The Great Courses

Learn how a single tongue spoken 150,000 years ago evolved into the estimated 6,000 languages used around the world today....

Education can be enriching and transformative. It can also be downright excruciating—even demoralizing. When it comes to learning, why are some of us lovers and some of us haters? Welcome to the world of educational psychology....

Grammar! For many of us, the word triggers memories of finger-wagging schoolteachers, and of wrestling with the ambiguous and complicated rules of using formal language....

The power of an effective speech is undeniable. It has the capacity to engage, inform, motivate, and create change in an audience - and in the world....

What is our species' greatest invention? Medicine, computers, space travel? Not even close. The innovation that underlies each of our past achievements and those we still aspire to is language....

In an exciting partnership with the Smithsonian, The Great Courses presents these 24 lectures that offer an unforgettable tour of Japanese life and culture....

In the six lessons of It’s Not Too Late: Optimize Your Retirement Plan Now, Professor Ramon DeGennaro will help you get back on track toward a brighter financial future.

Chocolate is one of the most popular food items around the world. While most of us today consume it in the form of candy, desserts, and sugary drinks, chocolate has taken many forms as it traveled from its ancient Mesoamerican roots to the 21st century.

The human brain is one of the most complex entities in the universe. With 86 billion neurons communicating through an intricate symphony of synaptic connections and neurochemicals,….

Words. We use them all the time, every day, mostly without giving them much thought at all. We take for granted that they’re here at our disposal whenever we need them. But if you’ve ever wished you could communicate more effectively, words are the place to start....

Noted Japan expert Professor Mark J. Ravina of the University of Texas at Austin covers the politics, economics, and culture of the island nation since World War II - a conflict that saw the end of Japan’s dream of regional conquest, which Professor Ravina calls Empire 1.0....

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

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....

One of the greatest scientific feats of our era is the astonishing progress made in understanding biology-a progress to which the period we are living in right now has contributed the most....

What happened before the Big Bang? Why does time flow only forward? Do we live as part of a multiverse? Could the universe vanish in an instant? These questions and more are at the forefront of physics, cosmology, and quantum theory.

In shedding light on core questions about the Bible’s writing, Who Wrote the Bible? Searching for Its Origins and Authors offers you a provocative and enlightening look at the creation of this beloved book—a foundational document of our culture and civilization.

These 34 astonishing lectures will introduce you to the major language families of the world and their many offspring, including a variety of languages that are no longer spoken but provide vital links between past and present....

From the days of Freud and Skinner to the modern science of fMRIs and genetics, Introduction to Psychology is a grand introduction to one of the most captivating fields of inquiry - where the subject is you, and everyone around you....

Chemistry and Our Universe: How It All Works is your in-depth introduction to this vital field, taught through 60 engaging half-hour lectures that are suitable for any background or none at all....

The Middle East is a critically important area of our world. And, with its current prominence in international affairs, media images of the Middle East reach us on a daily basis....