Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 1
Language
English
Description
First, consider images of the Arthurian legend familiar in Western culture, and their relationship to historical reality. Trace the history of post-Roman Britain, the large-scale invasions of the Anglo-Saxons, and evidence that a single, extraordinary individual rose from the chaos to lead and save his people.
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 15
Language
English
Description
On June 20, 1791, King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette disappeared, having fled into the night. This episodes hows you the king's secret-and ultimately doomed-attempt to escape France. This act became a significant turning point for the Revolution because it allowed the French to imagine their country without a king.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 12
Language
English
Description
Here, encounter the heretical Cathars, who opposed the Roman church, and the resulting Albigensian Crusade, called to destroy them. Follow the response of the church in the grim events of the Inquisition, and visit the Inquisition Tower, the great cathedral of St. Nazaire, and other sites linked to the conflict.
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.
46) 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 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.
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 8
Language
English
Description
In 1831, a failed political insurrection in Warsaw left a permanent mark on the music and spirit of Frédéric Chopin. Learn about Chopin's early life, and delve into the doomed November Uprising of the Poles against their Russian overlords that fueled the writing of his passionate, revolutionary etude for piano.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 27
Language
English
Description
Nestled in the foothills of southern Mexico is one of the most magical and hauntingly beautiful archaeological sites in the world. Here, one of the richest tombs in the New World was discovered, and its marvelous artifacts-particularly King Pakal's sarcophagus cover-provide insights into the myths and religion of the ancient Maya.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 38
Language
English
Description
Chinese myths about the feats of culture heroes and the deeds of rulers, while relating stories about how things came to be, also engage with questions of what ought to be. Utopian stories of sage-kings are often told alongside dystopian tales of degenerate leaders. Explore the legends of the three revered kings Yao, Shun, and Yu the Great, and those of the two degenerates Jie and Zhou Xin.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 27
Language
English
Description
The early 19th century saw the rise of numerous independence movements in Central and South America. Learn about three key leaders who were prominent in these struggles; their bold plan to liberate Peru; and the showdown on the plain of Ayacucho that ended Spanish rule in Latin America.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 22
Language
English
Description
Nixon's meeting with Mao shifted the cold war's balance and returned China to the world stage. Learn the reasons for Nixon's trip, the consequences of which still reverberate, and plot the rise of Mao and communism in China. Then, see how Deng Xiaoping's promotion of private enterprise began a trajectory of growth that continues.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 36
Language
English
Description
How did Napoleon seize power in France in 1799? Tensions were high between the royalists and the neo-Jacobins, and in this climate of crisis, Napoleon led a military coup and drew up yet another constitution for France, bringing the Revolution to an end.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 18
Language
English
Description
Examine the biblical Book of Job through a mythological lens and learn how it addresses the same basic questions of other myths. How do Job's trials and tribulations at the hand of the Hebrew god force us to look at the world-and our role within it-from a fresh perspective?
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 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?
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 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 7
Language
English
Description
Shift your attention to India's other major epic, the Mahabharata, which is the longest major text in human history (clocking in at a whopping 1.8 million words). After examining the sources and style of this epic, Professor Fisher surveys its plot and shows what it means from the emic" perspective of Indians as well as the etic" perspective of outsiders.
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