Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 1
Language
English
Description
Begin your study journey with the Vivaldi brothers' ill-fated journey to India. What drove the brothers - or drives any explorer - to take a risk and venture into the unknown? Consider that question as you look at theories on how the Pacific islands became populated starting with an epic movement 7,000 years ago.
Author
Series
Rise of Communism From Marx to Lenin volume 6
Language
English
Description
Why did a Marxist regime come to power in Russia of all places, especially when Marx considered it an unpromising place for a proletarian revolution? Professor Liulevicius tackles this question and also probes Russia's revolutionary tradition and the ideas of Georgi Plekhanov, the figure who did the most to bring Marx's teachings to Russia.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 10
Language
English
Description
Follow the path of Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, whose expedition in service of Spain became the first to circumnavigate the world, inaugurating our ability to think globally and accomplishing what Columbus had promised to do - reaching Asia by sailing west from Europe. See how his journey bound together the world economy, creating consequences down to our own times.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 13
Language
English
Description
Founded in 1540, the order of the Jesuits used global cultural exploration as a means to proselytize to local cultures across the world, from India and China to the Americas. Examine their controversial method of inculturation, and place the Jesuit project in the context of a larger intellectual shift towards cultural relativism.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 12
Language
English
Description
Switch gears from voyages of fruitful discovery to a tragic failure ending in mutiny, murder, and a mystery that endures to this day: Henry Hudson's 1610 voyage in search of the Northwest Passage to Asia, funded by two of the first multinational corporations.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 21
Language
English
Description
In the 1990s, Yugoslavia erupted into a brutal civil war between many different ethnic groups, including Serbs, Croats, and Bosnian Muslims. Unpack the many sides of this conflict, from its origins to ethnic cleansing and genocide to the country's breakup into separate countries. Examine the world's response to this crisis.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
Consider religious motivations for exploration. Men like the Irish monk St. Brendan - who sailed the Atlantic in a tiny leather boat - sought God and fled the world's corruptions, some searching for paradise and some merely for seclusion. Examine how legendary re-workings of such real adventures left a surprising legacy that would affect later exploration.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 11
Language
English
Description
Consider the most brutal of explorers, the conquistadors - Spanish military entrepreneurs including Cortés, Pizarro, and de Soto, who were not directly controlled by the monarchy, but royally sanctioned to seize wealth and lands in the New World. How did they topple civilizations using only a handful of men? What impact did they have on native societies? Find out here.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 15
Language
English
Description
Learn how the scientific explorer Alexander von Humboldt - sometimes called a "second Columbus" - taught us to see the world as an interrelated ecological unit. Trace his five-year exploration of the Americas with French botanist Aimé Bonpland, in which they covered 5,950 miles and catalogued 6,300 species of plants and animals.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 24
Language
English
Description
In this final lecture, you'll revisit the four key themes running through this course and consider whether they still remain true of Eastern Europe today. Look at the region's economy, politics, ethnicities, and relationships to Western Europe to consider the current state of Eastern Europe and what the future may hold.
Author
Series
Rise of Communism From Marx to Lenin volume 3
Language
English
Description
First, unpack the meaning of the revolutionary messages in "The Communist Manifesto" and "Das Kapital." Then, use a basic vocabulary of Marxist concepts to better understand Marx's model of history and economics. Last, examine how the revolutionary lives of Marx and Engels sought to unify theory with practice.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 16
Language
English
Description
On President Jefferson's (originally secret) orders, the U.S. Corps of Discovery led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out to chart the new territories gained by the Louisiana Purchase, while recording its people, flora, and fauna. How did they cross Native American-occupied lands peacefully? What was the expedition's political significance? Find out here.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 4
Language
English
Description
The combined nation of Poland and Lithuania was a powerful force in the 18th century-and its dissolution is one of the great crimes of the modern era. Civil strife provided the pretext for neighboring empires to swoop in and annex the nation. Consider the results of this partition and the political problem that would plague the region for the next century.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 5
Language
English
Description
Glide into the age of Romanticism, when poets surpassed politicians in setting national agendas. In this lecture, after considering the distinction between civil and ethnic nationalism, you'll study a number of 19th-century revolutions that swept across the region-and reflect how defeat in these revolutions paved the way for empires.
Author
Series
Rise of Communism From Marx to Lenin volume 7
Language
English
Description
Take a detailed look at the life of Lenin, whose ideas and actions propelled him to become the first man to bring communist theory into power in 1917. Here, focus on Lenin's hardness in the face of the 1891-1892 famine, his manifesto "What Is to Be Done?", and the Bolshevik and Menshevik factions.
Author
Series
Rise of Communism From Marx to Lenin volume 5
Language
English
Description
In the decades following the death of Marx in 1883, the socialist movement grew, but it also became highly factional over arguments about theory and organizational tactics. In this episode, learn about the rise of political parties in Germany and America, the establishment of the Second International, and the struggle over "revisionism."
Author
Series
Rise of Communism From Marx to Lenin volume 12
Language
English
Description
Follow the trajectory of Bolshevik social experiments to inaugurate a new civilization up through the death of Lenin in 1924. You'll learn about Lenin's "monumental propaganda" plan, which changed the appearance of Russia; the nationalist program of "putting down roots"; party recruitment drives and purges; and even the mummification of Lenin's body.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 17
Language
English
Description
As the Cold War continued, Soviet forces tightened their grip on Eastern European countries, yet dissident voices emerged. In East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, witness the revolt of proletarian workers and see how writers used secret publications and the power of the pen to protest totalitarianism.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 2
Language
English
Description
Meet the originator of scientific exploration, who trekked to the edge of the world so that he could see for himself what was there. Put Pytheas the Greek in the context of his time and place, sketching the Mediterranean as a cradle of civilization and examining how word of his voyage influenced later exploration.
Author
Series
Great Courses volume 3
Language
English
Description
Continue your study of Eastern Europe with a look at several decisive battles, including the Battle of Kosovo and the Battle of Tannenberg. You'll see how these battles were transformed into legends-and were also key turning points for the region's political landscape. Witness the creation of a united Poland-Lithuania, as well as the rise of modern empires in Prussia, Austria, and Russia.
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