The Great Courses

Even after deciphering its hieroglyphs, and marveling at its scarabs, mummies, obelisks, and sphinxes, Egyptian civilization remains one of history's most mysterious....

Even today, the influence of Ancient Rome is indelible, with Europe and the world owing this extraordinary empire a huge cultural debt in almost every important category....

These 24 rewarding lectures equip you with the knowledge and techniques you need to become a savvier, sharper critical thinker in your professional and personal life....

The ancient Greeks, more than any other early culture, have given us the template for Western civilization, as seen in their achievements in the fields of architecture, political theory, philosophy, science, and art - not the least of which are their inventions of democracy and drama....

Your nervous system is you. All the thoughts, perceptions, moods, passions, and dreams that make you an active, sentient being are the work of this amazing network of cells. For many centuries, people knew this was true. But no one was sure how it happened....

The past truly comes alive as you take a series of imaginative leaps into the world of history's anonymous citizens....

This series of lectures offers detailed analyses of the strategic and tactical dimensions of the Civil War's most important campaigns....

Was King Arthur a real person? What about Robin Hood? Is the Holy Grail a cup, or something else altogether? Did Europeans really burn millions of people at the stake for witchcraft? These are just a few of the questions you will explore with the help of medieval scholar Dorsey Armstrong....

Even if you have listened to many of these illustrative pieces throughout your life you will never hear them the same way again after experiencing these lectures....

The story of our world and the different living things that have populated it is an amazing epic with millions of species, exotic settings, planet-wide cataclysms, and surprising plot twists....

When you join Professor Vandiver for this lecture series on the Iliad, you'll come to understand what has enthralled and gripped so many people....

By exploring the stories of the Bible in their actual locations, and the stories of the complex human beings who lived them, you’ll gain fascinating and illuminating new dimensions of the texts.

Military history often highlights successes and suggests a sense of inevitability about victory, but there is so much that can be gleaned from considering failures....

You'll join Professor Cary on the fascinating search for answers about the similar questions philosophy and faith ask....

To understand the roots of personality is to understand motivations and influences that shape behavior, which in turn reflect how you deal with the opportunities and challenges of everyday life....

Consider the intense and rapid changes that transformed the political, social, and economic struggles of the world during the 20th century....

In Black Holes, Tides, and Curved Spacetime, you will travel to the very edges of modern physics to explore several revolutionary theories and discover that physics is just as exciting today as it was when Newton sat by that fateful apple tree....

The deep-seated origins and wide-reaching lessons of ancient myths built the foundation for our modern legacies....

The payoff of this lecture series is a better understanding of the relationship between the world of early modern Europe and the modern world to which it gave rise....

Thor, Odin, Loki, Freyja, the Valkyries, Valhalla, Ragnarok — many of the places we encounter these and other names, places, and events from Norse mythology in daily life and pop culture are connected to the medieval sources in name only....