"The Great Courses" series on the Black Death

[ThelmaLou]

I subscribe to the Great Courses channel on my Roku, which gives me access to all the courses all the time. At $20/month it’s a huge bargain, considering any one course might cost as much as $50.

I’ve been watching this one: The Black Death: The World’s Most Devastating Plague

I had started watching it before the Current Unpleasantness, and frankly, it didn’t grab me, besides being incredibly depressing. I picked it up again yesterday, and now I’m awash in irony. Still depressing, but in a more immediate way than heretofore. :eek: There are 24 lectures, so you really get the whole story, including more than you ever wanted to know about the digestive process of fleas. The parallels with what we’re experiencing today, as well as the differences are fascinating.

Here’s the short description:

In the late 1340s, a cataclysmic plague shook medieval Europe to its core. The bacterial disease known to us as the Black Death swept westward across the continent, leaving a path of destruction from Crimea and Constantinople to Italy, France, Spain, and ultimately most of Europe, traveling as far west as England and Iceland. Within these locations, the plague killed up to 50% of the population in less than 10 years—a staggering 75 million dead.

The link above gives the FULL description of the course including the topic of each of the lectures. At that link there’s also a trailer/preview of the course.

The lecturer is excellent:

Dr. Dorsey Armstrong is Associate Professor of English and Medieval Literature at Purdue University, where she has taught since 2002. The holder of an A.B. in English and Creative Writing from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature from Duke University, she also taught at Centenary College of Louisiana and at California State University, Long Beach. Her research interests include medieval women writers, late-medieval print culture, and the Arthurian legend, on which she has published extensively, including the 2009 book Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur: A New Modern English Translation Based on the Winchester Manuscript and Gender and the Chivalric Community in Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur, published in 2003. In January 2009, she became editor-in-chief of the academic journal Arthuriana, which publishes the most cutting-edge research on the legend of King Arthur, from its medieval origins to its enactments in the present moment. Her current research project-Mapping Malory’s Morte-is an exploration of the role played by geography in Malory’s version of the story of King Arthur.

The Great Courses program has been around for many years and the breadth and depth of subjects covered, from the sublime to the frivolous, is mind-boggling. Gives you something to watch during lockdown when you’ve binged on everything else.

I’d be interested in comments from other GC fans. I used to try to listen to the lectures when I walked, but my hearing is such crap that that never worked for me. I always leave the captioning on when I watch the videos. It’s good to have charts, graphs, pictures, etc.

[The_Tooth]

I’ve devoured most of the cosmology, physics, astronomy and history of science lectures as well as the histories of ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and medieval Europe, including the lectures you linked to concerning the plague. Some of the arts lectures as well. So I’m something of a fan.

[Thudlow_Boink]

@ThelmaLou

I subscribe to the Great Courses channel on my Roku, which gives me access to all the courses all the time.

And if you’re not a subscriber, occasionally they post individual lectures on YouTube, such as these three on the 1918 Spanish Flu:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkgQQaVgqMw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRU3RFZWY8I

[ThelmaLou]

@The_Tooth

I’ve devoured most of the cosmology, physics, astronomy and history of science lectures as well as the histories of ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and medieval Europe, including the lectures you linked to concerning the plague. Some of the arts lectures as well. So I’m something of a fan.

[dalej42]

I’m a huge fan. They’ve changed their name a few times, perhaps best known as The Teaching Company. I subscribe to the Great Courses plus and also have many courses that I bought prior to the streaming option being available.

[Little_Nemo]

Some of my personal favorites:

The Decisive Battles of World History - Professor Gregory S. Aldrete, Ph.D.
History of Ancient Rome - Professor Garrett G. Fagan, Ph.D.
Early Middle Ages/High Middle Ages/Late Middle Ages - Professor Philip Daileader, Ph.D.
Before 1776: Life in the American Colonies - Professor Robert J. Allison, Ph.D.
Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights - Professor John E. Finn, Ph.D.
Great American Bestsellers: The Books That Shaped America - Professor Peter Conn, Ph.D.
Fall and Rise of China - Professor Richard Baum, Ph.D.

[Chefguy]

We’ve done some of these courses in the past. I’ve gone through some of the wood working courses, which are good. At present, we’re doing Spanish, with Professor Bill Worden. The course is excellent, and his method is, too. We’re going through Spanish I a second time, and will start Spanish II in another week.

[MrAtoz]

I bought some courses on DVD back when they were The Teaching Company, and greatly enjoyed them. But the DVDs were pretty expensive, even when they were “on sale.” Now, like the OP, I subscribe to The Great Courses Plus, their streaming service, which is much more economical. Some favorites:

Victorian Britain, by Patrick Allit.
How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, by Robert Greenberg.
From Monet to Van Gogh, a History of Impressionsim, by Richard Bretell (not available on streaming, I don’t think).
History of the United States, by three different professors–it stops at the Clinton administration, so it’s a bit dated, but very well-done.
Story of Human Language, by John McWhorter

Looking back at some of the older courses compared to newer ones, it’s clear they’ve jazzed up their presentation in recent years. Earlier courses featured the professors on a rather staid looking “classroom” set, behind a lectern. There was even a window looking out on ivy-covered walls in the background. Newer courses have the professors standing on a more contemporary set, with (CGI?) backgrounds appropriate to the subject matter.

[Driver8]

I haven’t used the Great Courses yet, although now I’m intrigued.

I just wanted to point out that if your local library system provides the Kanopy add-on service you might be able to get them for free. The add-on service basically gives you a free quota of five classic/art movies per month, but the Great Courses library is available and its content doesn’t count against the quota.

So the Great Courses is basically free. Not sure which library systems subscribe to Kanopy. Here both the King County and Seattle Public Libraries do.

[Little_Nemo]

@MrAtoz

How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, by Robert Greenberg.

I just want to jump in here and offer an anti-recommendation. I’ve seen other people in past threads recommend Greenberg but I’ve found him to be the worst lecturer offered by the company that I’ve encountered.

[susan]

I’ve listened to Dorsey Armstrong on the medieval period–nice delivery. I was thinking about her plague course. Is this Audible book what you get from Great Courses, or is there video as well?

[The_Tooth]

I take a drink every time she says ‘indeed’.

[Thudlow_Boink]

@susan

I’ve listened to Dorsey Armstrong on the medieval period–nice delivery. I was thinking about her plague course. Is this Audible book what you get from Great Courses, or is there video as well?

@ThelmaLou

I used to try to listen to the lectures when I walked, but my hearing is such crap that that never worked for me. I always leave the captioning on when I watch the videos. It’s good to have charts, graphs, pictures, etc.

Most of The Great Courses’ offering are available in either audio-only (nowadays through Audible.com, like what susan linked to) or video, where you get to see the lecturer speaking and, depending on the course, a few or a lot of on-screen visual aids. In the case of this particular course, The Great Courses’s website says:

This course was developed to work equally well for both audio and video buyers. If you’re undecided which format is best for you for this course, here are some things to consider:
Video will be best for you if you are a visual learner or you would benefit from seeing images and graphics accompanying Professor Armstrong’s lectures. These lessons feature a wealth of visuals for video buyers. Throughout Lectures 1 through 12 a set of custom-created animated maps illustrate the spread of the Black Death from east to west, showing the clockwise turn it takes around Europe to end up back where it started. There are numerous other instructive images throughout the lessons, though, including the different symbolic imagery throughout Europe that grew to represent the Black Death, images of “Danse Macabre,” the elaborate tombs of wealthy plague victims, plus paintings, architecture, manuscripts, and more. You do not need to see the images to understand or enjoy the course content, however, and Professor Armstrong does not refer directly to any images that accompany her on-screen.
Audio is best for you if listening to lessons better suits your lifestyle. The course content has been crafted to be fully understood without the need for visuals, and the lessons themselves feature compelling storytelling throughout. You may find it helpful to refer to your free accompanying course guidebook to review some of the maps that illustrate the lands and empires of Europe, and the spread of the Black Death. In addition, the guidebook is helpful for looking up any names of people and places or dates mentioned throughout the lessons, and for reviewing timelines of the Black Death and later occurrences (Lectures 12 and 23, respectively).

[Musicat]

@The_Tooth

I take a drink every time she says ‘indeed’.

Then how are you still upright?

[susan]

Cool. Thank you*.

*indeed

[Little_Nemo]

@Thudlow_Boink

In the case of this particular course, The Great Courses’s website says:

I really think they should have added: The video version is a bad idea if you’re enjoying these lectures while driving.

[Little_Nemo]

@The_Tooth

I take a drink every time she says ‘indeed’.

If you still have a functioning liver left after that, listen to one of Robert Bucholz’s courses and take a shot every time he says “in other words”.

[RealityChuck]

We’ve watched quite a few of them. The ones I found fascinating were were Dutch Masters: The Age of Rembrandt, 30 Greatest Orchestral Works, Great Masters: Beethoven-His Life and Music (the last two were by Robert Greenberg, who is a terrific lecturer), and The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World.

Neal Degrasse Tyson has one on cosmology.

[Thudlow_Boink]

@Little_Nemo

I really think they should have added: The video version is a bad idea if you’re enjoying these lectures while driving.

Well, of course, with all that drinking going on.

[The_Tooth]

@RealityChuck

We’ve watched quite a few of them. The ones I found fascinating were were Dutch Masters: The Age of Rembrandt, 30 Greatest Orchestral Works, Great Masters: Beethoven-His Life and Music (the last two were by Robert Greenberg, who is a terrific lecturer), and The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World.

Neal Degrasse Tyson has one on cosmology.

My old neighbours are archeologists who studied under a couple of the professors who do the Classics lectures, including that last one you mentioned: The Other Side of History, or So You Want To Be A Roman Woman. I’m told they’re all as eccentric as they seem.