The Great Courses - The Great Courses

Frequently Asked Questions

Our Company

What does The Great Courses do? >
How long have you been in business? >
How can I contact you? >

The Great Courses

How are professors chosen to make your courses? >
How are the courses made? >
What media formats are available for the courses? >
Should I buy audio or video? >
When and why do courses go on sale? >
Are the courses guaranteed? >
Can I earn a degree or university credits by taking your courses? >
Are all of the courses university level? >
What are workbooks? >
What types of players can I use for the audio CDs and DVDs? >
Can I play DVDs in a CD player? >

Your Information

What is your privacy policy? >
What do you do with my e-mail address and other personal information? >

Purchase Policies

What does the "Priority Code" mean? >
If I want a refund, what should I do? >
Can I make copies of courses I have purchased from The Great Courses? >

Shipping, Processing, and Lifetime Guarantee

What costs does the "shipping, processing, and guarantee" include? >
How do I calculate my shipping, processing, and guarantee charge? >
How do you ship? >
How long will it take to receive my courses?>
Where can I send my order?>

Credits

Who supplies the images on this site? >

Our Company

What does The Great Courses do?
The Great Courses brings the most engaging professors into your home or car through courses on DVD, CD, audio, and other formats. Since 1990, great teachers from universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, and more, have crafted more than 300 courses for lifelong learners. We provide the adventure of learning, without the homework or exams.

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How long have you been in business?
We have been in business since 1990.

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How can I contact you?
You can reach us at the contact information provided below.

E-mail: custserv@greatcourses.co.uk

Phone: 0800 298 9796
Office hours: 9 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. After hours, an automated voice mail system is available.

Fax: 0800 298 0300

Mail:

The Great Courses
Unit A, Sovereign Business Park
Brenda Road
Hartlepool, TS25 1NN

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The Great Courses

How are professors chosen to make your courses?
Only the top 1 in 5,000 university professors, as determined by The Great Courses and its customers, is chosen to be on The Great Courses faculty.

There are more than 500,000 university professors in the UK and America. Since 1990, we have identified the top 1% of professors based on teaching awards, published evaluations of professors, newspaper write-ups of the best teachers on campus, and other sources.

Each year, our professional recruiters travel the world to listen to hundreds of professors from the top 1%. Of these, about 1 in 20 is selected to give an audition lecture for The Great Courses. Each audition is then reviewed by hundreds of our customers. Those professors who get a high score from our customers are invited to craft new courses. More than 15,000 of our customers have voted on audition lectures to select our faculty.

In the end, we and our customers select about 1 in 5,000 professors.

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How are the courses made?
We work closely with our customers and professors to create The Great Courses. Here is how:

Customers choose the professors. We begin with the most engaging professors from the UK and America—literally, the top 1% of professors, as determined by The Great Courses and its customers. In the end, only 1 in 5,000 professors meets the standards set by our customers, who vote on all professors we retain.
Customers choose the courses. We interview thousands of customers to find out what titles they want and how they want us to make our courses.
The professors carefully prepare each course. Months of preparation ensure that a course will satisfy our customers. Long before a word is spoken on stage, our professor outlines and prepares each lecture and writes the extensive guidebook. Our own producers help to slate each image that will be included in the video version of the course.
We control the quality by recording courses in-house. Our professors come to our in-house studio in Chantilly, Virginia (the Washington, D.C. area) to deliver their lectures.
- The video of each lecture is recorded on broadcast-quality equipment and media.
- The audio for each lecture is recorded on CD-quality equipment and media.
- We then devote weeks to include all appropriate images and text in the videos and to professionally master the sound for the audio and video versions of our courses.

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What media formats are available for the courses?
We offer courses in the following formats:

Digital video disc (DVD)
Audio compact disc (CD)
Transcript book
Audio Download files in MP3 or MPEG4 format.

Digital media, including DVDs, CDs, and our download files provide the highest quality for video and audio.
All of our CDs are compatible with CD players worldwide. All of our DVDs are region free and hence they are playable in all regions worldwide.

Transcript books are attractive, soft-bound books of 170-250 pages. They contain the course guidebooks you receive with every course and lightly edited transcripts of all course lectures.

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Should I buy audio or video?
The choice between audio and video depends on how you want to use the course and on the content of the course.

Your preferences. The audio version is very flexible, allowing you to listen to The Great Courses almost anywhere and at any time you like: while commuting, jogging, gardening, even swimming.

The course content. The video version of a course contains all images that our professor finds useful in teaching. Some visual elements (e.g., charts, graphs, illustrations, physical experiments) enhance the video version. In many cases, these visual elements are very helpful, greatly enhancing the professor's presentation. If course requires the student to see the visual elements to understand the material, we issue the course only in video. In most cases, our professors are able to explain the visual contents of a course to the "audio audience," and we issue the course in audio and video.

If you have questions about a particular course, you'll find that each detailed course description includes a section at the end to help you choose the right format.

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When and why do courses go on sale?
Every course we make goes on sale at least once a year. This revolving sales approach allows us to provide you with great value and great service.

Producing large quantities of only the sale courses keeps our manufacturing and inventory costs down, and we pass the savings on to you. This approach also enables us to fill your order immediately: 99% of all orders placed by 5 p.m. ship that same day.

To find out which courses are on sale, please check our catalogues, newsletters, or website. The catalogues and newsletters clearly identify the courses currently on sale. On the website, visit the "On Sale" section, or visit the "Your Account" section and try our Sale Notifier.

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Are the courses guaranteed?
Yes. If a course is ever less than completely satisfying, you may exchange it for another or we will refund your money promptly. Visit the Our Guarantee section for further details. Or, if a disc ever breaks, warps, or gets damaged, we'll replace it, as long as the course is in print, free.

Most publishers do not guarantee that you will be satisfied with their books or recordings. But we do. We guarantee your satisfaction for a lifetime because we want you to be our customer for a lifetime of learning.

This guarantee, which we have honored every day since we opened our doors in 1990, not only protects your investment in learning, the guarantee also compels us to produce great courses and nothing less; otherwise, we'd go out of business.

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Can I earn a degree or university credits by taking your courses?
No. The Great Courses does not offer degrees or credits.

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Are all of the courses university level?
The vast majority of our courses are university level. However, The Great Courses publishes several courses taught by outstanding teachers on subjects traditionally covered in high school. Many adults also find these courses very rewarding.

These courses include:

Basic Math
Algebra I
Algebra II
Geometry
Chemistry, 2nd Edition
Early American History: Native Americans Through the Forty-Niners
World History: The Fertile Crescent to the American Revolution
How to Become a SuperStar Student.

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What are workbooks?
All high-school-level courses except "How to Become a SuperStar Student" come with workbooks in addition to the course guidebooks you receive with all of The Great Courses. These workbooks are designed as valuable supplements to courses and textbooks you are already using. The workbooks provide 10 questions per lecture plus an answer key.

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What types of players can I use for the audio CDs and DVDs?
The audio CDs will work in CD players installed in your home stereo or in your car, as well as in portable CD players. The CDs will also work in CD-ROM drives in computers and laptops, MP3 players marked with CD playing capabilities, and some DVD players that are marked certified to play CDs as well as DVDs. Note: Unless the DVD and MP3 players are marked that they play CDs, your audio CDs will not work on those players.

Your DVDs will work in DVD players and in DVD-ROM drives in computers and laptops. If viewing on a computer, you may need to download additional software for the DVDs to work properly.

All of our CDs are compatible with CD players worldwide. All of our DVDs are region free and hence they are playable in all regions worldwide.

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Can I play DVDs in a CD player?
No. DVDs will not work in equipment that plays CDs only. This is true of all DVDs, not just ours.

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Your Information

What is your privacy policy?
Please see our Privacy Policy page for details.

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What do you do with my e-mail address and other personal information?
We use your name and address to send you order confirmation, course starter materials for courses that you order, free articles, requests for feedback on courses and professors, and special offers.

We will not sell or rent your name, address, e-mail address, or purchase history to any other person or company. Period. That has been our policy since we opened in 1990.

Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.

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Purchase Policies

What does the "Priority Code" mean?
The priority code is a five-digit number that appears above your name and address on the mailing label of your most current mail piece or catalogue. This code enables us to ensure that you get the sale prices that appear in your current mail piece or catalogue. Priority codes, which are good through the mailing's expiration date, also allow our marketing department to see which mailing pieces our customers enjoy and find most helpful.

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If I want a refund, what should I do?
Every course comes with our full Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee: If you are not completely satisfied with your order for any reason, simply return it with a note describing why, and we will issue a full refund or credit your charge card. Visit the Our Guarantee section for further details.

Can I make copies of courses I have purchased from The Great Courses?
Copyrights: Our courses are the intellectual property of The Great Courses. They are sold for private, noncommercial use only. All copying and all public performance of the courses is a violation of federal and other laws. If you or your organisation wish to exhibit the lectures publicly, please send a request for permission for such use to the attention of Brandon Hidalgo detailing the use you intend for the course and the estimated number of persons to whom the courses would be exhibited.

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Shipping, Processing, and Lifetime Guarantee

What costs does the "shipping, processing, and guarantee" include?

Your shipping, processing, and guarantee payment includes a lifetime satisfaction guarantee for your courses, allowing you to return a course at any time if you are dissatisfied with it for an exchange or a prompt refund of your money. The charge for your courses also includes our free replacement policy: if you ever damage a disc, we will replace it for free, as long as the course is in print.

No other publisher offers a free replacement policy as we do, and no other publisher we've found offers a lifetime satisfaction guarantee.

We do not make a profit on your shipping, processing and guarantee payment. We charge only what is necessary to cover the following expenses:

processing of credit cards and checks
delivering your courses to you via DHL Global Mail
direct labour and warehousing costs for shipping packages and processing returns and replacements
costs for packaging materials.

Ninety-nine percent or more of the orders we receive by 5 p.m. ship that same day.

Every course comes with our full Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee: If you are not completely satisfied with your order for any reason, simply return it with a note describing why, and we will issue a full refund or credit your charge card. You may return your order to:

The Great Courses Returns Processing Center
Unit A, Sovereign Business Park
Brenda Road
Hartlepool, TS25 1NN

Visit the Our Guarantee section for further details.

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How do I calculate my shipping, processing, and guarantee charge?

Please see chart below for our shipping rates:

Order Total	Postage and Packing
£0.00 – £49.99		£4.99
£50.00 – £84.99		£8.99
£85.00 – £119.99		£11.99
£120.00 – £199.99		£14.99
£200.00 or more		£19.99

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How do you ship?
All packages are shipped via DHL Global Mail. This is the most reliable method of shipping because it allows us to track and confirm receipt of packages. Also, because it is express shipping, you will not have to wait long for your courses.

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How long will it take to receive my courses?
All in-stock items are despatched the same day for orders placed by 5 p.m., and should arrive within 5–7 business days.

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Where can I send my order?
The Great Courses can despatch items to virtually any address in the world. However, customs laws prevent this site from shipping products outside of the United Kingdom.
Click the link below if you wish to send your items to another country.
http://www.thegreatcourses.com

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Credits

Who supplies the images on this site?
Below are credit lines for all of the images on our website.

© Masterfile.
Courtesy NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University).
The Teaching Company Collection.
© Artville.
© Corbis.
© Eyewire.
© Masterfile.
© Photo Disc.
© Planet Art.
© St. Charles Borromeo (1538-84) (oil on canvas) by Champaigne, Philippe de (1602-74) Musee des Beaux-Arts, Orleans, France/ Lauros / Giraudon/ The Bridgeman Art Library.
akg-images.
akg-images/Jonathan Barry.
Courtesy NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team; Lunar and Planetary Institute; NASA.
Courtesy National Archives.
Courtesy of Wolfgang Beyer (www.wolfgangbeyer.de).
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library.
Library of Congress, Music Division.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-B817-7929; LC-DIG-hec-23698; LC-DIG-ppmsc-09229; LC-DIG-ppmsc-09876; Hermann Göring Collection LC-USZ61-2237; LC-USZ61-279;LC-USZ62-13040; LC-USZ62-100747; LC-USZ62-101877; LC-USZ62-10191; LC-USZ62-110616; LC-USZ62-112065; LC-USZ62-115917; LC-USZ62-117121; LC-USZ62-122699; LC-USZ62-123826; LC-USZ62-13016; LC-USZ62-1861; LC-USZ62-29499; LC-USZ62-4208; LC-USZ62-56548; LC-USZ62-64419; LC-USZ62-8240; LC-USZ62-83024; LC-USZ62-87246; LC-USZ62-97986; LC-USZ6-878; LC-USZC4-11310; LC-USZC4-5016; LC-USZC4-5017; LC-USZC4-6155; LC-USZC4-738; LC-USZC4-947; LC-USZ62-122955; LC-DIG-ppmsca-07549; LC-USZ62-91756; LC-USZC4-11952; LC-USZC4-4990; Theatrical Poster Collection, LC-USZC4-10315; LC-DIG-ppmsca-05936.
Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Mary Evans Picture Library.
Molnia, Bruce F. 2004. Muir Glacier: From the Online glacier photograph database. Boulder, Colorado USA:
NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI).
NASA, ESA and R. Massey (California Institute of Technology).
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA-GSFC).
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center.
NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI), NSSDC.
NASA.
National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. Digital media.
Perry-Castañeda Library, University of Texas at Austin.
Photo Courtesy Dr. Richard Baum
Photograph by Richard Bushrod, A Perfect Image Photography.
Photograph by William R. Cook, Ph.D.
Robyn S. Hannaman, courtesy of The Edwin W. Brown Collection, Taylor University.
Sennedjem and his wife in the fields sowing and tilling, from the Tomb of Sennedjem, The Workers' Village, New Kingdom (wall painting), Egyptian 19th Dynasty (c.1297-1185 BC)/Deir el-Medina, Thebes, Egypt/The Bridgeman Art Library.
The Art Archive/Beethoven House Bonn/Alfredo Dagli Orti.
The Art Archive/Bodleian Library Oxford.
The Art Archive/Musée du Château de Versailles/Gianni Dagli Orti.
The Art Archive/Museo del Duomo Milan/Gianni Dagli Orti.
The Art Archive/Society Of The Friends Of Music Vienna/Alfredo Dagli Orti
The Granger Collection, New York.
The Teaching Company Collection.
The Temple of Dendur. Ca. 15 B.C.E. Sandstone, L. from gate to rear of temple 82 ft. (24 m 60 cm). Given to the United States by Egypt in 1965, awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967, and installed in The Sackler Wing in 1978 (68.154). Image copyright© The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY.
U.S. Navy photo by Ensign John Gay.
VEER David Jordan Williams.
Visual Language Library, Antique Maps of the World: 1531-1680.

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