Great writing begins--and ends--with the sentence. Whether two words ("Jesus wept.") or 1,287 words (a sentence in William Faulkner's Absalom! Absalom!), sentences have the power to captivate, entertain, motivate, educate, and, most importantly, delight. Understanding the variety of ways to construct sentences, from the smallest clause to the longest sentence, is important to enhancing your appreciation of great writing and potentially improving your...

Takes the viewer from the early study of motion through the path of modern discovery of relativity, quantum phenomena and the consequences of these discoveries for our understanding of space, time and the universe.

As explorers and traders, the Vikings played a decisive role in the formation of Latin Christendom, and particularly of Western Europe. In this course the Vikings will be studied not only as warriors, but also in other roles for which they are equally extraordinary: merchants, artists, kings, raiders, seafarers, shipbuilders, and creators of a remarkable literature of myths and sagas.

Professor Richard Baum, University of California, Los Angeles, delivers 48 lectures on the history of China.

This course explores the essential contours of the human experience in what has come to be called "Western civilization." From its humble beginnings in the ancient Near East to the dawn of the modern world, these presentations cover developments from about 3000 B.C. to A.D. 1600

Presents an analysis of the speeches of Abraham Lincoln.

Get a solid working knowledge of the spiritual beliefs that unite and divide us - as well as the perspective from the other side of these divisions. These 24 lectures offer you an opportunity to gain a solid grasp of the key ideas of religion itself - the issues that repeatedly surface when you look at any faith's beliefs, practices, and organization. Using five major religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism - as illustrations

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Although we often think of an artist's work as a window into their own inner world, that is not always the case. In the life of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, however, we can see perhaps the closest link to be found anywhere between a creative product and the shifting moods of a turbulent soul, which found its outlet through the glorious music created by the great Russian composer. To know his music, you must know the man, and this fast-moving series of...

Despite our best efforts, we're all vulnerable to believing things without using logic or having proper evidence—and it doesn't matter how educated or well read we are. But there is a method for avoiding such pitfalls of human nature, and it's called skepticism. By using rational inquiry and seeing subjects from a scientific perspective, we can approach even the most sensitive claims with clear eyes to ultimately arrive at the truth. During

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