The Great Courses

In the six lectures of Who Was Jane Austen? Sorting Fact from Fiction, you’ll join literary scholar Stephanie Insley Hershinow to explore some of the most enduring myths surrounding Austen and her work.

Was King Arthur a real person? What about Robin Hood? Is the Holy Grail a cup, or something else altogether? Did Europeans really burn millions of people at the stake for witchcraft? These are just a few of the questions you will explore with the help of medieval scholar Dorsey Armstrong....

We can learn a lot about American history and culture by looking at the horror films of the 1980s.

While the lectures cover an enormous range of key thinkers and ideas, they always focus on the most important ideas....

America’s relationship with alcohol is a fraught and inconsistent one.

The world has utterly transformed over the course of the last 2,000 years. Many of the norms, rules, and expectations of the ancient world can feel strange to our 21st century sensibilities.

Here, you will meet the fascinating, ancient polytheistic peoples of the Mediterranean and beyond, their many gods and goddesses, and their public and private worship practices, as you come to appreciate the foundational role religion played in their lives....

Even after deciphering its hieroglyphs, and marveling at its scarabs, mummies, obelisks, and sphinxes, Egyptian civilization remains one of history's most mysterious....

From Halloween costumes to patriotic parades to belly-busting meals, every holiday tradition tells a unique story—one encoded in symbols and layered meanings that stretch back over the centuries....

Beginning with the witch hunts of the early 15th century, Professor Jennifer McNabb takes you on an eye-opening exploration of witchcraft and superstition in Witchcraft in the Western Tradition....

Keeping relationships healthy and flourishing can be tough. That’s where Love in Your Golden Years can help.

In the nine lectures of Slow Down: How Doing Nothing Makes Us Better Humans, Constance Kassor, of Lawrence University in Wisconsin, shows you how to do what so many of us desperately need: Take a step back, reassess your priorities, and take some time for yourself.

In the six lectures of A Short History of Role-Playing Games, gaming consultant and avid gamer Jamin Warren will take you on a whirlwind tour of role-playing games, tracing a fascinating story of community-building, technical innovation, and, occasionally, cultural backlash.

In 10 riveting episodes, paleoanthropologist Elen Feuerriegel takes you on an unrivaled tour of the human fossil record in search of the biological and behavioral underpinnings of our very “humanness”....

How the Earth Works takes you on an astonishing journey through time and space. In 48 lectures, you will look at what went into making our planet - from the big bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth....

You’d think for a book as widely known, studied, and distributed as the Bible, the question of authorship would have been sorted out by now. But the question is more complex (and fascinating) than it seems....

This series of lectures offers detailed analyses of the strategic and tactical dimensions of the Civil War's most important campaigns....

Eating is an indispensable human activity. As a result, whether we realize it or not, the drive to obtain food has been a major catalyst across all of history....

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a collection of techniques for managing moods and modifying behaviors. Build a robust self-improvement toolkit with this expert guidance....

The past truly comes alive as you take a series of imaginative leaps into the world of history's anonymous citizens....