The Great Courses
Author
Series
Democracy and Its Alternatives volume 5
Language
English
Description
Investigate nationalism through a handful of case studies.
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Among Greek city-states, Athens was not alone in having a form of democratic rule. As you'll discover in this episode, Greek governments ran on a sliding scale from oligarchy and democracy to kingship and tyranny. Delve into Homer's epics to examine several early examples of democratic assembly.
Author
Series
Great Music of the 20th Century volume 7
Language
English
Description
Learn about Schoenberg's friendship with Gustav Mahler, who defended Schoenberg's groundbreaking compositions. Study Schoenberg's remarkable metamorphosis in which he sought to free melody from the limits of functional tonality, as exemplified in his Six Little Pieces for Piano. Examine events in Schoenberg's personal life that may help explain his final break with musical tradition.
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
You've already seen how public speakers dominated the assemblies. Now take a look at the politicians whose voices rose above the fray. While every citizen theoretically had a voice in the democracy, a few politicians and demagogues tended to dominate. Learn about Cleon, Alcibiades, and others.
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Who were the citizens of Athens? As you'll reflect on in this episode, perhaps as low as one-fifth of Athenian residents were citizens. Women, slaves, and resident aliens were excluded. Learn about the responsibilities of citizens, and the lives of those who could not participate.
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Start your journey through some of the most jarring misconceptions of science with this introductory look at the nature of science itself. You'll examine ways the scientific method deviates from the way it's taught, the true definitions of terms like "theory" and "model," and the relationship science shares with philosophy.
Author
Series
US Constitution through History volume 10
Language
English
Description
Although Abraham Lincoln was not elected as an abolitionist president, the era's tension between North and South boiled over into the Civil War shortly after his election. Here, reflect on the many constitutional questions posed by the war, from the right of habeas corpus to the legality (or illegality) of secession.
Author
Series
Great Music of the 20th Century volume 16
Language
English
Description
Trace Schoenberg's period of great creative output and professional flowering in the late 1920s - years which coincided with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany. Following Schoenberg's self-exile to the United States, take note of his efforts on behalf of European Jews, and study two war-inspired masterworks; his Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte and A Survivor from Warsaw.
Author
Series
US Constitution through History volume 2
Language
English
Description
When war broke out between England and the American colonies, the Continental Congress drafted the Articles of Confederation, a loose framework by which the colonies could be governed as a nation-state. Reflect on the origins of this system, as well as its inability to deal with economic, military, and diplomatic crises of the day.
Author
Series
Great Music of the 20th Century volume 19
Language
English
Description
The cultural environment of California produced some of the most original musical thinkers of the 20th century. First encounter Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison, composers of astonishing eclecticism whose works incorporated non-Western musical forms. Also meet John Cage and Morton Feldman, whose "indeterminate" music introduced new conceptions of unpredictability and a non-directional sense of time.
Author
Series
Democracy and Its Alternatives volume 12
Language
English
Description
Turn your attention to federations comparatively, legally, and in practice.
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
Following the disastrous Sicilian campaign, Athenian democracy appeared to be on the ropes. But in 413 B.C., the demos appointed a board of 10 elderly "probouloi," or advisors, to deal with the immediate crisis. Find out how these leaders steadied the ship and and how the democractic experiment carried on into the next century.
Author
Series
Great Music of the 20th Century volume 9
Language
English
Description
The 1920s saw both an explosion of new compositional languages and a conservative backlash against modernism. Follow the fortunes of Stravinsky, as he created a new ballet score for Diaghilev, incorporating themes from the Baroque composer Pergolesi. In Pulcinella, see how Stravinsky's ingenious treatment of the score created a neo-Classic musical hybrid of astonishing modernist sensibility.
Author
Series
Great Music of the 20th Century volume 18
Language
English
Description
Discover the music of visionary composers who turned away from Serialism and Ultraserialism, beginning with Hans Werner Henze and Luigi Nono. Assess the place of postwar Ultraserialism, and the factors that led many to reject it. Explore the extraordinary Stochastic or "sound mass" music of Iannis Xenakis, and how his innovations prefigured and influenced the phenomenal works of György Ligeti.
Author
Series
US Constitution through History volume 1
Language
English
Description
America was born out of a group of ideas and a series of conflicts with England. Begin your course on the US Constitution with a look at the English tradition that underpins American law and the tensions with England that led to revolution.