# "The Great Courses" --any experience/recommendations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735 "2014-03-15T00:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/21 "2014-03-16T01:16:12Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > Have you checked iTunes U? There are a lot of good courses on there in a variety of subjects, and lots and lots of them are free. I had considered purchasing some of the Great Courses a while back, but now that I’ve discovered iTunes U, there are more courses there for free than I can manage the time to listen to. Great suggestion. All these replies are helpful. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/22 "2014-03-16T01:27:41Z")
Here are the ones I’ve really liked: - [How to Listen to and Understand Great Music](http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=700) - [The Symphonies of Beethoven](http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=730) - [Joyce’s Ulysses](http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=237) - [American Civil War](http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=885) - [History of Ancient Rome](http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/courses.aspx?ps=918) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/23 "2014-03-16T03:41:28Z")
I discovered that even if you link in your post to the page the course is on, clicking on the link takes you to the Great Courses home page. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/24 "2014-03-16T03:48:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I discovered that even if you link in your post to the page the course is on, clicking on the link takes you to the Great Courses home page. Eh? Not true for me at all. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/25 "2014-03-16T07:32:59Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > Eh? Not true for me at all. Interesting. When I click on any/each/all of the links above in this thread, including the ones I posted, I go to the Great Courses home page, not the course page. \ ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/26 "2014-03-17T19:23:07Z")
I want to recommend Professor Marc Zender’s course “Writing and Civilization: From Ancient Worlds to Modernity”. It is about writing systems in general, with some emphasis (a third or so) on deciphering ancient writing systems. It is pretty good and covers such things as Chinese and Japanese scripts; decipherments of Egyptian, Linear B, and Mayan scripts; and even touches on Tengwar and what scripts might look like in the future. I took one of his Mayan hieroglyphics classes in person as well and he is a great teacher. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/27 "2014-03-17T19:44:09Z")
We’ve been going through their art courses. They are very good – the people involved are adapting their college level courses for the series. The **Dutch Masters: The Age of Rembrandt** was fascinating, and Richard Brettell has a nice series of them on various topics (his **Museum Masterpieces: The Louvre** got us hooked). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/28 "2014-03-17T20:00:25Z")
I’ve listened to somewhere over 40 of the courses. It’s a great way to pass the time in the car and livelier than a audiobook. But the courses are like the Mississippi River. A mile wide and a foot deep.The only bad one I ran into was one of formal logic, which was mind-numbing and dangerous to listen to while driving. For argumentation Professor David Zarefsky has a course I listen to at least once a year. Pick what looks like it will interest you. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/29 "2014-03-18T15:40:31Z")
Any thoughts on Bill Messenger? I’d never really looked into these before coming across this thread, but I just took a look and it turns out that _[Elements of Jazz](http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=728)_ – one of the few courses I’d be interested in – is currently on sale for $16. (Thanks, **ThelmaLou**!) I might just give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/30 "2014-08-28T12:40:33Z")
I’m currently listening to “The Story of Human Language” by John McWhorter, which I’m finding fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/31 "2014-08-28T14:14:52Z")
Since this is restarted, I’ll suggest anyone interested check their local library. The regional libraries (larger than the branch libraries) in Fairfax County, VA have a some of these available. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/32 "2014-08-28T14:40:18Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Since this is restarted, I’ll suggest anyone interested check their local library. The regional libraries (larger than the branch libraries) in Fairfax County, VA have a some of these available. I’ve also borrowed a lot of these from my local library. A tip for those in Rochester, NY. The best selections are in the Central Library (but it’s split into sections in the old and new buildings) and the Brighton and Winton branches. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/33 "2014-08-28T16:56:35Z")
Since this was my thread, I’ll check back in. I tried three different courses and found all three of them boring, poorly organized, and pretty useless. I don’t remember what they were now… one was on romantic poets, a very interesting topic, but it was deadly. Another one was a history subject. A better thing is to find a book on the subject you like and get the audio book. The content has been edited, organized, compacted, and it is read by a professional actor without the tics, ahems, coughs, and distracting repetition of a Real Teacher. Not to mention it will be WAAAAY cheaper than a Great Courses course. I know many love these courses and have had wonderful experiences with them. I don’t and I didn’t. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/34 "2014-08-28T17:22:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I tried three different courses and found all three of them boring, poorly organized, and pretty useless. I don’t remember what they were now… one was on romantic poets, a very interesting topic, but it was deadly. Another one was a history subject. > > A better thing is to find a book on the subject you like and get the audio book. The content has been edited, organized, compacted, and it is read by a professional actor without the tics, ahems, coughs, and distracting repetition of a Real Teacher. Not to mention it will be WAAAAY cheaper than a Great Courses course. > > I know many love these courses and have had wonderful experiences with them. I don’t and I didn’t. YMMV. There are _some_ of them that are way overrated, and about which I would agree with your criticisms. I’m sorry you got some duds. Did you buy them directly from the Teaching Company? If so, do you know about their return/exchange policy? [QUOTE=The Teaching Company] Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed! If a course is ever less than completely satisfying, you may exchange it for another of equal value at any time. You may also return any course, within one year of initial purchase, for a full refund. And, if a disc ever breaks, warps, or gets damaged, we’ll replace it as long as the course is in production, free. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/35 "2014-08-28T17:57:02Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There are _some_ of them that are way overrated, and about which I would agree with your criticisms. I’m sorry you got some duds. Did you buy them directly from the Teaching Company? If so, do you know about their return/exchange policy? I didn’t know about that. Thanks. I got downloads, not disks. I picked only ones that got rave reviews but \ stuff happens. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735/36 "2014-08-28T19:01:26Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Since this was my thread, I’ll check back in. > > I tried three different courses and found all three of them boring, poorly organized, and pretty useless. I don’t remember what they were now… one was on romantic poets, a very interesting topic, but it was deadly. Another one was a history subject. > > A better thing is to find a book on the subject you like and get the audio book. The content has been edited, organized, compacted, and it is read by a professional actor without the tics, ahems, coughs, and distracting repetition of a Real Teacher. Not to mention it will be WAAAAY cheaper than a Great Courses course. > > I know many love these courses and have had wonderful experiences with them. I don’t and I didn’t. YMMV. Fair enough. I’ll admit there are times when I find a particular individual’s speaking style distracting me from the material he’s presenting. One of the worst? Harold Bloom. Highly respected author. Terrible speaker. He just drones on and on. Occasionally, to emphasize a point, he drones louder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-courses-any-experience-recommendations/683735.md?page=1)