulers.
William's multifaceted knowledge of the era and wide-ranging insights into the Medici bring the story alive in compelling detail. In How the Medici Shaped the Renaissance, you'll explore a richly intriguing historical saga that reveals a pivotal moment in Western civilization.
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(32)
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age
by Jeremy McInerney
read by Jeremy McInerney
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
This series of 24 lectures examines a crucial period in the history of the ancient world, the age ushered in by the extraordinary conquests of Alexander the Great. In all the annals of the ancient world, few stories are more gripping than those from this era. In the opening lectures, you'll explore the enigma of Alexander, son of a brilliant father, yet always at odds with the man whom he succeeded. You'll trace his early campaigns against the Persians and follow him to Egypt, where he was acclaimed as the son of god. You'll then look at his career after this and find in him a blend of greatness and madness as he strove to replace the Persian empire of the Achaemenid dynasty with a new, mixed ruling class of Macedonians and Persians. From there, you'll delve into the catastrophic period after Alexander's death in 323 B.C., which ushered in a period of catastrophic change as ambitious warlords carved up Alexander's realm into their own separate empires. You'll learn about each of the three kingdoms that resulted: Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Syria, and the Attalid Empire in Asia Minor. Just as important to these lectures are the in-depth discussions of the bounties of Hellenistic culture, which contributed landmark ideas in everything from philosophy (which became more academic), art and architecture (with its excessive, naked emotions), and religion (especially the growing popularity of cult movements). Taken all together, these lectures are an engrossing and riveting journey into ancient history-and the life and times of the man who left an indelible mark on everything that would come after.
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(30)
The Passions: Philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotions
The complete course contains all 24 lectures
by Robert C. Solomon
read by Robert C. Solomon
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Conventional wisdom suggests there is a sharp distinction between emotion and reason. Emotions are seen as inferior, disruptive, primitive, and even bestial forces. These 24 remarkable lectures suggest otherwise-that emotions have intelligence and provide personal strategies that are vitally important to our everyday lives of perceiving, evaluating, appraising, understanding, and acting in the world. Take a tour of Professor Solomon's more than three-decade-long intellectual struggle to reach an understanding of emotions, which he argues are, "the key to the meaning of life." A distinguished philosopher himself, Professor Solomon's lectures unfold as a rich dialogue with other philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Adam Smith, Nietzsche, William James, Freud, Heidegger, and Sartre. In your exploration, you'll address such questions as: how do we distinguish emotions from feelings, such as heartache? What is the meaning of our emotions, and how do they serve to enrich and guide our lives? Are there a determinable number of basic emotions that serve as building blocks for the range of emotions we experience? Is an emotion such as jealousy a genetic trait shared by all humans - or is it something learned? As you listen to these lectures, prepare to think: Think about your own emotions; think about what you observe in others; think about the enormous body of research and conjecture on this fascinating topic as Professor Solomon takes you on a challenging and stimulating journey. The more we puzzle over the nature of emotions, the deeper the mystery becomes. It is a mystery that is by no means solved, but one that repays in careful, philosophical analysis.
All Lectures:
1. Emotions as Engagements with the World
2. The Wrath of Achilles
3. It's Good to Be Afraid
4. Lessons of Love - Plato's Symposium
5. We Are Not Alone - Compassion and Empathy
6. Noble? or Deadly Sin? Pride and Shame
7. Nasty - Iago's Envy, Othello's Jealousy
8. Nastier - Resentment and Vengeance
9. A Death in the Family - The Logic of Grief
10. James and the Bear - Emotions and Feelings
11. Freud's Catharsis - the Hydraulic Model
12. Are Emotions "in" the Mind?
13. How Emotions Are Intelligent
14. Emotions as Judgments
15. Beyond Boohoo and Hooray
16. Emotions Are Rational
17. Emotions and Responsibility
18. Emotions in Ethics
19. Emotions and the Self
20. What Is Emotional Experience?
21. Emotions across Cultures - Universals
22. Emotions across Cultures - Differences
23. Laughter and Music
24. Happiness and Spirituality
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(22)
The African Experience: From "Lucy" to Mandela
The complete course contains all 36 lectures
by Kenneth P. Vickery
read by Kenneth P. Vickery
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The story of Africa is the oldest and most event-filled chronicle of human activity on the planet. And in these 36 lectures, you'll explore this great historical drama, tracing the story of the Sub-Saharan region of the continent from the earliest evidence of human habitation to the latest challenges facing African nations in the 21st century. By learning with these lectures, you'll finally be able to bust myths and correct potential misunderstandings about Africa. For example, in Africa, the word "tribe" is used in a neutral way to connote ethnic identity. Another example: Sub-Saharan Africa was not as isolated as is often suggested by references to the "lost" continent; in fact, an ancient Greek sailing guide from 2,000 years ago clearly shows that the East African coast was already connected commercially with areas to the north. The primary focus of these eye-opening lectures is Sub-Saharan Africa, the region separated from North Africa by the harsh climate of the Sahara Desert and traditionally the part of the continent that has been the most mysterious and most misunderstood by Westerners. But by traveling on this exciting learning experience (one imbued with a pervasive spirit of charm and adventure), you'll finally be able to strengthen your understanding of this beautiful, multifaceted region.
All Lectures:
1. Finding the "Lost Continent"
2. Africa's Many Natural Environments
3. A Virtual Tour of the Great Land
4. The Cradle of Humankind
5. Crops, Cattle, Iron - Taming a Continent
6. Kinship and Community - Societies Take Shape
7. Like Nothing Else - The Ancient Nile Valley
8. Soul and Spirit - Religion in Africa
9. Ethiopia - Outpost of Christianity
10. West Africa's Golden Age
11. The Swahili Commercial World
12. Great Zimbabwe and the Cities of the South
13. The Atlantic Slave Trade - The Scope
14. The Atlantic Slave Trade - The Impact
15. South Africa - The Dutch Cape Colony
16. South Africa - The Zulu Kingdom
17. South Africa - The Frontier and Unification
18. South Africa - Diamonds and Gold
19. Prelude to the Scramble for Africa
20. European Conquest and African Resistance
21. Colonial Africa - New Realities
22. Colonial Africa - Comparisons and Change
23. The Lion Awakens - The Rise of Nationalism
24. The Peaceful Paths to Independence
25. The Congo - Promise and Pain
26. Segregation to Apartheid in South Africa
27. The Armed Struggles for Independence
28. The First Taste of Freedom
29. The Taste Turns Sour
30. The World Turns Down - The "Permanent Crisis"
31. A New Dawn? The Democratic Revival
32. The South African Miracle
33. The Unthinkable - The Rwanda Genocide
34. The New Plague - HIV/AIDS in Africa
35. Zimbabwe - Background to Contemporary Crisis
36. Africa Found
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(24)
Books that Matter: The Analects of Confucius
The complete course contains all 24 lectures
by Robert Andre LaFleur
read by Robert Andre LaFleur
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Almost everyone is familiar with the name Confucius, but not as many are familiar with the impact his philosophy has made on the world at large—although, at heart, his teachings tackle many of the same philosophical issues as those of ancient Western philosophers such as Plato and Socrates. And like those seminal western philosophers Confucius's concepts of how life should be experienced, the dynamics between citizen and government, the structure of family, and his views on how to operate in an increasingly turbulent society remain relevant hundreds of years after his death. They formed the philosophical backbone of East Asian civilization as well as influencing the Western world in innumerable ways.
All Lectures:
1. The Hidden Teaching Dynamic of the Analects
2. The Analects: A Bird's-Eye View
3. The Man We Call Confucius
4. How the Analects Is Organized
5. The Provenance of the Analects
6. The Analects in Miniature
7. Learning to Read the Analects
8. Confucius's Students: Zai Wo and Yan Hui
9. Confucius's Students: Zilu and Zigong
10. Confucius on the Purpose of Learning
11. Filial Devotion in the Analects
12. Confucius on the Value of Remonstrance
13. The Exemplary Person in the Analects
14. Confucius's Ideal: Consummate Conduct
15. Confucius on Cultivating the Social Self
16. Ritual Conduct in the Analects
17. Confucius on Embodied Ritual and Music
18. The Analects on Effective Rule
19. Mencius: The Next Confucian Sage
20. Confucius's Daoist and Legalist Critics
21. State Confucianism and Buddhism
22. Sima Guang and the Confucian Revival
23. Neo-Confucianism and the Political Order
24. Confucius's Comeback in a Global World
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(31)
How the Crusades Changed History
by Philip Daileader
read by Philip Daileader
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Centuries have passed since the last crusader knight laid down his sword, but the Crusades continue to hold sway over our world. Because the Crusades have been so consequential to history, it's essential to understand the context, motivations, and preconditions of these dramatic military campaigns. In doing so, you'll not only get a fresher understanding of the Crusades, you'll discover surprising truths about why (and how) they were fought. More than just an enriching recount of events, this series of 24 lectures is an intellectually rewarding exploration of how the Crusades shaped the medieval world and laid the seeds for our own. Plunging you into the series of Crusades to the Holy Land and elsewhere - from the calling of the First Crusade in 1095 to the collapse of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, in 1291 - Professor Daileader's lectures are filled with eye-opening insights and gripping stories that will help you reach your own conclusions about just how important these centuries of warfare were to the story of human civilization.
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(69)
Medical School for Everyone: Emergency Medicine
The complete course contains all 24 lectures
by Roy Benaroch
read by Roy Benaroch
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
You're a doctor 11 hours into your shift, and you've just walked into a waiting area packed with patients. There's an elderly man complaining of chest pain, a teenage girl whose arms are swollen with bee stings, and an ambulance bringing in two unresponsive kids from a car crash. What do you do next?
In Dr. Benaroch's 24 lectures, experience for yourself the high-stakes drama and medical insights of life in an everyday emergency department: the most intense department in any hospital and home to the kind of split-second decision making, troubleshooting, and detective work that can make the difference between a patient's life and death.
Every lecture brings you up close and personal with the common and uncommon medical crises that emergency doctors encounter throughout their careers. As you shadow Dr. Benaroch on his shifts and sometimes even venture off-site, you'll encounter patients coming in with a variety of symptoms and complaints - some of which are easily diagnosed and treated and some of which are more life-threatening than they first appear. At the heart of each case are powerful examples of:
How emergency doctors think on their feet
How emergency doctors determine what's really wrong with a patient
How emergency doctors rule in - or out - certain diagnoses
How emergency doctors counsel patients and families on improving health
This is your opportunity to explore the adventure, mystery, and fascination of emergency medicine - and to discover why it's one of the most exciting and rewarding branches of medicine to work in.
All Lectures:
1. Triage in Emergency Medicine
2. Emergency Medicine Means Thinking Fast
3. Emergency Medicine Means Thinking Again
4. The Story Is the Diagnosis
5. Hidden Clues in the Emergency Department
6. Treat the Patient, Treat the Family
7. Chest Pain
8. Treat the Cause, Not the Symptom
9. Who Needs the Emergency Department?
10. Altered Mental Status
11. Simple Symptoms, Serious Illness
12. In an Emergency, Protect Yourself First
13. Treating Insect and Animal Bites
14. The Missing Piece in an Emergency Diagnosis
15. Healthy Paranoia in Emergency Medicine
16. Fever: Friend or Foe
17. Always Treat Pain
18. An Ounce of Prevention
19. The Big Picture in Emergency Medicine
20. Is Exercise Good for Your Health?
21. Stay Safe in the Emergency Department
22. Emergency Medicine for Travelers
23. Emergency Medicine Lessons from the Past
24. Lessons from the Emergency Department
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(15)
Becoming a Great Essayist
by Jennifer Cognard-Black
read by Jennifer Cognard-Black
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
If you have a clever anecdote, an interesting memory, a new way to explain how something works, or an opinion on a social or political issue, then you have an essay in you. Unlike a novel, history book, or scientific publication, essays provide you with the versatility to express all the various facets that make you you. The concise and direct nature of an essay means that you may tap into your sense of wit, share your individual point of view, persuade others to your perspective, and record a part of your memories for future generations in as many distinct essay forms as you wish. The essay is, above all else, one of the most profoundly personal outlets for writing.
Discover the keys to unlocking your potential in essay writing with Becoming a Great Essayist. These 24 illuminating lectures explore numerous genres or types of essays, challenge you with stimulating writing prompts, and provide insights into how to get to know yourself like never before so that you may write honest, compelling, and GREAT essays. And because essays are so flexible in their style and function, the skills you build writing great essays may be applied to almost all other forms of writing.
While the goal of this course is to provide you with fundamental abilities that will improve your essays, the skills you will learn also provide a foundation to develop any writing project you undertake. This is an unrivalled opportunity to advance your critical and creative thinking skills, enhance your ability to master a strong and persuasive style, and most importantly, allow you to get to know your own inner voice.
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(9)
Sensation, Perception, and the Aging Process
by Francis B. Colavita
read by Francis B. Colavita
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Why is it that we react to the world the way we do, not only in ways similar to other people, but in ways often dramatically different, as well, no matter which of our senses is involved? And how is it that the physically adventurous young person you remember being - whose greatest passion was riding the scariest roller coaster imaginable - somehow grew into an adult whose stomach begins to churn nervously at even the thought of such a ride? The answer, of course, is that each of us - whether a different person or a more recent model of ourselves - isn't reacting to the same world at all. For though the physical world we occupy may be identical, the reality we experience is very different. The truth is, our various sensory systems can be altered over time, their acuity changing in response to aging or injury, life experiences, evolving personalities, and other factors. And in this series of 24 fascinating lectures, an acclaimed teacher and psychologist gives you a bio-psychological perspective on both the way we humans navigate and react to the world around us and an understanding of the ways in which that process is ever-changing. Rich in science, potent examples, and anecdotes, the lectures explore subjects like how we see, hear, smell, taste, or touch; keep our balance, and understand exactly where we are in space. You'll learn about motor memory, the ways in which our bodies process pain, and even why our taste in food changes over time. Whether exploring the complex structures of the brain or inner ear, or using humorous personal stories to illustrate a point, Professor Colavita delivers a course that informs, entertains, and even prepares us for the changes that lie ahead.