Great Courses Audio
audiobook
(20)
Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome
by John R. Hale
read by John R. Hale
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Over the years, Classical archaeology has evolved from a pastime of collectors and antiquarians to a mature science. Today, the field is a multidisciplinary effort that involves not only traditional diggers, but also geologists, geographers, anthropologists, and linguists. These 36 lectures introduce you to this fascinating field of study. Professor Hale guides you through dozens of ancient sites with the skill of a born storyteller. The riveting narrative unfolds like a series of detective stories and provides a new perspective from which to view the world of the Greeks and Romans, resurrecting them in all their glory and affording us a better grasp of cultures that have greatly influenced our own. A series of exciting archaeological sites that provides you with a detailed idea of what Classical archaeology entails, as well as insights into the details of ancient Greek and Roman life. These case studies - involving both famous sites and discoveries unknown outside the field - include the city of Troy, the Athenian Agora, and the Cape Gelidonya Shipwreck. Through an analysis of these and other riveting sites, you get a superb sampling of Classical archaeology and learn how it combines ancient history, anthropology, ethnography, comparative religion, art history, engineering, historical linguistics, paleobotany, and other pursuits with a dash of Indiana Jones-style adventure. Mysteries abound in this course, and in the end, you'll view the world of the Greeks and Romans not as a sequence of historical events but as an immense living organism; a system in which society, culture, and the natural environment interact in dynamic, creative, and sometimes destructive ways.
audiobook
(6)
Modern Economic Issues
by Robert Whaples
read by Robert Whaples
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Gross domestic product. Health insurance. Soaring energy prices. Major economic issues dominate today's news, but how do these issues impact the average citizen? This primer in 21st-century economics for the non-economist surveys today's most urgent economic issues that affect both global events and our everyday lives. You'll learn what economics has to say about making the decisions, big or small, that affect our daily lives: What factors come into play when you're deciding whether to buy this car or that one or even commute by bus? Mow the lawn or take a nap? Grill a burger with a bubbling slice of cheese or eat a simple salad? And you'll see how this same kind of analysis applies to the major issues of public policy, where the needs and wants of a nation and its people, whether financial security, safety from terrorism, or even an available kidney for someone desperately waiting on a transplant list, involve tradeoffs, which are sometimes obvious and sometimes not.
Whether dealing with the traditional sorts of topics most of us are used to seeing in an economics course, Social Security, inflation, unemployment, immigration, taxation, and the like, or issues perhaps surprising, such as gambling, major sports franchises, and even overeating, these 36 lectures offer a steady flow of insights about public policy and the American economy. By showing the full range of economic factors at work, this course can help you become an even more insightful judge of policy recommendations and of the leaders and policymakers who advocate them. And you may well learn to supplement your “own” analyses as you make the real-life economic choices each of us face every day, becoming an even wiser consumer and manager of your “own” economic future.
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(19)
Religions of the Axial Age: An Approach to the World's Religions
by Mark W. Muesse
read by Mark W. Muesse
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
These 24 extraordinary lectures offer you the rare opportunity to relate your own spiritual questions to a variety of ancient quests for meaning and transcendence. Professor Muesse looks at the historical conditions in which the world religions arose and explores how they answered shared metaphysical and human dilemmas. The Axial Age - a pivotal era between 800 and 200 B.C.E. - saw the rise of many of the world's religions in Iran, South Asia, and China. On this stirring journey, you'll learn about the rise of Zoroastrianism in Persia (now Iran); Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism on the Indian subcontinent; and Confucianism and Daoism in China. You'll also see how these religions compare, contrast, and contribute to contemporary Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Through sacred texts, modern scholarship, and thoughts arising from his own personal experiences, Professor Muesse reveals what it meant to be a conscious, morally responsible individual in the Axial Age. You'll enjoy a ringside seat as each founding sage wrestles with moral accountability, the nature of self and ultimate reality, good versus evil, suffering and transcendence - all topics that still puzzle us today.
audiobook
(18)
Great World Religions: Christianity
by Luke Timothy Johnson
read by Luke Timothy Johnson
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
These 12 lectures are an engaging and comprehensive introduction to one of the world's greatest faiths. By concentrating on the basics that every well-educated individual should know, Professor Johnson's lectures provide you with a clear survey of the most important elements of this religious tradition-and a framework for further study. In this lecture series, you'll consider fundamental issues including Christianity's birth and expansion across the Mediterranean world, the development of its doctrine, its transformation after Christianity became the imperial religion of Rome, its many and deep connections to Western culture, and the tensions within Christianity today. Professor Johnson's synthetic approach provides first an overview of the Christian story, how it understands history from creation to new creation - and the relation of scripture to that history, and the Christian creed: what Christians believe about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the church. He also explains Christian practice as expressed by the structure of the community and its sacraments, by the struggles of Christians to find a coherent and consistent moral teaching, and by various manifestations of Christianity's more radical edge in martyrs, missionaries, and mystics. By the end of this engaging and accessible series, you'll finally have a true grasp of Christianity's distinctive character, the major turning points in its history, it’s most important shared beliefs and practices, and, above all, its continuing appeal to many of the world's peoples.
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(3)
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.
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(20)
Great Masters: Tchaikovsky - His Life and Music
by Robert Greenberg
read by Robert Greenberg
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Although we often think of an artist's work as a window into their own inner world, that is not always the case. In the life of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, however, we can see perhaps the closest link to be found anywhere between a creative product and the shifting moods of a turbulent soul, which found its outlet through the glorious music created by the great Russian composer. To know his music, you must know the man, and this fast-moving series of eight lectures from an award-winning composer and accomplished teacher offers an insightful look into both the circumstances of Tchaikovsky's life and the impact that life had on his music. You'll learn about his fear of conducting, his disastrous marriage and subsequent suicide attempt, his depression, and the constant anxiety that his closeted homosexuality would become public-a fear that proved prophetic and led to a second, and successful, attempt to take his own life. Torn by the conflicts between his own Romantic inclination for expression and the requirements of Classical structure - he was the first full-time, formally trained, professional composer in Russian history - Tchaikovsky's music is a delicate balancing act. Heart versus head, emotion versus reason, release versus control, the expressiveness demanded of his Russian soul and the strictures of Classical technique - all of these conflicts find their way into his music, and give it its extraordinary emotional power.
audiobook
(27)
World War II
Up Close and Personal
by Keith Huxen
read by Keith Huxen
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
World War II was one of the defining moments in modern history, a global conflagration that transformed the world through battles, shifting alliances, and horrors unlike anything in recorded history. The story is often told as a series of great campaigns by famous generals, dramatic turning points, and cataclysmic combat. But what about the millions of ordinary people-the citizens and soldiers whose names none of us know but whose impact rippled through every aspect of the war?
From the icy front lines of Soviet Russia to the bombing campaigns against Britain to the American submarines lurking beneath the choppy waters of the Pacific, step into the shoes of remarkable everyday men and women in World War II: Up Close and Personal. In 24 engrossing lessons, Dr. Keith Huxen, a historian and project director at The Henry M. Jackson Foundation, takes you into the story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things-bringing history to life through the flesh and blood of battles, the diplomatic skirmishes, or beleaguered civilians eking out their next meal.
From the Nazi's propaganda machine to recruit German youth and the shocking Japanese invasion of China, to the bloody Battle of the Bulge and the dropping of the atomic bombs, Keith traces the course of the war to give you a sense of its global scope, while also zooming in through the eyes of soldiers, sailors, pilots, war correspondents, and citizens struggling to survive a war-torn world. With its focus on the "felt life" of the war, this course is an absolute must-have for anyone interested in the story of our modern world.
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(20)
The Americas in the Revolutionary Era
by Marshall C. Eakin
read by Marshall C. Eakin
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Go on an in-depth, 24-lecture exploration of important (and often overlooked) questions about the tumultuous political history of the Americas. Professor Eakin explains the cultural, economic, and political pressures each of these new American nations faced in achieving independence. In addition, he examines exactly why each revolution progressed, and succeeded or failed, as it did. Beginning with the revolution in our own 13 colonies, these lectures examine the uprisings and invasions that created the independent nation of Haiti in 1804; the wars for independence in Spanish South America; the bloody uprisings that led to Mexican independence; and the relatively bloodless revolt in Brazil. You'll also consider "counterexamples" of nations that failed to become independent or followed unusual patterns, such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the British West Indies. You'll also meet the "other" founding fathers of the Americas, including Toussaint L'Ouverture, José de San Martín, Bernardo O'Higgins, and Agustín de Iturbide. Throughout these lectures, Professor Eakin brings his perspective down to ground level, spanning oceans and mountain ranges to translate those forces into dramatic events, including: a riveting portrait of life among the slaves of what was then known as Saint Domingue (later Haiti); a brilliant description of the chaotic evacuation of the Portuguese royal family as they fled to Brazil only an hour ahead of Napoleon's troops; and the bold exploits of Simón Bolívar, including his remarkable and dramatic march from the tropics of eastern Venezuela through the 13,000-foot passes of the Andes to defeat the Spanish at Boyacá and liberate Colombia.
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(58)
Life Lessons from the Great Books
by J. Rufus Fears
read by J. Rufus Fears
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Study more than three dozen works that span the timelines of Western history, from ancient Greece and Rome to the modern age. Whether written 2,000, 200, or 20 years ago, the enduring works of literature still speak to us and place our unique experiences into a larger perspective, offering invaluable lessons for every important moment in life. Every Great Book you explore over these 36 insightful lectures-from the Odyssey and the Gospel of John to Hamlet and Animal Farm - is a unique expression of the human spirit and a fountain of advice, from how to conduct yourself in times of trouble to how to better appreciate the simple moments in your life. You'll discover six broad themes that run through history's most compelling stories: the unconquerable human spirit, youth and old age, romance and love, adventure and courage, laughter and irony, and patriotism. In exploring these themes within the context of these Great Books, you learn new ideas about both the works themselves and the broad scope of the human condition. If you haven't read these Great Books before, the warmth of Professor Fears's storytelling and his insightful approach to literature will have you heading to the library to learn more. And if you've already read these works, you'll discover new themes and ideas that will help you get more out of them. Regardless of your previous familiarity with these works, you'll come to understand why these masterpieces remain eternal testaments to the variety of human experience and the powerful ways in which literature can guide and inspire us.
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(19)
Natural Law and Human Nature
by Joseph Koterski
read by Joseph Koterski
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Natural law is the idea that there is an objective moral order, grounded in essential humanity, that holds universal and permanent implications for the ways we should conduct ourselves as free and responsible human beings. These 24 in-depth lectures consider the arguments for natural law, the serious objections that have been raised against it, and the ways, despite all overt criticisms, it remains a vital and even pervasive force in political, moral, and social life today, even while traveling under another name. Shaping Father Koterski's historical treatment is an appreciation of just how much thought, effort, and brilliance went into formulating and defending the crucial insights of natural law theory. Among other things, you'll look at: the virtual dialogue that took place between the Ionian scientists, the Sophists, and their great interlocutors, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; Thomas Aquainas's Summa Theologica, which sets out the account of natural law as that type of law through which humans take part according to their nature as free, intelligent, and responsible beings; the ways, by the American Founders' design, natural law thinking is poured into the foundations of our republican experiment in ordered liberty and constitutional democracy; and the criticisms leveled against natural law by Descartes, Rousseau, and Kant. Finally, Father Koterski asks whether modern evolutionary biology can claim to have discovered truths about human nature that render natural law theory unintelligible, whether the findings of anthropological research undercut natural law, and whether accepting the idea of natural law means accepting the existence of God and vice versa.
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(12)
Peoples and Cultures of the World
by Edward Fischer
read by Edward Fischer
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
As the "science of humanity," anthropology can help us understand virtually everything about ourselves, from our political and economic systems, to why we get married, to how we decide to buy a particular bottle of wine. In this 24-lecture series, Professor Edward Fischer of Vanderbilt University provides an extraordinary glimpse into the world's varied human societies-including our own.
audiobook
(26)
St. Augustine's Confessions
by Various Authors
read by Various Readers
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
How should parents raise children, and how should schools educate children? Why are we attracted to things that are forbidden? What is time? How can we understand God, or the nature of evil? What is true friendship? To answer these questions, Professors Cook and Herzman look to the Confessions of St. Augustine of Hippo. Over the course of 24 fascinating lectures, you'll study this great book's staggering influence on Christianity and Western civilization, seeing how it provided a source of inspiration for such noted thinkers and writers as Petrarch, Dante, and Martin Luther. Even though the Confessions is more than 1,500 years old, it still speaks to us and has the capacity to change our lives. The professors trace the narrative of Augustine's early life and the key events that led to his Christian conversion at age 31. In a succession of stories that are as powerful as any in world literature, Augustine seeks to understand the same issues in his life that many people try to understand in theirs, arriving at profound conclusions that offer stunning insight into our psychology and morality and challenge us to become wiser and better people. This course is a superb springboard and companion guide to your reading and rereading of one of history's singular books: one that will challenge and stimulate your mind and provide a framework through which to find true understanding, value, and meaning in your life.
audiobook
(12)
The US Constitution through History
by Eric Berger
read by Eric Berger
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
"When a group of former colonial rebels met at the Constitutional Convention, they knew they wanted to fix their broken government without recreating the English tyranny that had haunted them for decades. But were they prepared to create a brand-new system of government, the likes of which the world had never seen?
The US Constitution is one of the most important documents in world history. Clocking in at a little longer than a term paper, this document has inspired millions of pages of commentary, discussion, debate, and vigorous argument.
The ideas on which the United States is founded are rich and diverse—and sometimes in tension with one another. Since our early history, Americans have sought to clarify those ideas and resolve those tensions through the Constitution, as well as through the intricate body of law, traditions, and norms that have come to comprise our constitutional heritage.
The history of the Constitution is, therefore, a history of ideas that define our country and our national identity—and it's a fascinating and revealing story. The US Constitution through History gives you the opportunity to explore the story of this powerful document, as well as the way our interpretation of it has evolved over 230 years.
In these 24 riveting lectures, Professor Eric Berger of the University of Nebraska takes you on a journey through America's constitutional history. Starting inside the minds of the Framers to unpack the ideas that led to the break from England, Professor Berger then traces the evolution of those ideas through the schisms of the 19th century, the transformations of the 20th century, and into our present era.
Along the way, you'll explore such important historical moments as:
• The Constitutional Convention
• The ratification process among the states
• The debates over slavery
• The post-Civil War amendments
• The New Deal
• The movement for civil rights
For more than two centuries, the Constitution has played a defining role in American politics and culture. To understand the United States today, we must understand how it has shaped and been shaped by this founding document that Americans have so long revered. The US Constitution through History is a comprehensive survey of the document that for over 200 years has defined the rules of American government.
Delve into Our Revolutionary Beginnings
Where did the US Constitution come from? How did the Framers come up with the idea of ""we the people"" and the notion that citizens have rights that need to be protected from government? And when the founders declared that all men were created equal, how did they reconcile those words with the institution of slavery? And how has the Constitution shaped American history through the generations?
Professor Berger opens this course with a quick introduction to England's constitutional monarchy, which had been stressed by revolution during the 16th century. From the Magna Carta to John Locke, you'll examine some of the philosophical underpinnings that already existed in English government when the American rebels decided it was time to form a new government.
After facing onerous taxes and unfair treatment from King George III and the British Parliament, the American colonists had enough. Professor Berger takes you into the discussions and debates of the Constitutional Convention, introducing you to such figures as:
• Benjamin Franklin
• Thomas Jefferson
• James Madison
• Alexander Hamilton
• George Washington
You'll learn how they drafted first an Articles of Confederation, which proved inadequate to deal with the many crises facing the young nation.
Explore a Transforming Nation
The relationship between the federal and state governments is a key theme in this course.
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(39)
Herodotus: The Father of History
by Elizabeth Vandiver
read by Elizabeth Vandiver
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Witness the "works and wonders" of the ancient world through the eyes of its first great historian in this sparkling series of 24 lectures from a much-honored teacher and classical scholar. Herodotus (c. 484-420 B.C.E.) was a Greek who was born in what is now the modern Turkish resort town of Bodrum and who died, so tradition says, in the south of Italy. In between, his tirelessly inquiring mind took him from one corner of the known world to another. And he reported on or visited all of its continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa) to write about the vast array of subjects that captured his interest. These included the "great works" of the ancient land of Egypt; the remarkable kings who built the vast Persian Empire; and the strange customs and unlikely origins of the Scythians, a warlike, mounted people who lived beyond the Danube and whose repulse of Darius and the Persians in 513 B.C.E. made them the first Europeans to throw back an eastern invasion. The book that emerged from these "inquiries" - The Histories - is Herodotus's only known work, yet it still made Herodotus one of the rare, landmark figures in the story of thought. In these lectures, Professor Vandiver introduces you to Herodotus and The Histories, tracing the influences he assimilated and the new methods he used in crafting this monumental work. You learn how that work looked at the past in new and fresh ways, seeing it not as a distant recess shrouded in legend and rumor, but as something that lies close at hand; as something that immediately affects the here and now, and as a subject whose great personalities and patterns of events can be studied in order to make the reasons behind them as clear as possible.
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(9)
Introduction to the Study of Religion
by Charles B. Jones
read by Charles B. Jones
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The religious experience is an extraordinarily powerful force that can define and shape the communities it creates. Over the course of 24 lectures, Professor Jones takes a vibrant first look at the discipline known as religious studies and shows how other fields - sociology, psychology, anthropology, and phenomenology - have tried to explain the complex relationship between individuals, cultures, and faith. This relationship is as old as the first human quest for answers to fundamental questions of life, death, and what may lie beyond. Here you'll trace the idea of studying religion itself, drawing not only on the challenging and provocative collection of theories from the many disciplines that have influenced the development of religious studies, but also on revealing anecdotes and illuminating case studies that make this course a surprising delight. You'll explore the way "functional" anthropologists such as Malinowski and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown helped pull their discipline out of the drawing room and into the field to study a given culture. You'll also study Immanuel Kant's phenomenology, his theory that we can never make actual contact with the external world but can know it only from the internal images our minds construct from the raw data pulled in by our senses. By examining belief and what it means - for believers and nonbelievers alike - you'll come away with a solid grasp of the major thinkers and ideas that have contributed to this fascinating field of study, including their strengths and weaknesses, as well as insights into many aspects of religious life, belief, and practices - insights that may well have applications in your own life, whether or not you adhere to a religious faith.
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(13)
Making History: How Great Historians Interpret the Past
by Allen C. Guelzo
read by Allen C. Guelzo
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
How do historians create their histories? What role do the historian's viewpoint and method play in what we accept as truth? Answer these and other questions as you go inside the minds of our greatest historians and explore the idea of written history as it has shaped humanity's story over 2,000 years. These 24 intriguing lectures introduce you to the seminal thinking of historians such as: Herodotus, considered by many the first history writer, who replaced the poetic imagination of Homer with istorieis, or inquiry; Livy, the author of a 142-volume didactic history of Rome that spanned three continents and seven centuries; David Hume, who framed English history with an evolutionary vision of economic, political, and intellectual freedom; and Edward Gibbon, whose monumental Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire forged a complex picture of epic collapse and decay. From the dramatic and military exploits of Xenophon and Thucydides in ancient Greece to Macaulay's dynamic career in the 19th century, from the bloody era of Christian Reformation to the revolutions of the Enlightenment, Professor Guelzo takes you into the trenches with great minds throughout history. And beneath the surface of written history, you'll examine the processes that create accepted views of historical events, and you'll uncover the ways in which understanding how history is written is crucial to understanding historical events themselves. The journey rewards you with an unforgettable insight into our human heritage and the chance to look with discerning eyes at human events in their deeper meanings.
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(17)
Science and Religion
by Lawrence M. Principe
read by Lawrence M. Principe
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
What is the nature of the relationship between science and religion? When do they conflict? And how do they influence each other in the pursuit of knowledge and truth? While conventional wisdom says that science and theology must perpetually clash, they have actually been partners in an age-old adventure. These 12 engaging lectures cover both the historical sweep and philosophical flashpoints of this epic interaction. You'll encounter a surprisingly cooperative dynamic in which theologians and natural scientists - from St. Augustine to Sir Isaac Newton to contemporary thinkers - share methods, ideas, aspirations, and a tradition of disputational dialogue. Moving from the early centuries of the Christian era and the Middle Ages to our own day, Professor Principe examines St. Augustine's profound ideas about reason and faith, and he follows St. Thomas Aquinas's exploration of miracles - the need to identify them is one example of how scientific and theological inquiry overlap. You'll meet a 19th-century writer whose anti-Catholic diatribe spread myths that persist today, and you'll learn about the courage (and stubbornness) of Galileo, the unexpected rationality of his accusers, the inspiration of Darwin's natural selection, and the religious implications of Lemaître's big bang theory. The solution to modern conflicts is the study of history. Such study will equip you to join that partnership with ideas and a clear, historical perspective on the science/religion relationship. These tools will help you participate more effectively in a dialogue that is as thought-provoking today as it was hundreds of years ago.
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(25)
Europe and Western Civilization in the Modern Age
by Thomas Childers
read by Thomas Childers
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Only three lifetimes ago, Europe was a farming society ruled by families of monarchs. But with two seismic tremors-capitalism and democracy-Europe's economic and royal foundations were shattered forever and modern European history began. In this series of 48 fascinating lectures, Professor Childers makes the history of Europe from the 1750s to the present-events both horrible and magnificent-as immediate as today's headlines, employing the historian's craft and a storyteller's skill to find the causes of what otherwise could seem to be the march of folly. The result is an intellectually exhilarating journey through a period of three lifetimes such as the world had never experienced. You'll see how in the span of just one life, England became an industrial, urban culture; tens of thousands were guillotined in France; Napoleon's Empire - the greatest since Rome-rose and fell; and revolution swept the capitals of Europe; how in the span of just one more, the Russian serfs were freed; Italy and Germany were created from a loose collection of city-states; European powers divided and conquered Africa; Darwin, Marx, Freud, and Einstein published world-shaking ideas; and millions died in a Great War; and how in that third lifetime, the world was plunged into economic depression, global war, and genocide; Europe abandoned its African colonies; the Soviet Union rose and fell; Fascism and Communism failed as democracy became the dominant form of government; and the same European powers that had bled each other for hundreds of years created a Common Market and unified currency.
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(17)
The Brain-Based Guide to Communicating Better
by Allison Friederichs
read by Allison Friederichs
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
It likely comes as no surprise that, as adults, we learn differently than we did when we were children. Our brains are full of experiences and information we have acquired over time, and these resources are exactly what we apply to any new learning event, whether it's a new job or hobby, or simply a novel experience or conversation we need to navigate. And the nature of how we learn shapes the way we communicate-both how we give and how we receive information in our everyday lives.
The field of neuroandragogy is the study of how adults learn and what role the brain plays in that process. By digging into this unique field and its discoveries, you can better understand how your own mind works and develop strategies based on this knowledge to communicate successfully in various situations and environments. As you will see, communicating with others is not just about clarity. Useful and rewarding communication is also about understanding how to grab someone's attention and how to ensure that the information that you share can be retained and used. Knowing how the adult mind works can help you to optimize your approach in getting the results you want from your communications.
In The Brain-Based Guide to Communicating Better, Professor Allison Friederichs will walk you through six lessons that can help you better know your own mind, and thus understand and transform your own methods of communication. You will learn how your brain acquires, processes, and retains information. You can then take that knowledge and apply it whenever you need to convey something to others, with the best possible results. While you may not have any control over how other people communicate, developing your own methods of connection and conversation can have a positive impact on both your personal and professional life. Along the way, Professor Friederichs encourages you to keep a communication journal that can help you learn and process the invaluable information she shares. Keeping a journal allows you to have a continual resource for both her lessons and your own observations.
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(57)
Law School for Everyone: Constitutional Law
by Eric Berger
read by Eric Berger
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Americans wage many of today's fiercest policy debates and culture wars as battles over constitutional meaning. It's because constitutional law is so fundamental to our democracy that law schools across the country teach the subject. It's the area of law that determines what federal and state governments are permitted to do, and what rights you have as an individual citizen of the United States.
In these 12 lectures, you'll get the same accessible, well-rounded introduction to constitutional law as a typical law student-but with the added benefit of noted constitutional scholar Eric Berger's brilliant insights. Taking you through all three branches of the federal government, Professor Berger uses some of the most important legal cases in the United States to probe the open-ended nature of the Constitution's language and illustrate how legal reasoning has defined the power relationships that the Constitution governs.
You'll examine pivotal Supreme Court cases to learn how interpreting the Constitution has radically affected American society. You'll consider the Supreme Court's role in deciding-and sometimes avoiding-questions of constitutionality. And you'll investigate how changes in public opinion can influence how the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution.
While the open-ended nature of the Constitution's language makes constitutional law often uncertain, these lectures offer you a better understanding of its many nuances, as well as its profound importance for the future of the United States.
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(14)
Practical Philosophy: The Greco-Roman Moralists
by Luke Timothy Johnson
read by Luke Timothy Johnson
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
It's easy to forget that philosophy means "love of wisdom," not "love of thinking." In addition to the philosophy that tells you how to think well, the field also provides guidance on how to live well, solid advice on how to be a good father or friend, or how to grow old gracefully or to know what true happiness is.
Greek and Roman thinkers such as Marcus Tullius Cicero, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Dio Chrysostom, and Plutarch of Chaeronea devoted their lives, not to metaphysics and epistemology but to the appreciation and practice of morality and virtue, values, and character.
These 24 inspiring lectures introduce you to the sages who, as a group, represent the "missing page" of the history of philosophy. Although their names are sometimes familiar to us, as in the case of Cicero and Plutarch, their philosophy is not. Studying these thinkers offers some surprising ways to think about philosophy.
For example, they believed the heart of philosophy is the question of how to live well as a human being. It is how you act, not what you think, that is most important. Virtue and morality are the keys to living a good life. And philosophers should practice what they preach, although, as you'll discover, the Greco-Roman moral philosophers certainly had flaws.
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(16)
War in the Modern World
by David R. Stone
read by David R. Stone
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
How were wars fought after 1945, and who fought them? Why did the United States invade Afghanistan, lose the war in Vietnam, and support authoritarian governments in South America? How do insurgent groups win wars against powerful, well-financed nation-states? What does the "McDonald's theory" have to do with peacekeeping? Why did the British, French, and Soviet Union empires collapse after World War II? How have new weapons and technologies reconfigured the rules of the battlefield? What would a war look like between the United States and Russia or China? And can "mutually assured destruction" save us from a third world war?
Explore these questions and more in War in the Modern World, a 24-episode course on war and warfare since 1945. Guided by military history and strategy expert David R. Stone, of the US Naval War College, learn about the causes and consequences of violent conflicts starting with the Greek Civil War. Dive into the postwar geopolitical realities that have transformed military strategy. Understand what insurgency and counterinsurgency mean. Survey the history of major conflicts across the world as well as their major players. Examine weapons from guided missiles to drones that have transformed warfare in the last 70 plus years. Investigate why highly localized civil and insurgent conflicts became the terrains on which great powers wage war and emerge with a keener ability to analyze and contextualize conflicts across the world.
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(9)
12 Revolutionary Discoveries That Could Change Everything
by Laura Helmuth
read by Laura Helmuth
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Dig into some of the most fascinating and important scientific advancements in recent years. Unexpected, consequential, and often counterintuitive, 12 Revolutionary Discoveries That Could Change Everything offers an inspiring introduction to science in the 21st century.
audiobook
(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.
audiobook
(31)
How Winston Churchill Changed the World
by Michael Shelden
read by Michael Shelden
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Great Britain's most celebrated statesman, Winston Churchill, didn't just live history-he made it. In these 24 lectures that unfurl like a great story, enjoy a thorough, multifaceted exploration of Churchill's life, accomplishments, complexities, and legacies.
Guiding you chronologically through the life and times of this master statesman, Professor Shelden takes you from the dawn of Churchill's political career to his final years in a much-changed geopolitical landscape. You'll examine Churchill's beginnings as a young liberal statesman, his rise to the Admiralty and his relentless push for an imposing naval force, his fight against the Nazis, his equally dramatic postwar career suspended between two different cold wars (against the Soviets and Britain's Labour party), and more.
You'll also get fascinating insights into Churchill's iconic public speeches, his philosophies of freedom and history, and his early realizations of the dangers of both Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. But these lectures never shy away from examining how Churchill's preference for the backward glance of history occasionally distorted his view of the future, leading to missteps and disasters, including his failure to understand the rise of independence movements in the British colonies and his controversial World War II bombing campaigns in German cities like Dresden.
Poet, historian, statesman, soldier, prime minister, husband-Churchill played many roles throughout his life. And these lectures bring them all together to create a fascinating, multilayered biography.
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(26)
Great Masters: Shostakovich - His Life and Music
by Robert Greenberg
read by Robert Greenberg
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Dmitri Shostakovich is without a doubt one of the central composers of the 20th century. His symphonies and string quartets are mainstays of the repertoire. But Shostakovich is also a figure whose story raises challenging and exciting issues that go far beyond music: they touch on questions of conscience, the moral role of the artist, the plight of humanity in the face of total war and mass oppression, and the inner life of history's bloodiest century. And though he was not without flaws, he was a faithful witness to the survival of the human spirit under totalitarianism. And now you can discover the extraordinary life, times, and music of Shostakovich in a probing series of eight lectures from an acclaimed conductor, teacher, and music historian. Drawing on both the flood of declassified documents from the Soviet Union that began in 1991 and Shostakovich's own extraordinarily frank posthumous reminiscences, Professor Greenberg shows how Shostakovich, who, in the words of a friend, "did not want to rot in a prison or a graveyard" was still unwilling to become a docile instrument of the Soviet regime. You'll learn how what he would not say publicly in words, he instead said through his music - messages from a buried life of his experiences during the terror of Stalin, the Nazi destruction of his country, postwar reconstruction, and the arms race. In work after work, often composed under crushing difficulty and anxiety, you'll hear how he used a brilliant arsenal of ironic conceits, musical quotes from un-Soviet sources such as American jazz or Jewish klezmer tunes, and other techniques to assert the integrity of his art in the face of totalitarian oppression, and to pay, as he said, "homage to the dead."
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(18)
10 Great What-Ifs of American History
by Adam Jortner
read by Adam Jortner
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
10 Great What-Ifs of American History offers you the chance to ponder some of the most captivating possibilities in the story of our nation. Over 10 eye-opening lectures, Professor Adam Jortner of Auburn University walks you through some of the most astonishing chance events in American history, from the signing of the Constitution to the defeat of the Soviets in the race to the moon.
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(12)
The Great Revolutions of Modern History
by Lynne Ann Hartnett
read by Lynne Ann Hartnett
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The great revolutions of the past 300 years have profoundly shaped the social, cultural, political, and military landscape of the 21st century. These epic changes tore down established orders and built new ones in their place. What drives individuals and groups to embrace revolution? At what point does a society decide to revolt? Is there such a thing as a peaceful revolution? Why have some revolutions failed while others changed the world?
Delve into these questions and more in The Great Revolutions of Modern History. Taught by Professor Lynne Ann Hartnett of Villanova University, these 24 eye-opening lessons will give you new insights into the forces that have shaped our political and cultural world. You will travel back in time and around the world to examine some of history's most momentous and influential political transformations. Starting with the motivations and ramifications of the American Revolution and the French Revolution, covering world-changing movements in China, Mexico, India, Haiti, Africa, Russia, and more, Professor Hartnett surveys the shifting tides that inspired each of these revolutions.
The fascinating thing about this course is that no matter how many systems are overthrown or how fraught a particular moment can be, a certain aspect of humanity remains constant. People want freedom, opportunity, justice, and they are willing to fight for these values, even if it costs them their lives. The Great Revolutions of Modern History is a masterful presentation of the human spirit in search of a better way of life.
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(17)
Origins of Life
by Robert Hazen
read by Robert Hazen
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Four billion years ago, the infant Earth was a seething cauldron of erupting volcanoes, raining meteors, and hot noxious gases, totally devoid of life. But a relatively short time later - only 100 million to 200 million years - the planet was teeming with primitive organisms. What happened? Now you can find out - in a series of 24 vibrant lectures from a leader of the NASA - supported team studying the origins of life in the universe and also one of the nation's foremost science educators. The lectures take you from path-breaking experiments in the 19th century that proved the molecules of life to be no different from other chemicals, to our increasingly sophisticated modern understanding of just how the chemistry of life works, to the near certainty that the 21st century will see spectacular and unpredictable developments in our understanding of how life began. For all its familiarity, life is an elusive concept that is hard to define, much less explain. These lectures show how scientists are systematically building a picture of the process by which those chemical reactions on the early Earth eventually led to the first appearance of the DNA-protein world that remains the fundamental basis of all life today. And you'll join them as they probe for evidence of life beyond our planet. Crammed with fascinating experiments, surprising results, heated debates, blind alleys, and promising leads, the investigation of life's origins is a mystery story in the truest sense - one in which the clues are slowly adding up but the solution is not yet in hand.
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(24)
Language and the Mind
by Spencer D. Kelly
read by Spencer D. Kelly
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
What is our species' greatest invention? Medicine, computers, space travel? Not even close. The innovation that underlies each of our past achievements and those we still aspire to is language. Language is the ultimate invention of Homo sapiens-one that has allowed us to change the physical and social world around us in every conceivable way, and an invention that has fundamentally changed us, as well. Research has shown that whether we're sighted or blind, hearing or deaf, one or one hundred years old, communication through language is a fundamental part of what it means to be human.
In 24 fascinating lectures, Dr. Spencer Kelly, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Colgate University, takes us on a fascinating journey into so many aspects of life we take for granted every day: our ability to remember the past and imagine a future, our use of hand gestures and facial expressions in communication, our capacity for storytelling, and so much more. You will explore fascinating questions, such as the origin of the human mind, what makes our communication so much different than other animals, whether or not language itself influences thought, and how babies learn their native language without direct teaching. You will follow along, finding yourself intrigued, surprised, and enthralled by it all because ... you possess the power of language.
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(12)
Existentialism and the Authentic Life
by Skye Cleary
read by Skye Cleary
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
In the 24 fascinating lectures of Existentialism and the Authentic Life, Professor Skye C. Cleary will lead you through the writings of many existentialists to show how they addressed the biggest of all questions.
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(27)
Great Masters: Beethoven - His Life and Music
by Robert Greenberg
read by Robert Greenberg
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Have you ever wondered how the lives of great composers - especially when set against the social, political, and cultural context of their world - influenced their music? After listening to this perceptive series of eight lectures on the life and music of Ludwig van Beethoven, you will likely find that you hear his work in an entirely different way, with your insight informed by new knowledge of how Beethoven was able to create masterpieces from the crises of his life. You'll learn about the years of progressive hearing loss - ultimately to produce total deafness - and the understandable agony and rage such a fate would bring upon a composer. About his deep depression over the end of his relationship with the woman he calls his Immortal Beloved. About his pathological hatred of authority, his persecution complex, even delusional behaviors. But you'll also learn how each of these crises, and many others, served to drive Beethoven inward, to reinvent himself and redeem his suffering through art, creating disruptive works of profound passion and beauty that reinvented the nature of musical expression in the Western world.
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(3)
How Railways Transformed the World
by Patrick Allitt
read by Patrick Allitt
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Railways radically changed the way we experience the world. In this course, you'll explore the story and impact of railways, as you track evolving rail technology; learn how railways galvanized industry, commerce, and tourism; note the roles of railroads in colonial empires and major wars; learn where you can enjoy the best of rail travel today; examine railways' impact on art; and learn about future rail systems.
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(28)
Mr. Lincoln: The Life of Abraham Lincoln
by Allen C. Guelzo
read by Allen C. Guelzo
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Five days after Abraham Lincoln was buried in Springfield, Illinois, John Locke Scripps, who had convinced Lincoln to write his first campaign autobiography, asserted that the 16th president had become, "the Great American Man - the grand central figure in American (perhaps the World's) History." Historians still find it hard to quibble with Scripps's opinion. Lincoln was the central figure in the nation's greatest crisis, the Civil War. His achievements in office make as good a case as any that he was the greatest president in U.S. history. What made Lincoln great? What was it about him that struck those who knew him? This fast-moving series of 12 lectures explores those questions with the help of one of our most distinguished Lincoln scholars and award-winning author. The lectures take you through Lincoln's life, from his forebears' arrival in America to an evaluation of his legacy. And you'll come to know the man through the eyes of those who knew, lived with, and worked with him. In presenting Lincoln, Professor Guelzo explores three themes: What ideas were at the core of his understanding of American politics? Why did he oppose slavery, and what propelled him, in the 1850s, into the open opposition to slavery that led to his election to the presidency in 1860? What gifts equipped Lincoln to lead the nation through the "fiery trial" of the Civil War? The result is an understanding of Lincoln as a man who envisioned a nation of self-governing equals wise enough to be guided not just by self-interest or popular enthusiasm, but by an abiding sense of right and wrong. Ultimately, he gave that nation, in his words, "a new birth of freedom."
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(49)
How to Speak So That People Want to Listen
by Julian Treasure
read by Julian Treasure
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The most effective communicators have strong bodies and focused minds. They know how to train their lungs and warm up their muscles before major speaking engagements. They understand that to speak well, they must first learn how to listen thoughtfully and deliberately. They can craft and deliver quality content no matter who is in the audience. And they can do these things despite the many distractions and noisy soundscapes that define the 21st century.
You too can become an effective communicator. All you need is How to Speak So That People Want to Listen, a brief but intensive workshop on the fundamentals of effective speaking and listening, led by expert public speaker and business sound designer Julian Treasure. In nine carefully crafted episodes packed with proven exercises and techniques, you will sharpen your communication skills. Shed your bad listening habits and discover how you can tune out unproductive noise. Investigate the many filters-culture, language, intention, and so on-through which you listen. Understand the difference between content and delivery when it comes to conveying a message, and see how you can improve your skills in each of these two areas. Explore how you can change your tone, pitch, and body language so that you and your content are properly received. Conclude by examining how you can address large audiences with authority and conviction by making small but meaningful changes in how you practice, prepare, and deliver your message.
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(23)
The Triumph of Christianity
by Bart D. Ehrman
read by Bart D. Ehrman
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The growth of Christianity in the early centuries of the Common Era is one of the most extraordinary stories in world history. What began with a preaching day laborer and his dozen or so disciples soon grew to be the largest religion in the world, eventually taking over the entire Roman Empire. How did that happen? How was such a movement possible?
Although scholars have offered a variety of theories over the years, the rise of Christianity nonetheless feels like an impossibility. Delve into this fascinating occurrence in The Triumph of Christianity. Taught by Dr. Bart. D. Ehrman, these 24 investigative lectures trace the exponential growth of Christianity, from its origins in a Jewish outpost of the Roman Empire to its spread throughout the entire Western world.
In this extraordinary course, you will investigate the historical events that led to such an astonishing feat. With the objective eye of a historian, Bart walks you through the ancient Roman world, offering analysis on what we can know for sure and what lies in the realm of myth. Along the way, you will meet the historical Jesus and other figures from the beginnings of Christianity; learn about the Acts of the Apostles as they spread the message far and wide; see how the apocalyptic message of Jesus transformed into a theology of salvation; and witness the development of a unified church.
From the message of Jesus of Nazareth to the beginnings of a Christian Roman Empire, The Triumph of Christianity provides new insights into one of the most compelling stories ever recorded.
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(17)
The History and Archaeology of the Bible
by Jean-Pierre Isbouts
read by Jean-Pierre Isbouts
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
The findings of historians and archaeologists open a thrilling world of discovery as they bring their methods and insights to the iconic stories of the Bible. These 24 content-rich lessons take you on a multidimensional journey through the Bible, from Genesis to the Crucifixion, seen through the lens of the latest historical and archaeological research, and enriched by 47 specially filmed video sequences of many of the sites where the narratives of the Bible unfolded.
Through Professor Isbouts's enthralling commentary, you'll uncover eye-opening perspectives on biblical events such as:
Genesis-Examine evidence from ancient Sumer of a monumental flood that happened 5,000 years ago and study Mesopotamian architectural forms that may correlate with the story of the Tower of Babel;
The Exodus from Egypt-Follow the actual path of Moses and the Israelites, a well-traveled artery through mining regions, oases, and trade routes from Egypt to the Midian, the region southeast of Sinai;
The Kingship of David-Relive David's divisive rule as king of the Hebrews and visit structures excavated in the "City of David," which may be the core of David's residential and administrative complex;
Israel under the Assyrians-Learn how an ancient Assyrian clay document confirms the Bible's account of the Assyrian invasion of Judah and view the magnificent Assyrian tableaux that depict the siege of the city of Lachish, described in the Bible; and
The Early Life of Jesus-Take a penetrating look at the peasant revolts and bloodshed in Galilee during the youth of Jesus, after which Joseph and Jesus were likely to have been conscripted laborers for the Romans.
Deeply fascinating for those who have an interest in the Abrahamic faiths, ancient civilizations, and archaeology, The History and Archaeology of the Bible throws fresh and revealing light on the iconic scriptures that-in far-reaching ways-have shaped our world.
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(16)
Great Masters: Robert and Clara Schumann - Their Lives and Music
by Robert Greenberg
read by Robert Greenberg
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
In all the annals of Western music, there has never been a couple like the Schumanns: he a pioneering critic and composer (the only ever to achieve greatness as both), she one of the leading concert pianists of Europe, as well as a composer of no small talent herself. This series of eight lectures by an award-winning composer and acclaimed teacher includes excerpts of works by both of the Schumanns as part of an introduction to an extraordinary couple and the musical legacy left to us in spite of the difficulties that dogged their marriage. Though a loving one that produced eight children, their partnership also had to withstand the pressures of raising those children, managing two careers, and overcoming the tensions posed by Robert-an emotionally unstable man who alternated between manic bouts of awesome creativity and terrifying fits of depression, exacerbating the worsening effects of the syphilis that would eventually kill him. His death left Clara to not only raise the children but also to support the family through an exhausting schedule of concertizing. Despite his ill health, Robert still left behind a magnificent legacy of compositions and insights into music that you explore in these lectures-a legacy that included his return to criticism so he could introduce to the world a then-unknown Johannes Brahms.
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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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(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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(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.
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(11)
36 Big Ideas
by Various Authors
read by Various Readers
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
As the home to big ideas, The Great Courses has produced thousands of lectures that have introduced millions of lifelong learners to some of the biggest ideas out there. Now, enjoy 36 lectures specially curated from some of our most popular courses and get a fresh learning experience in a wide range of disciplines. How does electromagnetic radiation traveling at 186,000 miles per second tell us everything we need to know about the distant stars? Why do we prefer random rejection over always getting what we want? How does science explain our subjective experience - if it even can? These are just a few of the many scintillating questions whose answers you'll get in this lecture series. Scientists, historians, linguists, psychologists, archaeologists, and other experts guide you through topics, concepts, and events that are sure to amaze you. You'll learn how the world's largest untranslated written language was made with strings and knots. You'll explore the idea of time's arrow, which offers stirring insights into the one-way direction of time. You'll focus on a strange (but true) sensory phenomenon in which people associate letters with colors. You'll investigate the fascinating cultural universality hidden inside heroic journeys by characters such as Little Red Riding Hood and Arjuna in the Mahabharata. And much more. Profound topics, deep insights, great professors - this lecture series is the perfect introduction to some of our most popular courses, and to some of the many ways in which our courses explain the seemingly unexplainable. The complete list of contributors includes Professors Edwin Barnhart, Grant L. Voth, H. Craig Heller, Indre Viskontas, John McWhorter, and John R. Hale.
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(16)
The American Identity
by Patrick N. Allitt
read by Patrick N. Allitt
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
What defines an American? Is it the love of liberty, the pursuit of justice, the urge to invent, the desire for wealth, the drive to explore, the quest for spiritual values? The paradox of American identity is that although the United States is a melting pot of many different traditions, motives, and ideals, there are nevertheless distinctive qualities that define the American character.
In this series of 48 fascinating lectures, an award-winning teacher and author explores the national character by introducing you to notable men and women from every era of American history - some of them famous, some unknown, some even infamous - whose lives speak eloquently about the qualities, for better or worse, that make one truly American. Focusing on various character traits and attitudes that have indelibly shaped the national psyche, Professor Allitt takes you on a journey from the very first settlers to the present, showing how certain characteristics have persisted through time and also how certain traits and beliefs have changed. And while the lectures are enjoyable as a well-told series of biographies, they do much more, helping you gain a deeper understanding of the trends and ideas that have shaped America and continue to influence American society today.
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(63)
Turning Points in Medieval History
by Dorsey Armstrong
read by Dorsey Armstrong
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
For an accurate picture of how the political, social, and religious structure of present-day Europe came to be - and even why we're speaking English today - studying the key events between the years 500 and 1500 is of critical import. These 24 gripping lectures deliver an unparalleled look at these moments that profoundly changed the arc of history, and they weave the era's vast array of disparate events into an interconnected tapestry that illuminates why nothing exists in a vacuum. Among the events you'll experience: the moment in 711 A.D. when Tariq ibn Zayid conquered Spain and created the unusually tolerant society of Al-Andalus; the 1152 marriage between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry Plantagenet, which led to the Hundred Years' War and the War of the Roses; and the composition of Fibonacci's Liber Abaci in 1202, which transformed the medieval world of business, banking, and commerce. These are just three of the many turning points in the history of medieval Europe that prove the Middle Ages were far from "dark." Throughout these lectures, you'll investigate events, such as the Norman conquest of England in 1066, where the impact was immediate and tangible. In others, like the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western churches, the importance was not recognized for years; some developments had effects so gradual that their significance can only be recognized from the vantage point of history. Methodical and meticulous in its approach to a labyrinthine age, these lectures will help you understand why the West's transition from the classical to the early modern was a fluid, ongoing process rather than the result of a single pivotal moment.
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(5)
The Scientific Guide to Health and Happiness
by Robin Miller
read by Robin Miller
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
There is one thing that every human wants and we spend our entire lives searching for it: happiness. In our journey to seek it, we have concocted ideas and theories to explain the concept, but very few of them are based on science. What scientists are now learning is that happiness is intertwined with your health. Now, you can uncover the essential secrets to a healthy mind and body with our 24-lesson course The Scientific Guide for Health and Happiness.
Taught by Dr. Robin Miller, an integrative medicine specialist and popular TV and radio host, this course is backed by the latest research and scientific studies about health and happiness and cases from Dr. Miller's practice over decades. You will take a deep dive into the major systems of the body and how keeping them in good shape supports your happiness and satisfaction of life.
You will also learn about diet and weight management, lifestyle habits such as sleep and sex, and ways to powerfully impact your internal health by using external methods like music, dance, meditation, and cutting-edge technologies.
It may feel like there are so many pieces to the health and happiness puzzle that you don't know where to begin. Dr. Miller not only boils each aspect down to its nitty-gritty details using scientific examples, but she also weaves it all together to show you how they relate to one other.
As you go through the course, you will begin to see that every little step you take to improve your lifestyle can build up and have a domino effect. Using this roadmap to find your best self, you will be empowered to take charge of your health.
Before you know it, your efforts to improve your health, diet, and lifestyle will come together to create a symphony of great health and happiness.
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(0)
The Viking Age: New Perspectives on History and Culture
by Jennifer Paxton
read by Jennifer Paxton
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Taught by veteran biomedical space researcher Dr. Ronke Olabisi of the University of California, Irvine, this 12-lecture course focuses on the many hazards of spaceflight and how astronauts deal with them. From launch to landing, from spacewalks to sponge baths, these lectures provide an in-depth look at living and working in a truly alien environment. Learn how it takes more than the "right stuff" to survive in space.
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(10)
Why Economies Rise or Fall
by Peter Rodriguez
read by Peter Rodriguez
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
How can a nation create the conditions for economic growth and prosperity? And what, once these conditions are achieved, can it do to sustain this progress?
Discover the answers, which may surprise you, in these 24 lectures that guide you through a stimulating and, above all, accessible examination of what economists know and don't know about the elusive search for economic prosperity.
Here, you'll learn:
• How countries as widely different as the United States and Vietnam have grown their economies
• How countries like China and India were able to recover from economic reverses
• Most importantly, why the critical test of any economic policy is its ability to productively alter human behavior for everyone's ultimate benefit.
By looking at economic growth as the result of incentivizing such productive behavior, "making productivity more profitable than all the alternatives", Professor Rodriguez clears up an often-shrouded economic landscape. The result is a lecture series that brings the economic strategies chosen by nations down to street level by adding a newfound clarity to key issues:
• Why economies succeed or fail
• How economic bubbles are created, why they burst, and how nations recover from them
• The challenges posed by globalization; and more.
By the end of the last lecture, you'll understand as never before both the benefits granted and the costs extracted by the "instant economy" that technology and globalization have brought us. You'll grasp what China's expected economic dominance may soon mean. And you'll have a new appreciation of the juggling act policymakers perform as they try to heed history's latest lesson in achieving national growth and maximum human happiness.
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(38)
Great Battles of the Ancient World
by Garrett G. Fagan
read by Garrett G. Fagan
Part of the Great Courses Audio series
Forget Hollywood's portrayal of violence and mayhem in ancient warfare and find out what the ancient battles were really like. What were the weapons, tactics, armor, training, and logistics? What were the crucial factors that could turn the tide of battle, giving one side victory and the other defeat? In 24 exciting lectures, Professor Fagan introduces you to the many fateful battles that became crucibles of history: the fearsome clash between the Athenians and the invading Persian army at the Marathon, Alexander the Great's crushing hammer-and-anvil tactics against the Persians at Gaugemela, and the Roman mastery of siege warfare at the Jewish fortress of Masada. Encompassing the region from Mesopotamia to western Europe-including Egypt and Northern Africa-this course charts the development of warfare from prehistoric times and examines battles and warfare from the city-states of early Sumer to the fearsome Assyrian war machine, the Greeks' distinctive form of combat, the Persian invasions, and the legions of Rome, which evolved brutally effective tactics that gained them dominion over the entire Mediterranean basin. Although the battles you study were fought long ago, considerable controversy exists among contemporary historians. Professor Fagan presents contending theories without losing sight of the grim realities of war, and the many millions who have died on the battlefields. "We owe it to them," he concludes, "and to the thousands who continue to perish in our planet's wars, to understand as fully as possible what it was that killed them. If this course has advanced its audience's comprehension of war even a little, then it has amply fulfilled its purpose.