Catalog Search Results
1) Archaeology: An Introduction to the World's Greatest Sites: Göbekli Tepe, Çatalhöyük, and Jericho
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 7
Language
English
Description
Among significant Neolithic (New Stone Age) sites, explore Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, whose imposing stone rings are the oldest known examples of monumental architecture in the early Near East. Continue to Jericho, with its extraordinary tombs and famous tower, and Turkey's Çatalhöyük, noted for its mysterious houses built without doors or windows.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 9
Language
English
Description
Glinka's A Life for the Tsar was a landmark in the creation of Russian language opera. Learn about the origins of the opera's storyline in Russia's Time of Troubles, an era of discord and invasions, and consider Glinka's role in a community dedicated to bringing Russian art and literature to prominence.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
Contrasting with the Chimú, Sican civilization comprised a confederation of equal and independent city-states. Study the apparent Moche influence in Sican pyramid building, elaborate burial styles, and extensive human sacrifice. Observe the unique qualities of Sican art in the mastery of metallurgy and stunning ritual objects in ceramic, gold, and copper.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 28
Language
English
Description
First, encounter the larger-than-life commanders of this extraordinary action, Sam Houston and Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Track the tensions between the Mexican government and the province of Texas, resulting in the 18-minute battle that gained Texas independence and led to the United States acquiring nearly one-third of its continental territory.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
The lack of geographical barriers made it difficult for even the most powerful cities to retain their power. See how a succession of empires rose and fell, leaving behind legacies ranging from the use of intimidation in warfare to seafaring, astrology, mathematics, and a systematic legal code.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 31
Language
English
Description
Journey to the rural southwest corner of Ireland, where the Blasket Islands lie on the edge of the wide Atlantic. There, a series of writers flourished in parallel with the high Modernism of Yeats, Lady Gregory, and Joyce. Meet several of these writers and learn about the region's vanishing mode of life.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 40
Language
English
Description
Early Koreans interacted with the spirit world through spirit mediums, primarily women, who perform shamanic rituals and preserve cultural knowledge even up to the modern day. These traditions incorporate religious, mythological, and scholarly borrowings from Japan and China into a distinctively Korean syncretic blend.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 7
Language
English
Description
Witness the plague's horrific impact at Marseille, and uncover how citizens responded with unusual solidarity. Study the ravages and drastic measures taken at Bordeaux, and see how news of outbreaks sparked violence and the scapegoating of Jews. Grasp the monumental death toll in Paris, whose public reacted with unbridled hedonism, resignation, and numb indifference to the ubiquitous suffering.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 35
Language
English
Description
What can ancient art teach us about our place in the cosmos? What do we find so beautiful about ancient art? And how does it compare to contemporary art? Does art need to have a function? Ponder these questions and more as you reflect on your journey through the world of ancient art.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 18
Language
English
Description
Learn about reformers' efforts to address the miserable living and working conditions of industrial workers, and new labor laws that followed the galvanizing events of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Bread and Roses Strike. Also study the movements to eradicate child labor and to federally regulate food and medicines.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 4
Language
English
Description
Your introduction to Egypt reveals a civilization irrevocably shaped by geography. You learn how the Nile's predictable annual flooding of its banks, though creating a fertile strip amounting to only 3% of Egypt, permitted civilization to thrive in what was otherwise an uninhabitable desert.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 21
Language
English
Description
In this second lecture on Portrait, consider how the English language presents a great tension for Irish writers, and see how Joyce's solution was to conquer the language of the conquerors. Then watch as the book's hero, Stephen Dedalus, takes his first steps as an artist to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 1
Language
English
Description
Explore the idea of modernity and define "turning point." Then, consider why Chinese admiral Zheng He's voyages promoting the power of China's authority did not continue as part of a larger campaign of discovery-and what the consequences might have been had he reached the Americas.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 22
Language
English
Description
Despite the vast spread of the Black Death throughout the European continent, several communities were notably spared during the first wave of the 14th century. In the examples of Finland, Milan, and Nuremberg, investigate how factors of geography, timing, preventive action, and hygiene contributed to saving certain populations.
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 11
Language
English
Description
The religious and cultural effects of the Christian Crusades are still felt in today's world. Study the origins of the Crusades and the events leading to the fateful confrontation at Hattin between Islamic and Christian forces, which critically altered the course of the wars.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 8
Language
English
Description
The Bhagavad Gita is arguably one of the most famous texts in world history. Explore the origins and context for the story, delve into the complexities of philosophy and religion that the narrative contains, and understand why it has resonated throughout Indian history and around the world. See how its wisdom is still the basis for Hinduism today.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 19
Language
English
Description
Begin a four-episode exploration of what has come to be known the Great Man Theory of History: that a single person could indeed alter the course of history: by reviewing the careers of five rulers who might well provide the best arguments for the theory.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 5
Language
English
Description
Explore how the plague traveled by sea across the Mediterranean, invading port cities and then radiating inward. To get a view of the unfolding devastation, study the events in Sicily, Mallorca, and Avignon, highlighting first-person accounts. Assess ways of measuring the plague's impact and the difficulty of comprehending the scope of the disaster.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 28
Language
English
Description
Blood sacrifices. Sacred visions. Poisonous animals. Artwork from the Maya kingdom of Yaxchilán may shock us, but the visceral and expressive detail carved into these stones is unlike anything in Western art. This riveting episode takes you into a truly different world of self-sacrifice and hallucinogenic trances, but a world that has important lessons for our own.
Interlibrary Loan
Didn't find what you need? Items not owned by Main Library Alliance members might be available in other libraries across New Jersey. You can search JerseyCat and place a request for the item to be sent to your library.
If your library doesn't permit JerseyCat requests or the item can't be found, you can also contact your library for assistance.Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request