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| How the Earth Works 
By Michael E. Wysession, Washington University in St. Louis |
| The combination of continents, oceans, and atmosphere makes Earth unique among all the planets in the solar system, and perhaps in the galaxy. These features also create the conditions for life in all its diversity. But where did the land, water, and air come from? And how do these systems work together to produce the complex phenomena that are evident everywhere on this beautiful planet? How the Earth Works takes you on an astonishing journey through time and space, from the big bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth. |
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| Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition, 2nd Edition
By Various Professors |
| From Mesopotamia to Mississippi, from the anonymous writer of the Epic of Gilgamesh to William Faulkner, writing 3,600 years later, many of the greatest figures of Western culture have been its writers. This course is your guide to a rich sampling of their masterpieces, chosen, explained, and analyzed by five outstanding professors. In addition to novelists, poets, and dramatists, you will study historians, biographers, essayists, philosophers, and the anonymous chroniclers behind the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels. |
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| Mathematics, Philosophy, and the "Real World"
By Judith V. Grabiner, Pitzer College |
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Throughout history, mathematics has consistently helped determine the course of Western philosophical thought. Views about
human nature, religion, truth, space, time, and more have been shaped by the ideas and practices of this vital scientific
field. Award-winning Professor Judith V. Grabiner shows you how mathematics has shaped human thought in profound and exciting
ways with Mathematics, Philosophy, and the "Real World," a 36-lecture series that explores mathematical
concepts and practices as they apply to a fascinating range of areas and experiences. In a presentation that is clear,
delightful, and filled with fascinating case histories, you focus on two areas of mathematics that are easily followed by the
nonspecialist—probability and statistics, and geometry—and which play pivotal roles in the lives of ordinary
citizens today. |
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| Experiencing Rome: A Visual Exploration of Antiquity's Greatest Empire
By Steven L. Tuck, Miami University |
| How did ancient Rome communicate its civic and cultural values to its citizens? Award-winning Professor Steven L. Tuck, in Experiencing Rome: A Visual Exploration of Antiquity's Greatest Empire, examines how Rome connected with its citizens through a range of spectacles and shared experiences, including extravagant public displays, architecture, engineering, and more. Featuring more than 1,000 sumptuous visuals—including photography, maps, and computer animations—these 36 lectures are your chance to explore the marvels of Roman antiquity in a rich and detailed way unavailable in other traditional survey courses. Even if you have some familiarity with ancient Rome, you'll be amazed at the vividness with which this course immerses you in the sights of daily Roman life. |
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| Dutch Masters: The Age of Rembrandt
By William Kloss, Independent Art Historian, The Smithsonian Associates, Smithsonian Institution |
| Holland in the 17th century was home to the most remarkable concentration of artistic talent in modern history, including masters such as Hals, Vermeer, and—of course—Rembrandt. Dutch Masters: The Age of Rembrandt introduces you to this important period in art history. Professor William Kloss, an independent art historian with the Smithsonian Institution, guides you through the work of more than 100 artists and more than 450 of their masterful paintings. Whether you're new to art or an experienced museumgoer, Dutch Masters is a delightful course, filled with insights into the explosive inventiveness of Dutch art as it interpreted and reinvented the reality of one of the most dynamic nations in 17th-century Europe. |
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| Jesus and the Gospels
By Luke Timothy Johnson, Emory University |
| Who was Jesus? Is it possible to shape a single picture from the various accounts of his life? Jesus and the Gospels examines the canonical Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John familiar to us from the New Testament, as well as the many other, apocryphal narratives and literary works that have contributed to our perceptions of Jesus, Mary, and Christianity. Award-winning Professor Luke Timothy Johnson designed his course to examine the Gospels as literary productions. The lectures seek to encounter not the Jesus behind those compositions, but the Jesus found within them. |
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| High Middle Ages
By Philip Daileader, The College of William and Mary |
| As the last millennium dawned, Europe didn't amount to much. Illiteracy, starvation, and disease were the norm. In fact, Europe in the year 1000 was one of the world's more stagnant regions—an economically undeveloped, intellectually derivative, and geopolitically passive backwater. Three short centuries later, all this had changed dramatically. The flowering of medieval civilization between the years 1000 and 1300 forms the focus of this series by the gifted historian Professor Philip Daileader. He fascinatingly reveals the concepts and mind-sets of the High Middle Ages and the medieval. |
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| Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
By Alexis Q. Castor, Franklin & Marshall College |
| The impact of ancient Mesopotamia on the development of human civilization—including writing, codes of law, cities, and epic poetry—is staggering. Between the Rivers: A History of Ancient Mesopotamia takes you on an exciting journey through this area bordered by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, from Neolithic times to the age of Alexander the Great. In 36 fascinating lectures, award-winning Professor Alexis Q. Castor gives you a detailed image not only of larger Mesopotamian society but of life on the level of the individual citizen as well. Ultimately, you gain a wealth of new insights into the real history of this region and discover that all cultures lie in the shadow of ancient Mesopotamia. |
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| Physics in Your Life
By Richard Wolfson, Middlebury College |
| Why does a curveball curve? Why does ice float? How do CDs and DVDs work? Why don't your legs break when you jump off a chair? What keeps a moving bicycle from falling over? These questions involve physical principles that relate not only to interesting aspects of our daily lives, but also explain fundamental features of reality. In this DVD-only course, filled with hands-on demonstrations, you explore the physics of everyday events and end up with a deeper understanding of the universe. |
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| Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations
By Brian M. Fagan, University of California at Santa Barbara |
| Where do we come from? How did our ancestors settle this planet? How did the great historic civilizations of the world develop? How does a past so shadowy that it has to be painstakingly reconstructed from fragmentary, largely unwritten records nonetheless make us who and what we are? This broad survey course begins with the origins of the earliest evolving humans more than 2.5 million years ago and explores how the ensuing populations formed settlements and cultures, developed agriculture and herding, interacted, and populated the globe. |
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