I get mailers for “Great Courses” and we were wondering if they were any good. Obviously they won’t replace individual instruction/classes/etc, but they might be a nice birthday present for my wife who wants to know more about Latin, Roman history, etc.
Anybody have any experience with these products?
I own many of their courses, and some of them are quite good. The music courses by Prof. Greenberg are excellent and I really enjoyed the course on the American Civil War. They have reviews on their main site.
If you’re just interested in audio, you can buy courses cheaply through audible.com or iTunes.
Quite a few are really good. The only trouble with them is the trouble with all recorded lectures–a lecture from a great professor IRL is 20x better than that same lecture on tape. Something about the energy from a live person/audience interaction.
My favorite astronomy professor from my college days has done several for them. They’re good, but they’re not fantastic like IRL. But they’re good!
One thing about the company is that they really do work hard to get good lecturers and materials.
My stepfather is a college professor and he loves them. My mother was a college professor and is now a motivational speaker in education and has bought a few as well. I have looked at the catalog and almost bought some myself. They have a set from one of my real-life History professors at Tulane (Dr. Kenneth Harl - he does some of the Ancient Western Civilization courses). His real classes were hard as hell but he is an outstanding lecturer and very committed to teaching about his area of expertise to students of all levels.
My vote is that the products are legit and the experts that they select to develop the courses are among the best lecturers out there.
I’ve listened to the Greenberg lectures on Beethoven symphonies and the 30 greatest orchestral works, both excellent, and one on ancient Middle Eastern civilizations which was good. I had the CD version of the music and math lecture - it might have been better in the DVD version, but I wasn’t crazy about it. The one on the Hubble was okay, but unless you don’t know very much about astronomy you can do just as well finding them on the web. I got my wife one on forensics, which is pretty good so far.
All in all they keep a pretty high standard. I got one on music from another company, and it was not nearly as good as the Greenberg lectures.
I’ve never been disappointed with one. Wait until they are on sale.
I own quite a few and have listened to a great deal more of them through the library. Almost all of them are excellent, they’re usually the equivalent of an introductory university class.
I’ve enjoyed Bart Ehrman, but he does tend to cover much of the same material in his New Testament and religion courses. You’ll either love or hate Rufus Fears. His lecture style is unique, he might start off with Julius Caesar but somehow segue into Winston Churchill or Abraham Lincoln within a few minutes
Most libraries have a couple if you just want to try it out.
The first one I got was on relativity and quantum physics and I thought it was great. The second I got was on philosophy (which I’m generally more interested in) but it was like listening to paint dry.
its not the great courses but you might like Rick Roderick. Or, he may be too basic for you, IDK:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rick+roderick
I’ve listened to over 40 of them, and only one was less than fantastic. I found the one of formal logic to be sleep inducing, and as I enjoy these in the car, this was not a course I could continue.
Another recommendation for the company. If you’re interested in Roman history, you’re in luck: Garret Fagan’s History of Ancient Rome is one of their best series.
One thing to keep in mind is that all of their courses go on sale at least once a year. So you should never buy them at full price.
If free is more within one’s budget, I’ve taken some great courses at Coursera, edX and Udacity. These look lovely, though. What are the sale prices like?
I’ve been hooked on them for a couple of years now. Robert Hazen’s geology/mineralogy course was particularly good. Only one I wasn’t really enthusiastic about was a biography of Churchill, which was a little to worshipful.
Great, just what I need … something else to add to my “things I want to do but don’t have time for” list. Oh well - good to know that they offer good products. Thanks to the OP for asking this question; I’ve periodically wondered the same thing myself.
I wonder though, how can one have a true college course experience without having to take tests or write papers?
I have quite a few of them. Most are excellent, some are meh. If you want to get some knowledge of a subject, but aren’t interested in taking classes, exams, etc, it’s perfect. I knew nothing about music, and the music ones have helped meThe music ones I’ve gotten have helped me hear things I never heard before. (And I second the recommendation for Robert Greenberg). I’ve chinked some gaps in my knowledge of music and history. However, they are introductory courses, so don’t bother with getting them for field you already know a lot about. These are for beginners.
Wait til the one you want goes on sale. Every single course is on sale at some point during the year Listen to samples on the website to discover if you like the professor’s voice or style. They are available for online streaming now, too, for a bit less money, if you like that. The ones that are not dependent on visuals, like the music ones, or the history of espionage mini, make good listening on road trips.
Thanks for the replies, everybody. And thanks for the suggestion, Simplicio, to try the library.
It seems that they are all CD’s/DVD’s/streaming, which surprises me as I thought the offers were for books. Perhaps we’re receiving older mailers. 
Most (all?) of the courses come with study guides with lecture outlines, references, etc.
If you’re getting the mailers, have you got the ones with free CDs in them? That’s how I got started - listening to the free samples and getting hooked…