Taking you from ancient Greece and Japan to North America and Africa to New Zealand and Great Britain, these 36 lectures reveal mythology's profound importance in shaping nearly every aspect of culture. You'll also discover the hidden connections between them - a comparative approach that emphasizes the universality of myths across cultures.Along with the stories themselves, you'll encounter fascinating characters, including Herakles, the ancient Greek hero whose life illustrates the idea that all heroic stories have a similar structure; Loki, the shape-shifting trickster who introduces the concept of time into the Norse realm of Asgard; and King Arthur, the Celtic lord and founder of the Knights of the Round Table.Myths, according to Professor Voth, are "gifts from the ancestors to be cherished." His enchanting lectures are the perfect way for you to celebrate these cherished gifts, inviting you to develop your own interpretations of these age-old tales, as well as to ponder the role that myths - both ancient and everyday - play in your own life.(Great Courses, #2332)

    Among those you'll investigate are the accounts of the creation of the world in Hesiod's Theogony and Ovid's Metamorphoses; the gods Zeus, Apollo, Demeter, Persephone, Hermes, Dionysos, and Aphrodite; the Greek heroes, Theseus and Heracles (Hercules in the Roman version); and the most famous of all classical myths, the Trojan War.Professor Vandiver anchors her presentation in some basics. What is a myth? Which societies use myths? What are some of the problems inherent in studying classical mythology? She also discusses the most influential 19th- and 20th-century thinking about myth's nature and function, including the psychological theories of Freud and Jung and the metaphysical approach of Joseph Campbell. You'll also consider the relationship between mythology and culture (such as the implications of the myth of Demeter, Persephone, and Hades for the Greek view of life, death, and marriage), the origins of classical mythology (including the similarities between the Theogony and Mesopotamian creation myths), and the dangers of probing for distant origins (for example, there's little evidence that a prehistoric "mother goddess" lies at the heart of mythology).Taking you from the surprising "truths" about the Minotaur to Ovid's impact on the works of William Shakespeare, these lectures make classical mythology fresh, absorbing, and often surprising.Disclaimer: Please note that this recording may include references to supplemental texts or print references that are not essential to the program and not supplied with your purchase.©2000 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2000 The Great Courses

    

    And each time it happens, before we know anything about the circumstances, we are already sure of one thing: We are nothing like that perpetrator. But how can we be so sure? After all, we are all human. In Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature, Professor Daniel Breyer takes us on a fascinating philosophical journey into many of the deepest and darkest questions that have engaged humanity for millennia. The dark side of our nature is our mysterious and fragile underbelly - our negative, but all too human, side. For many of us, it may be easier to simply avoid looking into the darker aspects of ourselves and our world - the suffering we see everywhere around us, from real world events to the entertainment we consume. But the truth is, if we don’t face the totality of what it means to be human, we can never fully understand ourselves or fully appreciate our deep desire for meaning and purpose in our lives. Thinkers from across the world and in many different eras have considered the dark side of human nature, and that’s why this course will adopt a cross-cultural approach, investigating perspectives from many different traditions - Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and secular. This cross-cultural approach will help you see humanity as fully as possible from many perspectives, better allowing for progress toward finding answers that can apply across cultures and times. This course is fueled by the power of questions, one of philosophy’s most potent tools. Some are questions we have all asked ourselves: Why do so many people commit violence against others, why is there so much suffering in the world? Professor Breyer provides some fascinating potential answers to many of our darkest questions. RUNNING TIME ➼ 12hrs. and 8mins.

    A series of 24 lectures comprising a course on comparative religion presented by Charles Kimball, director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma.

    Disease. Starvation. Cannibals. From the ancient wayfarers to modern astronauts, world explorers have blazed trails fraught with danger. Yet, as History's Greatest Voyages of Exploration vividly demonstrates, exploration continues to be one of humanity's deepest impulses.Across 24 lectures that unveil the process by which we came to know the far reaches of our planet, you'll witness the awe-inspiring and surprisingly interconnected tale of global exploration. An award-winning history professor from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, revolutionizes how you view the world as he introduces you to some of the greatest and most influential explorers ever known-successful as well as unsuccessful, admirable as well as flawed. You'll be spellbound as you learn of the treacherous, at times fatal, expeditions into the unknown these adventurers embarked upon, whether to the frozen Poles, Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the ocean's depths, or the final frontier of space.Through it all, you consider what drove these intrepid individuals, from proselytizing and pilgrimage to the lure of wealth, conquest, fame, and new lands, as evidenced by the Vikings' arrival in North America; Marco Polo's journey along the Silk Road to China; Christopher Columbus' "Enterprise of the Indies"; the conquistadors' ravages in Latin America; and the tiny kingdom of Portugal's triumphant circumnavigation of Africa to seize control of trade in the Indian Ocean.In every lesson, you'll follow these fascinating figures - including several remarkable women - as they venture into uncharted territory and put themselves, and often their crews, in dire peril. With Professor Liulevicius' uniquely global approach, you also get a meaningful portrait of the travels of non-Westerners, as well as the perspectives of discovered people.

    4- Social Disorganization—Deviance in the Urban Landscape.5- Functionalism and Anomie—Why Can't We All Just Get Along?.6- Learning Theory—You Have to be Carefully Taught.7- Control Theory—Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child.8- Labeling Theory—Is Deviance in the Eye of the Beholder?.9- Conflict and Constructionism—Every Step You Take, I'll Be Watching You.10- Case Studies—Sex and Science.

    Principe on the relation between science and religion from early times to the present.Two crucial forces, science and religion, helped shape Western civilization and continue to interact in our daily lives. What is the nature of their relationship? When do they conflict, and how do they influence each other in pursuit of knowledge and truth? Contrary to prevailing notions that they must perpetually clash, science and theology have actually been partners in an age-old adventure. This course covers both the historical sweep and philosophical flashpoints of this epic interaction.6 audio discs (1 hour each); 68-page course guidebook which includes professor biography, statement of course scope, lecture outlines and notes, a timeline, glossary, biographical notes, and bibliography.Lecture 1. Science and religionLecture 2. The warfare thesisLecture 3. Faith and reason: Scripture and natureLecture 4. God and nature: Miracles and demonsLecture 5. Church, Copernicus, and GalileoLecture 6. Galileo's trial. Lecture 7. God the watchmakerLecture 8. Natural theology and arguments from designLecture 9. Geology, cosmology, and Biblical chronologyLecture 10. Darwin and responses to evolutionLecture 11. Fundamentalism and creationismLecture 12. Past, present, and future

    These lectures are based on their seminar course at Columbia University on Western intellectual history augmented by additional lectures by selected "guest" lecturers. Gives a guided tour through 3,000 years of Western thought.In 7 containers (26 cm.).Lectures by Darren M. Staloff, Louis Markos, Jeremy Adams, Phillip Cary, Dennis G. Dalton, Alan Charles Kors, Jeremy Shearmur, Kathleen M. Higgins, Robert Hilary Kane, Robert C. Solomon, Douglas Kellner, and Mark W. Risjord.42 audiocassettes (approximately 2520 min.) : analog, Dolby processed + 7 course guidebooks (22 cm).Contents:pt. 1. Classical origins --pt. 2. Christian age --pt. 3. From the Renaissance to the Age of Reason --pt. 4. Enlightenment and its critics --pt. 5. Age of ideology --pt. 6. Modernism and the age of analysis --pt. 7. Age of modernity.

    And while many of us look to make sense of Russia through its political history, in many ways a real grasp of this awe-inspiring country comes from looking closely at its cultural achievements. The 24 lectures of Understanding Russia: A Cultural History survey hundreds of years of Russian culture, from the world of Ivan the Terrible to the dawn of the Soviet Union to the post-war tensions of Putin's Russia. Blending history with cultural studies, they are designed to bring you closer than ever before to the Russian people - not just the authoritarian rulers like Peter the Great, the Romanovs, and Stalin but the everyday men and women who sought their own meaning in the poetry of Pushkin, the comfort of early folk tales, the faith of medieval iconography, the avant-garde films of Eisenstein, and more. You'll discover surprising insights into centuries of cultural history, including peasant superstitions, such as avoiding whistling indoors, and the culture of queuing for goods and services that defined everyday life for ordinary Soviets. You'll also spend time in the company of novelists, painters, poets, filmmakers, impresarios, composers, revolutionaries, and intellectuals who shaped Russia in myriad ways, including The Five, a group of composers who created a distinctly national sound based in part on Russian folk music; and Sergei Eisenstein, the filmmaker whose Battleship Potemkin revolutionized the language of cinema. In a time when the eyes of the Western world are constantly drawn to Russia, it's amazing how little we really know about its culture. These lectures will help you finally understand that complex, thrilling, and undeniably fascinating spirit.

    Each professor addresses an area of personal expertise and focuses not only on the matter at hand, but on the larger story-on the links between the works and the figures discussed. The lectures address-in chronological sequence-a series of major works that have shaped the ongoing development of Western thought both in their own right and in cultural dialogue with other traditions. In the process, the course engages many of the most perennial and far-reaching questions that we face in our daily lives.Lecture 1 From Sumer to AthensLecture 2 The Epic of GilgameshLecture 3 The Hebrew Bible: Historical Background and GenesisLecture 4 The Hebrew Bible: Exodus and the CovenantLecture 5 The Hebrew Bible: Psalms, Prophets, The Song of Songs, and JobLecture 6 Greece: From the Bronze Age to the Archaic AgeLecture 7 The IliadLecture 8 Homer: The OdysseyLecture 9 Hesiod and Lyric PoetryLecture 10 Greek Tragedy: AeschylusLecture 11 Greek Tragedy: SophoclesLecture 12 Greek Tragedy: EuripidesLecture 13 Herodotus of HalicarnassusLecture 14 Greek Art

    Duration: 18 hours 40 minsCourse Lecture TitlesArchaeologys Big BangOde on a Grecian UrnA Quest for the Trojan WarHow to DigFirst Find Your SiteTaking the Search Underwater Cracking the CodesTechniques for Successful DatingReconstructing Vanished EnvironmentsNot Artifacts but PeopleArchaeology by ExperimentReturn to VesuviusGourniaHarriet Boyd and the Mother GoddessTheraA Bronze Age Atlantis?OlympiaGames and GodsAthenss AgoraWhere Socrates WalkedDelphiQuestioning the OracleKyreniaLost Ship of the Hellenistic AgeRiaceWarriors from the SeaRomeFoundation Myths and ArchaeologyCaesarea MaritimaA Roman City in JudeaTeutoburgBattlefield ArchaeologyBathHealing Waters at Aquae SulisTorre de PalmaA Farm in the Far WestRoots of Classical CultureThe Texture of Everyday LifeTheir Daily BreadVoyaging on a Dark Sea of WineShows and CircusesRomes Virtual RealityEngineering and TechnologySlavesA Silent Majority?Women of Greece and RomeHadrianMark of the IndividualCrucible of New FaithsThe End of the WorldA Coroners ReportA Bridge across the Torrent

    Whether it's something as minor as a brush with the common cold or as serious as Ebola, we all have grappled with infections and will continue to encounter them as we age.On a worldwide scale, infectious diseases account for 26 percent of all deaths, second only to cardiovascular diseases. And unlike chronic diseases, infectious diseases are unique in their potential for explosive global impacts.Now, in the 24 engaging lectures of Introduction to Infectious Diseases, you can get a comprehensive overview of diseases from the mundane to the fatal from renowned physician and award-winning professor Dr. Barry Fox.Begin with an overview of the microscopic particles responsible for disease: bacteria, fungi, hybrid germs, and viruses. You will see how they invade the body; look through the microscope at pathogens to identify their inner components; follow germs through to different body systems and see what effects they have; and learn why we may be losing the battle against some germs.

    Complete with study guides, cases, incredible learning experience!

    Late Middle Ages-Rebirth, Waning, Calamity? 2. Philip the Fair versus Boniface VIII 3. Fall of the Templars and the Avignon Papacy 4. The Great Papal Schism 5. The Hundred Years War, Part 1 6. The Hundred Years War, Part 2 7. The Black Death, Part 1 8. The Black Death, Part 2 9. Revolt in Town and Country 10. William Ockham 11. John Wycliffe and the Lollards 12. Jan Hus and the Hussite Rebellion 13. Witchcraft 14. Christine de Pizan and Catherine of Siena 15. Gunpowder 16. The Printing Press 17. Renaissance Humanism, Part 1 18. Renaissance Humanism, Part 2 19. The Fall of the Byzantine Empire 20. Ferdinand and Isabella 21. The Spanish Inquisition 22. The Age of Exploration 23. Columbus and the Columbian Exchange 24. When Did the Middle Ages End? Late Middle Ages (24 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture)Course No. 8296 Taught by Philip DaileaderThe College of William and MaryPh.D., Harvard University