Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 22
Language
English
Description
Despite the vast spread of the Black Death throughout the European continent, several communities were notably spared during the first wave of the 14th century. In the examples of Finland, Milan, and Nuremberg, investigate how factors of geography, timing, preventive action, and hygiene contributed to saving certain populations.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 44
Language
English
Description
Follow Napoleon's harrowing march across Russia in 1812, and witness his doomed campaign from the viewpoint of his soldiers. Napoleon's fateful decision to invade Russia marked a turning point for his empire.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 1
Language
English
Description
Explore the idea of modernity and define "turning point." Then, consider why Chinese admiral Zheng He's voyages promoting the power of China's authority did not continue as part of a larger campaign of discovery-and what the consequences might have been had he reached the Americas.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
See how scholars revealed a lost world of language and literature when they expanded upon Grotefend's breakthroughs by relating Old Persian to the ancient cuneiform scripts that preceded it. Next, trace the development of writing through 3,500 years of Mesopotamian history, and consider what ancient texts such as The Epic of Gilgamesh can teach about ancient cultures of this region.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 6
Language
English
Description
Your exploration of a once-lost civilization introduces a key theme of the course: the enormous problems faced by modern historians and archaeologists in interpreting an ancient civilization through physical evidence alone, with no written documents to bring that evidence to life.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 21
Language
English
Description
In this second lecture on Portrait, consider how the English language presents a great tension for Irish writers, and see how Joyce's solution was to conquer the language of the conquerors. Then watch as the book's hero, Stephen Dedalus, takes his first steps as an artist to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 23
Language
English
Description
Siena's turbulent medieval history is vividly represented in the city we see today. Trace the republic's defining 13th-century victory over the Florentines, visit the fortified palaces of the great feudal families and the monumental buildings of the beautiful Piazza del Campo, and marvel at the city's complex medieval water system.
8) Archaeology: An Introduction to the World's Greatest Sites: From the Aztecs to Future Archaeology
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 24
Language
English
Description
Finally, travel to the site of Tenochtitlan, buried under modern Mexico City, and to Teotihuacan, with its vast pyramids and temples along the Avenue of the Dead. Conclude the course by considering how future archaeologists may interpret our own culture someday, and reflect on archaeology's contributions to our collective knowledge and our humanity.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 20
Language
English
Description
Turn now to a section of the Mahabharata known as the Bhagavad Gita. You'll peel back the layers behind the popular story of the warrior Arjuna; learn how to read the Gita as a devotional story and a manual for life; and discover how it shaped Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 22
Language
English
Description
While Joyce was sending his fictional hero off to become a great artist, Ireland's great real-life poetic hero Yeats was making his own transition from a mystic and romantic dreamer to a modernist poet, with a little guidance from Ezra Pound. As you watch this transition, reflect on the Protestant Ascendancy world from which Yeats emerged.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
The lives of American women changed in far-reaching ways during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Trace late-19th-century social trends that led to more public roles for women and emerging ideas of women's rights. Learn about the women's suffrage movement and its embattled crusade to gain voting rights for women.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 32
Language
English
Description
Go inside the Moche society in ancient Peru and marvel at the beautiful metal jewelry discovered in the Sipan tombs. Beyond the beauty and the sophisticated metalwork of the Moche earspools, the tomb of Sipan gives us a window into Moche society-including sacrificial ceremonies once believed to be purely mythical.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 29
Language
English
Description
While Gandhi advocated one path for reform, many of his contemporaries offered other ways to promote the rights of lower classes and Muslims. Meet Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, three influential social and political leaders, and review their approaches toward national independence and people's rights.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 13
Language
English
Description
Turn to the French colonies and ask what the Revolution meant in places such as Saint-Domingue, the colony that would soon become the independent nation of Haiti. Did the Declaration of the Rights of Man apply to free people of color? Would the Revolution abolish the slave trade? These questions would take several years to answer.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 11
Language
English
Description
The religious and cultural effects of the Christian Crusades are still felt in today's world. Study the origins of the Crusades and the events leading to the fateful confrontation at Hattin between Islamic and Christian forces, which critically altered the course of the wars.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 19
Language
English
Description
Begin a four-episode exploration of what has come to be known the Great Man Theory of History: that a single person could indeed alter the course of history: by reviewing the careers of five rulers who might well provide the best arguments for the theory.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 8
Language
English
Description
The Bhagavad Gita is arguably one of the most famous texts in world history. Explore the origins and context for the story, delve into the complexities of philosophy and religion that the narrative contains, and understand why it has resonated throughout Indian history and around the world. See how its wisdom is still the basis for Hinduism today.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 9
Language
English
Description
Glinka's A Life for the Tsar was a landmark in the creation of Russian language opera. Learn about the origins of the opera's storyline in Russia's Time of Troubles, an era of discord and invasions, and consider Glinka's role in a community dedicated to bringing Russian art and literature to prominence.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
Contrasting with the Chimú, Sican civilization comprised a confederation of equal and independent city-states. Study the apparent Moche influence in Sican pyramid building, elaborate burial styles, and extensive human sacrifice. Observe the unique qualities of Sican art in the mastery of metallurgy and stunning ritual objects in ceramic, gold, and copper.
20) Archaeology: An Introduction to the World's Greatest Sites: Göbekli Tepe, Çatalhöyük, and Jericho
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 7
Language
English
Description
Among significant Neolithic (New Stone Age) sites, explore Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, whose imposing stone rings are the oldest known examples of monumental architecture in the early Near East. Continue to Jericho, with its extraordinary tombs and famous tower, and Turkey's Çatalhöyük, noted for its mysterious houses built without doors or windows.
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