Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 7
Language
English
Description
Here, learn how widespread immigration during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era transformed U.S. society. Delve into the diverse factors underlying immigration, and the perceived threats and social problems posed by immigrants. Observe how society at large reacted to the influx, and grasp the ways in which immigrants fundamentally changed the nation.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 30
Language
English
Description
Lesser divinities are often heavily involved in human affairs, even going so far as to wed or otherwise have close relations with mortals. The interactions between African gods and mortals express many different ideas about the relationship between mortal life and the divine. Examine the stories of Mregho and Ruwa, Miseke and Thunder, goddesses and mortals, and how Tricksters get involved in mortal relationships.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 14
Language
English
Description
Women had no official political role in the Old Regime, but the Revolution raised the question of women's rights and their place in the public sphere. Find out how two of the era's key feminists-Condorcet, a male mathematician, and Olympe de Gouges, a female writer-framed the demand for women's rights, and observe the many ways women engaged in politics.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 10
Language
English
Description
The village of Walsham provides a vivid view of how English society was upended by the plague. Learn about the manorial system, where peasants lived under a local lord and landholder. Discover how the plague's death toll dramatically altered the balance of power between labor and management, transforming the economic opportunities of peasants.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 17
Language
English
Description
The Playboy of the Western World is now regarded as a classic of Modernism and one of Ireland's defining plays, but when it premiered in 1907, it shocked Dublin and inspired riots. See what made this play so controversial to its original audience-and why the play is a truly great work of art.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 15
Language
English
Description
In its construction, this lovely medieval city and former maritime republic was intended to rival Venice. Enter through the perfectly preserved city walls and study the elaborate fortifications. Trace Dubrovnik's history of enlightened government as the tour visits elegant civic structures, churches, and the Sponza Palace, one of Dalmatia's most beautiful buildings.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 7
Language
English
Description
The earliest writing systems are known only through the efforts of archaeological decipherment. But how can archaeologists be certain that the knowledge is accurate? Learn a bit of history on cryptography and the differences between decipherers and code-breakers as the theory and methodology of decipherment are examined, as well as the evidence the theory considers.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 52
Language
English
Description
The Southeast region of the United States was home to many different Native American cultures. Five major languages were spoken in the area, and a sign language was invented for easier inter-group communication. Learn how the constant cultural exchange resulted in an encompassing body of myths that tie the peoples together.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 5
Language
English
Description
Learn how Beethoven identified, almost mystically, with the figure of Napoleon. Witness the military clashes after the French Revolution between Napoleon and the Austrian Habsburg empire. Grasp the highly personal meanings in Beethoven's Farewell Sonata, which depicts the departure and absence of the composer's aristocratic patron in the face of Napoleon's 1809 march on Vienna.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 19
Language
English
Description
In this first of several lectures on the great Mughal Empire, you'll meet a Central Asian adventurer named Babur, who rode into South Asia from Kabul and conquered the Delhi sultanate. Then witness the checkered career of his son, who almost lost the empire before it could really get started.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 8
Language
English
Description
In these dramatic conflicts, the Islamic Rashidun armies toppled two long-established empires. Learn about their defeat of the Byzantine army at Yarmouk and the Sassanid forces at al-Qadisiyyah, which determined the cultural, linguistic, and religious nature of the Middle East for the next 1,500 years.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 17
Language
English
Description
Begin a study of the great Inca civilization by tracing the culture's origin myth, featuring a creator deity who made the cosmos and charged the Inca to found a kingdom in a fertile valley. Compare the mythology with archaeological evidence that suggests that the myths were based in part on historical truths.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
Most alphabets in use today are derived from one script developed over 4,000 years ago. What accounts for the vast popularity of the Roman or Latin alphabet? This episode takes viewers back to ancient Egypt as the origin of the alphabet and the contributions made to it by the Canaanites are investigated.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 10
Language
English
Description
The Battle of Hastings changed the course of both English and world history. Here, encounter the redoubtable figure of William the Conqueror and his 1066 invasion of England to claim the crown. Witness the terrible engagement at Hastings and its outcome, orienting England away from Scandinavian influence and toward Europe.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 14
Language
English
Description
Wagner's operatic cycle The Ring functions metaphorically as a caustic critique of 19th-century European society. Grasp how the Ring's human and godlike characters represent the ills of industrial societies, and how Wagner envisioned a new age of man which would follow the demise of the European monarchies.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
Discover fresh insights into several Greek myths that teach us about the relationship between gods and humans. Is Prometheus a troublemaker (according to Hesiod) or a liberator (according to Aeschylus)? What happened after Pandora's box of evil spirits was opened? How did Persephone's kidnapping inspire the Eleusinian Mysteries?
17) Writing and Civilization: From Ancient Worlds to Modernity: The Origins and Development of Writing
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 2
Language
English
Description
Now that the significance of writing is understood, explore three popular beliefs or myths about where writing comes from and how it developed. Investigate the theories of monogenesis versus polygenesis, whether writing was only invented once or independently in locations around the world, and the reasons writing systems are resistant to change.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 26
Language
English
Description
Many myths found across the globe wrestle with the concept of how the world started. African mythology is no exception, embracing a variety of philosophies including ex nihilo (out of nothing) myths, chaos stories, and cosmology tales to explain our existence.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 2
Language
English
Description
Three main cultures inhabited the ancient Indian subcontinent. In this lecture, you'll study the first group, the Adivasi, aboriginal forest dwellers who once comprised the entirety of South Asia's population. See how genetic and linguistic analysis informs us about the Adivasi of 30,000 years ago-and learn about their status in India today.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 58
Language
English
Description
Travel down to South and Central America to learn about the Maya, the Aztecs, and the Incas. While there are many shared stories and common origins, these people maintain cultures and myths that are significantly different from those of their cousins to the north.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request