Professor Weil introduces you to masterpieces such as Tolstoy's War and Peace, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, Gogol's Dead Souls, Chekhov's The Seagull, Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, and many other great novels, stories, plays, and poems. In all, you plunge into more than 40 works by a dozen writers, from Aleksandr Pushkin in the 19th century to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the 20th century. You also investigate the origin of Russian literature itself, which traces its lineage back to powerful epic poetry and beautiful renderings of the Bible into Slavic during the Middle Ages. All of these works are treated in translation, but Professor Weil does something very unusual in the literature-in-translation arena. For almost every passage that he quotes in English, he reads an extract in the original Russian, with a fluent accent and an actor's sense of drama.

    God and Mankind: Comparative Religions by Professor Robert Oden is an ideal starting point for gaining some progress in considering these questions. And if you've been thinking about them for a while, as so many do, you will likely discover he has many fresh insights to offer you.Professor Oden, who holds degrees in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and Theology, has taught at Harvard University and Dartmouth College over a long and exceptionally distinguished career as both teacher and college president.His lectures approach religious belief and ritual as possible answers to these most difficult and enduring questions, which have occupied humanity from the beginning.An Ideal Starting Point for InquiryThe lectures underscore both the unity and the diversity of religious approaches to life in a sweeping conceptual grasp.Professor Oden begins with a discussion of the nature and study of religion, distinguishing between religion as both a matter of faith and as an appropriate subject of intellectual and academic pursuit.In addition to discussing the four traditional views of religion, Professor Oden proposes another: a system of communication.This serves as a crucial conceptual framework for exploring the thoughts of Mircea Eliade, a historian of religion, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago, who proposed that the best way to understand religions is to examine their views of how the world came into being and how it operates on a daily basis.How Do We Reconcile Suffering and a Benevolent Deity?Professor Oden continues with an investigation of the problem of reconciling an all-powerful and benevolent deity with the suffering and evil that are part of human existence.You will also look at the dynamics of religious communities in general and the impact of the Puritan religious tradition on America.The introductory lecture lays out a framework for the study of religion, beginning with the "what" and "why" of the matter, and moving to how religions have been compared with history, science, psychology, and society.You learn that for religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism that see the world as old, salvation comes by escaping from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. But Judaism and Christianity, however, see the world as relatively new, and the goal is to gain more chances at life, either collectively or individually.Professor Oden addresses the centrality of myth in making sense of religious cosmologies, and he places special emphasis on the birth narratives of religious heroes, particularly the unusual circumstances surrounding their conception and birth.Religious Heroes and Teachersin developing a framework for an extensive discussion of the ancient Sumerian myth, the Epic of Gilgamesh and its cosmological implications.You explore the notion of the anthropologist Arnold van Gennep, later expanded by the American anthropologist Victor Turner, that the rite of passage theme must be understood as central for religious cosmologies in general.As with Gilgamesh, this lecture looks at the stories of Moses, Jesus, Krishna, and Gautama the Buddha, unearthing in each a key point that aptly reflects the cosmology of the religion in question.Professor Oden goes into a systematic analysis of the "theodicy" problem, which is: How can an all-powerful and benevolent deity allow innocent people to suffer while often success and happiness seem to come to those who are evil? All world religions have attempted to deal with this dilemma—and five answers have been produced.The discussion of theodicy continues by examining the most famous example in the Western religious tradition—the book of Job—and two of the main sources of Christian thinking on the topic, the Apostle Paul and the 16th-century Swiss theologian, John Calvin.By way of comparison, Professor Oden also discusses the Hindu and Buddhist responses to the theodicy question, including the Hindu doctrines of karmic law and transmigration of souls, and the Buddhist teaching that life is suffering, with the only release an acceptance of the impermanence of the universe and everything in it.Ritual, Sect, and ChurchIn examining ritual, Professor Oden places special emphasis on its nature, importance, and ramifications for the religious community, and then describes the dynamics of the development of two types of religious communities: sect and church.Professor Oden moves from the comparative sociology of religion to what might be termed the religious nature of a particular society: the United States. Drawing on the work of the Harvard scholar Sacvan Bercovitch, the lecture addresses the American identity with reference to its Puritan origins.Taking the theme of America and Americans being "God's elect" and the parallels between America and ancient Israel, Professor Oden proposes an American civil religion whose themes include:The "chosen" history of AmericaA strong notion of covenant, with America's fate emblematic of the world'sThe idea that, in America, the ultimate sovereignty is not the people's, but God's.In conclusion, Professor Oden discusses four aspects of today's American identity that seem to have come directly from the Puritan tradition:An anti-intellectual bias toward individualism rather than collective experience and theoryA bias against ritualThe strongest fundamentalist tradition in the advanced industrialized worldA uniquely American anxiety over vocational and occupational calling that is not found elsewhere in the world.8 lectures | 43 minutes each1 Why Nothing Is as Intriguing as the Study of Religion2 Orienting Humanity—Religions as Spiritual Compasses3 Religious Heroes 1—Gilgamesh and the Dawn of History4 Religious Heroes 2—Moses and Jesus5 Pondering Divine Justice—Do We Suffer for Naught?6 Defending Divine Justice—Religious Accounts of Suffering7 Religious Rituals and Communities8 Bringing It All Back Home

    Since then, painting has been declared dead several times over, and contemporary art has now expanded to include just about any object, action, or event: dance routines, slideshows, functional hair salons, seemingly random accretions of waste. In the meantime, being an artist has gone from a join-the-circus fantasy to a plausible vocation for scores of young people in America.But why--and how and by whom--does all this art get made? How is it evaluated? And for what, if anything, will today's artists be remembered? In The Contemporaries, Roger White, himself a young painter, serves as our spirited, skeptical guide through this diffuse creative world.White takes us into the halls of the RISD graduate program, where students learn critical lessons that go far beyond how to apply paint to canvases. In New York, we meet the neophytes who assist established artists--and who walk the fine line between "assistance" and "making the art." In Milwaukee, White trails a group of friends trying to create a viable scene where rent is cheap, but where the spotlight rarely shines. And he gives us an intimate perspective on three wildly different careers: that of Dana Schutz, an emerging star who is revitalizing painting; Mary Walling Blackburn, whose challenging art defies market forces; and Stephen Kaltenbach, a '70s wunderkind who is back on the critical radar, perhaps in spite of his own willful obscurity.From young artists trying to elbow their way in to those working hard at dropping out, White's essential book offers a once-in-a-generation glimpse of the inner workings of the American art world at a moment of unparalleled ambition, uncertainty, and creative exuberance.

    In this course brought to you in partnership with HISTORY, you will be visiting some of history’s deepest rabbit-holes, across centuries and continents, in search of secret societies in all their varieties. You will journey to some very dark places, and frankly some odd and sometimes silly ones as well. During 24 eye-opening lectures, Dr. Richard B. “Rick” Spence, Professor of History at the University of Idaho, guides you through the fascinating, often mystifying - sometimes disturbing - world of brotherhoods, sisterhoods, orders, cults, and cabals that have influenced human culture from ancient times to the present.You’ll understand how and why secret societies have attracted some of history’s most brilliant, and some of its most evil, minds. Often demonized by their enemies, many secret societies have become the stuff of myths and conspiracy theories. Why do they exist? And when they are invented or imagined, why would someone pretend they exist? What do secret societies believe? Who do they recruit? Most important, what influence do they have? Buckle up and get ready to find out.

    The text covers the full range of his oeuvre, describing early assignments in the 1870s as a draftsman for leading architects in Barcelona, the innovative buildings he created for the Güell Palace and Estate, daring new structural solutions at Bellesguard, architecture inspired by nature at the Casa Calvet and in the Park Güell, and the construction of his unfinished masterpiece, the Church of the Sagrada Familia, which occupied him until his death. The author traces all the influences that led to his definitive style, from his fascination with the Orient and neogothicism to his affinity for naturalism and specific geometric forms.Brilliantly illustrated, this incisive overview of Gaudí's visionary work is ideal for those who delight in his architecture as well as those who look forward to traveling to Spain to see his monumental legacy.

    The Devil and Dr. Barnes traces the near-mythical journey of a man who was born into poverty, amassed a fortune through the promotion of a popular medicine, and acquired the premier private collection of works by such masters as Renoir, Matisse, Cézanne, and Picasso. Ostentatiously turning his back on the art establishment, Barnes challenged the aesthetic sensibilities of an uninitiated, often resistant and scoffing, American audience. In particular, he championed Matisse, Soutine, and Modigliani when they were obscure or in difficult straits. Analyzing what he saw as the formal relationships underlying all art, linking the old and the new, Barnes applied these principles in a rigorous course of study offered at his Merion foundation. Barnes's own mordant words, culled from the copious printed record, animate the narrative throughout, as do accounts of his associations with notables of the era--Gertrude and Leo Stein, Bertrand Russell, and John Dewey among them--many of whom he alienated with his appetite for passionate, public feuds. In this rounded portrait, Albert Barnes emerges as a complex, flawed man, who--blessed with an astute eye for greatness--has left us an incomparable treasure, gathered in one place and unforgettable to all who have seen it.

    Robinson, Ph.D., Oxford UniversityThe Great CoursesPhilosophy & Intellectual HistoryThe Teaching CompanyLecture Series60 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture Taught by Daniel N. Robinson Philosophy Faculty, Oxford University; Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, Georgetown University Ph.D., City University of New York Humanity left childhood and entered the troubled but productive world when it started to criticize its own certainties and weigh the worthiness of its most secure beliefs. Thus began that "Long Debate" on the nature of truth, the scale of real values, the life one should aspire to live, the character of justice, the sources of law, the terms of civic and political life-the good, the better, the best. The debate continues, and one remains aloof to it at a very heavy price, for "the unexamined life is not worth living." This course of 60 lectures gives the student a sure guide and interpreter as the major themes within the Long Debate are presented and considered. The persistent themes are understood as problems: * The problem of knowledge, arising from concerns as to how or whether we come to know anything, and are justified in our belief that this knowledge is valid and sound * The problem of conduct, arising from the recognition that our actions, too, require some sort of justification in light of our moral and ethical sensibilities-or lack of them * The problem of governance, which includes an understanding of sources of law and its binding nature. The great speculators of history have exhausted themselves on these problems and have bequeathed to us a storehouse of insights, some so utterly persuasive as to have shaped thought itself. In these coherent and beautifully articulated lectures you will hear Plato and Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans, the Scholastic philosophers and the leaders of Renaissance thought. In addition, you will learn about the architects of the Age of Newton and the Enlightenment that followed in its wake-all this, as well as Romanticism and Continental thought, Nietzsche and Darwin, Freud and William James. This course is a veritable banquet of enriching reflection on mental life and the acts of humanity that proceed from it: the plans and purposes, the values and beliefs, the possibilities and vulnerabilities.

    

    It has become so central to the way we communicate and live, however, that it often seems as if writing has always existed.But the question remains: Who invented writing, and why?In these 24 fascinating lectures, you'll trace the remarkable saga of the invention and evolution of "visible speech," from its earliest origins to its future in the digital age. Your guide is an accomplished professor and epigrapher who whisks you around the globe to explore how an array of sophisticated writing systems developed, then were adopted and adapted by surrounding cultures.Along the way, you'll visit the great early civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Japan, and the Americas, and you'll see how deciphering ancient scripts is a little like cracking secret codes - only far more difficult.You'll be spellbound as you hear accounts of the breathtaking moments when the decipherment of ancient scripts broke centuries of silence. And you'll marvel at fascinating objects once shrouded in mystery, including the iconic Rosetta stone.Writing and Civilization offers the chance to not only discover the history of ancient writing systems, but also the rare opportunity to actually hear those scripts read aloud and to learn the meaning of their messages hidden in plain sight.Please note a guidebook is included with the audiobook.

    In this course, you will explore the political, social, cultural, and economic revolutions that transformed Europe between the arrival of the Black Death in the 14th century and the onset of the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century.

    But ambition quickly took wing. The house swelled to 225 rooms and became - until 2012 when it was topped by the home of a billionaire in Mumbai, India – the world’s largest residence ever built for a private citizen. Here’s the story of the house that Vanderbilt built - from the gardens by Frederick Law Olmsted to the John Singer Sargent portraits that adorn its walls.

    For nearly 2,000 years, the Christian faith has remained at or near the center of Western moral debate and conceptions of human identity, just action, and ultimate meaning. It has both shaped history and responded to history, showing an extraordinary adaptability within greatly differing cultures. Its practice and influence appears inevery land and every language, and one-third of humanity now affiliates in some way with Christianity.How did this happen? How did a persecuted sect in 1st-century Palestine rise to command such a massive influence on human culture, imagination, and spirit? How did Christianity weather the first critical stages of its historical development and attain its fundamental and enduring cultural role?Discovering the answers to these questions allows you to understand one of the most significant and integral currents of history, and to correct misconceptions about Christianity’s past; gain deep insight into the origins of Western societies, and to understand the relation of faith to politics, economics, and culture; grasp how Christian institutions, theology, and liturgy originated and developed; better comprehend the cultural present, where 7 out of 10 Americans hold Christian beliefs; and deepen your appreciation of the majestic sweep of history that Christianity’s rise represents.Speaking incisively to all of this and more, The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation tells the phenomenal story of Christianity’s first 1,500 years, in all its remarkable diversity and complex dimension.In the company of popular Great Courses Professor Luke Timothy Johnson of Emory University, you follow the dramatic trajectory of Christianity from its beginnings as a “cult of Jesus” to its rise as a fervent religious movement; from its emergence as an unstoppable force within the Roman Empire to its critical role as an imperial religion; from its remarkable growth, amid divisive disputes and rivalries, to the ultimate schism between Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism; and from its spread throughout the Western world to its flowering as a culture that shaped Europe for 800 years. In 36 enthralling lectures, you meet the towering figures of Christian history, such as Paul of Tarsus, Augustine, the emperor Constantine, and Pope Gregory VII, as well as many other pivotal players—kings, popes, saints, monastic figures, scholars, and mystics. And you delve deeply into the rituals, doctrinal issues, and fascinating theological controversies that defined the faith.The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation brings to life a truly epic story, giving you a multilayered knowledge of Christianity’s origins, rise, and civilization-shaping presence in our world. The Forging of a Global FaithAcross the arc of the story, you reckon with the historical and theological milestones that formed Christianity, including these seminal moments: The Jesus movement: Investigate the passionate claims of the first believers to an experience of ultimate, transforming power—and the means by which the movement exploded in the decades following Jesus’s death. Critical challenges to the faith: Witness the early Christians’ implacable commitment to the new religion, creating strong institutional and ideological structures even as they answered persecution through martyrdom and “apologetic” literature. Christianity and empire: Learn how the faith, once it was instated as the official religion by Rome, expanded geographically under imperial authority; how Christian culture developed through architecture, art, and ceremony; and how the religion became fatefully enmeshed in politics in the interface of patriarchs, popes, and emperors from Rome to Constantinople. Great controversies of theology: Dig deeply into the Trinitarian and Christological controversies that divided Christians between the 4th and 7th centuries, centering on differing conceptions of the nature of Christ and fiercely contested in the famous Councils of Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon. The rupture between East and West: Grapple with the overlapping factors of cultural distance, misunderstandings, political rivalries, and doctrinal disputes that led to the final split between Orthodoxy and Catholicism in the 11th century. The flowering of European Christendom: Experience the extraordinary richness of Christian culture in the Middle Ages, including the complex institution of monasticism, the glory of medieval cathedrals, the birth of universities, and the commanding presence of the papacy.The Rich Diversity of Christian ExperienceIn charting the remarkable rise of Christianity, you uncover the specific social and cultural realities that drove the development of the faith.Early in the course, you locate the birth of the religion—and the movement’s powerful appeal—not in the life of Jesus itself, but in the first Christians’ life-altering experience of the Resurrection. You see how early Christianity was not “one thing,” grasping its startling variety of expression through figures such as the preacher Thecla, who dressed as a man and baptized herself, and in the extreme ascetic practices and ideology of the Marcionist movement.You investigate the origins and deep influence of monasticism, its specific practices and ways of life, and you see how monasticism became the dominant formal expression of medieval Catholicism.You travel the geographic expanse of the Christian world, from Persia and Egypt to Byzantium, Rome, and the British Isles, and you glimpse the lives of ordinary Christians in all eras, from the first, embattled Christian communities in Palestine to the sophisticated Catholic culture of the Middle Ages.Faith, Politics, and CivilizationIn the course’s middle section, the formerly countercultural faith becomes the pillar of the world’s greatest military and political power. Here you grapple with the tensions and challenges of this new role, as the Roman Empire “converts” and pagan sacrifice is declared high treason. You track the rivalries of patriarchal centers, as the cities of Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople vie for supremacy within the imperial faith. In Byzantium, you witness the increasing intermingling of faith and politics, as the bishop Ambrose of Milan demands public repentance of the brutal emperor Theodosius I, and the emperor Justinian intervenes between factions contesting the true nature of Christ. In the “Carolingian Renaissance” of 9th-century Europe, you see how the emperor Charlemagne responded to papal patronage by sponsoring ecclesiastical reforms and supporting the Latin Mass. And you observe how the papacy—aided by royalty and monk-missionaries—became the central force in bringing the Christian message to all of Europe. Extraordinary Treasures of Christian CultureThroughout the course you observe the profoundly literary quality of this faith, taking note of the diverse Christian writings in Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian, the formulation of Christian orthodoxy in the works of Tertullian and Irenaeus,the philosophical treatises of Clement and Origen, and the scholastic theology of Abelard and Thomas Aquinas.You study the long and colorful development of Christian liturgy in the traditions of ritual, architecture, and public works. You taste the splendor and sensuality of Eastern Orthodox worship, with its ornate vestments, incense, and processions. You learn how the medieval cathedral embodied allegorical symbolism in its form, with its vaulted nave (from navis, “ship”) shaped as an inverted “ship of salvation.” And you observe the role of Christian art in the long conflict in Byzantium over the veneration of religious icons.Finally, you witness the flourishing of contemplative mysticism in the dark era of the Inquisition, and you uncover the misuses of doctrine and forms of corruption that roused the first courageous reformers, boldly anticipating the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. A Story for the Ages, Masterfully ToldIn recounting the astonishing narrative of Christianity’s unfolding, Professor Johnson draws on his own background as a passionate participant in this tradition, both as a former Benedictine monk and as a world-class scholar. In his powerful and evocative words, this grand tapestry of history comes vibrantly alive as he takes you to the defining moments of Christianity’s past.In The History of Christianity: From the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation, you’ll look deeply into the nature and role of faith, the ethos of our civilization, and the core conceptions of identity and ethics that underlie the Western worldview. This is history in the most vivid and meaningful sense of the word: an inquiry into the past that opens a compelling awareness of our present—of our living origins, our ultimate horizons, our deeper selves.

    This ride has legions of devoted fans and influenced tributes, spinoffs and an entire entertainment genre: the seasonal haunted house. Why is this?Boundless Realm is a wry tour of the creaky old house on the hill, brushing aside cobwebs, uncovering obscure corners, and prying up the floorboards in search of the answer. Not just an attraction history, this critical appreciation - written with a connoisseur's eye for detail - encompasses American history, popular culture and folklore, and a sharp understanding of design to make a case for The Haunted Mansion as the 20th century's definitive haunted house. Entertaining and opinionated, Boundless Realm will give you a new appreciation for Disney's ultimate cult attraction.

    Though best known for their furniture, the husband and wife team were also forerunners in architecture, textile design, photography, and film.The Eames work defined anew, multifunctional modernity, exemplary for its integration of craft and design, as well as for the use of modern materials, notablyplywood and plastics.The Eames Lounge Chair Wood, designed with molded plywood technology, became a defining furniture piece of the twentieth century, while the couple s contribution to theCase Study Housesproject not only made inventive use of industrial materials but also developed anadaptable floor plan of multipurpose spaceswhich would become ahallmark of postwar modern architecture.From the couple s earliest furniture experiments to their seminal short filmPowers of Ten, this book covers all the aspects of the illustrious Eames repertoire and itsrevolutionary impact on middle-class American living. About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN s Basic Architecture Series features: an introduction to the life and work of the architect the major works in chronological order information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts and plans) "

    As a result, whether we realize it or not, the drive to obtain food has been a major catalyst across all of history, from prehistoric times to the present. Epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said it best: "Gastronomy governs the whole life of man." In fact, civilization itself began in the quest for food. Humanity's transition to agriculture was not only the greatest social revolution in history, but it directly produced the structures and institutions we call "civilization." In 36 fascinating lectures, award-winning Professor Albala puts this extraordinary subject on the table, taking you on an enthralling journey into the human relationship to food. With this innovative course, you'll travel the world discovering fascinating food lore and culture of all regions and eras - as an eye-opening lesson in history as well as a unique window on what we eat today.