The Foundations of Western Civilization

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Free Online Course: The Foundations of Western Civilization provided by The Great Courses Plus is a comprehensive online course, which lasts for 25 hours worth of material. The course is taught in English and is free of charge.

Overview
  • In this sweeping course, you get the classic grand tour of ancient Western civilization, taught by an award-winning professor of history at Notre Dame.

    Topics Covered:

    • By This Professor
    • 01: "Western," "Civilization," and "Foundations"
    • 02: History Begins at Sumer
    • 03: Egypt-The Gift of the Nile
    • 04: The Hebrews-Small States and Big Ideas
    • 05: A Succession of Empires
    • 06: Wide-Ruling Agamemnon
    • 07: Dark Age and Archaic Greece
    • 08: The Greek Polis-Sparta
    • 09: The Greek Polis-Athens
    • 10: Civic Culture-Architecture and Drama
    • 11: The Birth of History
    • 12: From Greek Religion to Socratic Philosophy
    • 13: Plato and Aristotle
    • 14: The Failure of the Polis and the Rise of Alexander
    • 15: The Hellenistic World
    • 16: The Rise of Rome
    • 17: The Roman Republic-Government and Politics
    • 18: Roman Imperialism
    • 19: The Culture of the Roman Republic
    • 20: Rome-From Republic to Empire
    • 21: The Pax Romana
    • 22: Rome's Golden and Silver Ages
    • 23: Jesus and the New Testament
    • 24: The Emergence of a Christian Church
    • 25: Late Antiquity-Crisis and Response
    • 26: Barbarians and Emperors
    • 27: The Emergence of the Catholic Church
    • 28: Christian Culture in Late Antiquity
    • 29: Muhammad and Islam
    • 30: The Birth of Byzantium
    • 31: Barbarian Kingdoms in the West
    • 32: The World of Charlemagne
    • 33: The Carolingian Renaissance
    • 34: The Expansion of Europe
    • 35: The Chivalrous Society
    • 36: Medieval Political Traditions, I
    • 37: Medieval Political Traditions, II
    • 38: Scholastic Culture
    • 39: Vernacular Culture
    • 40: The Crisis of Renaissance Europe
    • 41: The Renaissance Problem
    • 42: Renaissance Portraits
    • 43: The Northern Renaissance
    • 44: The Protestant Reformation-Martin Luther
    • 45: The Protestant Reformation-John Calvin
    • 46: Catholic Reforms and "Confessionalization"
    • 47: Exploration and Empire