Academic Video Group

We are currently watching "A Brief History of the World" presented by Prof. Peter Stearns. You can learn more about it by going to "The Great Courses" Website at https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/a-brief-history-of-the-world.html . There are 36 episodes, so we will be watching it for 18 Weeks.

Here is the Introduction:

Think of the construction of the great pyramids of Egypt, or the development of democratic rule in ancient Greece. Recall the innovations of the European Renaissance and Enlightenment—the remarkable flowering of drama and the arts, and revolutionary breakthroughs in science and philosophy. These are intriguing and important episodes, familiar to students of history. But haven't you also wondered: What else was going on in the world?

Consider the enthralling tales of Venetian trader Marco Polo. He introduced the Western world to mysterious and exotic Asian cultures never before imagined. Those alien civilizations he visited had existed for centuries, even millennia. What do we know about that part of the story?

We know of the glories of ancient Rome, the commanding empire that ruled the known world—but what about the lands that were not "known"? What, for example, of the Han dynasty in China? It existed alongside the Roman Empire but developed a more enduring legacy than that of the emperors of the Eternal City. How does that imperial saga relate to the more familiar story of Roman domination?

And in the Dark Ages that came after the fall of the Roman Empire, we know that the era following Rome's glory days brought great political and social turmoil to the peoples of Europe. But at that time the Muslims of the Middle East and North Africa were experiencing remarkable cultural flourishing that produced innovations in art, medicine, philosophy, and technology—a true golden age for the civilization.

If you have wondered about these other histories—of China and Japan, of Russia, India, and the remote territories of Sub-Saharan Africa and South America—you can now discover how these stories fit in with commonly known accounts of Western traditions........ (more).

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This isn't a dull review of history, and the professor is quite engaging. We saw the first two Chapters on 31 May. Come join us to see the balance of these very interesting series.

Come join us each Thursday to watch two half hour segments, then spend the rest of the time discussing what we just saw.

For more information and to see more info on the current video please see:

http://www.humanists.org/blog/academic-videos/

This meeting is held at the Home of Hilton Brown in Mountain View. For directions to his home please send an email to Carl Angotti at carl@angotti.com.