Traditional Thomistic Catholic

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  • The last 7 sentence Jesus Christ Spoke from the Cross Before Dying

    The last 7 sentence Jesus Christ Spoke from the Cross Before Dying

    During this Easter season it might be good to meditate on the last things Jesus said before dying. The additional commentary was gleamed from a google AI search. The recounting of the final words was originally found in a pamphlet entitled “Christian Doctrine Drills” Published by D.B. Hansen & Sons, Chicago, Illinois circa 1965 (I found no copyright or other official dating of the pamphlet only a reference to the Eucharistic fasting rules being newly changed as of 1964).

    1. Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)
    2. Mother, behold Thy son: son behold Thy mother. (John 19:26-27 referring to the Blessed Virgin and the apostle John.
    3. I thirst. (John 19:28)
    4. Amen I say to the, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43. “Amen” in some translations is translated to the word “Truly”).
    5. My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34. This sentence is a quotation from the second verse of Psalm 21 in a Catholic Bible -Psalm 22 in a protestant bible, which concludes with a message of hope and God’s ultimate triumph.” In my humble opinion, this triumph spoken of here is the coming catholic church which started from Christs death on the cross.  Pentecost was the actual start, but Jesus Christ’s death on the cross made it inevitable. This is a quote of the last few paragraphs of the psalm verses 21-32:

    21-Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.  22- Save me from the lion’s mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns  [Psalms 21:22]  23 I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee.  24 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him.  25 Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face from me: and when I cried to him he heard me.

     26 With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him.  27 The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.  28 All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight.  29 For the kingdom is the Lord’s; and he shall have dominion over the nations.  30 All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.

     31 And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him.  32 There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.)

    6. It is consummated. (John 19:30)

    7. Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. (Luke 23:46, which is also a direct quotation from Psalms 30:6 in the Catholic Douey-Rheims Bible, and I think Psalm 31:5 in a protestant translation of the Bible.

  • Sanctifying Grace, the Sacraments and the Mystical Body of Christ

    Sanctifying Grace, the Sacraments and the Mystical Body of Christ

          I’ve covered before the difference between sanctifying grace and actual grace. Actual grace is gratuitous grace from God that helps us grow closer to Him, come back to Him, learn about him even in the state of mortal sin.  But if we are in the state of mortal sin, we cannot have God’s own life, that is sanctifying grace, in our souls and are doomed to hell, to eternal death, eternal punishment, eternal torment without it.  About the only way to get sanctifying grace is through, Christs own sacraments, through his church, the Catholic Church’s sacraments.  I say about the only way to get it is through his church, there are only 2 people we know who had sanctifying grace without Jesus Christ’s church at the time of his birth (I say that because Adam and Eve had it before their fall) and that was the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ himself since He was God’s only begotten Son, He also had God’s own life.

          Other’s may have received it because sanctifying grace is God’s gift to give but only if that person’s will is perfectly aligned with God’s own will.  God’s will if we have knowledge of the Catholic Church, is to worship Him in it, because it was his Sons own will, having died on the cross for us, that we worship His Father, and by extension, Jesus Christ, in the church He started and not by the heresy’s and justifications of priests from his own church, like Martin Luther (originally a Catholic priest) started.  It is my opinion, based on Romans 13:8-10 and Jesus Christs own words in John 15:13 that some one that chooses to die in Jesus Christ’s name, like, as I understand, a young lady at the Colombine High School shooting, has done what was needed to merit the judgement that she was willing to follow Christ in anyway He wanted, despite her possible ignorance of that path. God does not require of us more that we can possibly give, and if we do the very best we possibly can, according to His own yard stick, I think we can be saved!

             Now, those under the Old Testament law, children of Isreal, whose lives were aligned with God’s received that sanctifying grace, in the time between when Christ died on the cross, personally given by Him, as the Messiah promised to save them, when He descended into hell to “rescue” them, and when He arose from the dead – on Easter morning.   

          We first received the sanctifying grace from baptism.  Can only a Catholic priest or Catholic baptize someone else, including a baby?  No, any human being with the intent of giving that gift to another person can.  If that occurs then all of that person’s sins are forgiven and assuming he or she did not commit a mortal sin for the rest of their lives they would be destined for heaven, possibly with some time in purgatory.  A child of less than 5 would likely be destined for heaven, If baptized prior to his or her death.

    For more indepth information on the Sacraments and their relations with Sanctifying Grace I suggest reading “Of Sacraments and Sacrifice.” by Clifford Howell, S.J.

  • Great Courses on Raising Children and for Students in General

    Great Courses on Raising Children and for Students in General

          The last blog was basically how a Catholic family, I know, raised their kids and the results. Supposedly 67% of children whose dads attended church regularly will grow up to attend church regularly even if the mother doesn’t. (https://www.facebook.com/dralvedaking/posts/when-a-father-leads-with-faith-generations-followaccording-to-studies-67-of-chil/1290962282385978/ ) This family proves this correct: 1 catholic, 1 protestant, and 1 atheist.  In my opinion these are the basics for raising a decent child.  The following information may offer hints on how to raise a better child.

         The following are secular scientific and fact-based courses on how children learn the world round.  If you followed the last blog, chances are you should at least get secularly good or exceptional children.  I added the Course “Music and the Brain” because the wife of the catholic family mentioned earlier listened to classical music while pregnant as well as had her children taught the violin with one winning 2nd place at the grandmaster level in the Arizona State fiddle competition, and the other 2 play violin at a local children’s orchestra.  The last one is on the spiritual brain and possibly may hold the key on how to get a probability better than 67% of your children being religious, conceivably the most important measure of being a good parent in that it impacts their immortal souls!

          A list of the courses outlined are as follows:

    – Scientific Secrets: for Raising Kids Who Thrive

    – Raising Emotionally and Socially Healthy Kids

    – How the World Learns: Comparative Educational Systems

    – Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning, 2nd Edition

    – The Art of Debate

    – Effective research Methods for Any Project

    – Music and the Brain

    – The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience

          The first course is entitled “Scientific Secrets: for Raising Kids Who Thrive.”

          Overview and lecturer’s credentials from the Great Courses Website

    Overview

    Parenting advice isn’t hard to find. There are thousands of books on the subject, as well as a multitude of websites. Much has also been written on the science of child development. What’s been lacking, however, are sources of reliable advice that bring together the scientific research and its real-world applications. This course bridges the divide. In 24 engaging lectures, an expert in the cognitive development of early childhood presents what scientific research has revealed about the things parents can actively do to promote children’s long-term development right from birth. Professor Vishton delivers a wealth of practical tips to help children reach their full potential intellectually, emotionally, physically, and socially. And he supports it all with findings culled from the latest scientific literature. You’ll touch on topics across all areas of childrearing, from sleep and nutrition to behavior and academics. And you’ll get answers to many of the most common parenting questions:

    • Should I sleep-train my baby by letting her “cry it out”?
    • Should I let my infant, toddler, or child watch TV-and if so, how much?
    • Should I allow my child to play video games?
    • Should I pressure my picky eater to finish her vegetables?
    • Should I spank my child when he misbehaves?

    In addition to learning methods for laying an early foundation in subjects such as math and reading, you’ll gain information for boosting your children’s overall cognitive abilities-and even their IQ scores.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Peter M. Vishton is Associate Professor of Psychology at The College of William & Mary. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Cornell University. Before joining the faculty of William & Mary, he taught at Northwestern University and served as the program director for developmental and learning sciences at the National Science Foundation. A consulting editor for the journal Child Development, Professor Vishton has published articles in many of the top journals in the field of psychology. Among these are Psychological Science, Science, and the Journal of Experimental Psychology. He is also the creator of the DVD What Babies Can Do: An Activity-Based Guide to Infant Development. In addition to teaching, Professor Vishton devotes much of his career to researching the perception and action control of both infants and adults. His studies-funded by prestigious institutions, including the National Institute of Child Health and Development and the National Science Foundation-focus on cognitive, perceptual, and motor development; visually guided action; visual perception; computational vision and motor control; and human-computer interface. Professor Vishton has presented his findings at numerous conferences and invited talks throughout the United States and Europe.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Self-Control-From Tummy Time to Tae Kwon Do

    Lecture 2:  Seeing, Hearing Thinking, Learning Infants

    Lecture 3:  Sleep-Getting Enough “Vitamin S”

    Lecture 4:  Healthy Eating Habits For Life

    Lecture 5: Baby Talk, Sign Language, and Speech

    Lecture 6: Shaping Behavior-How Kids and Rats Differ

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Which Style of Parenting Is Best?

    Lecture 8:  The Joy of Reading and the Place of Phonics

    Lecture 9:  IQ Hazards and Boosting Intelligence

    Lecture 10: Enhancing Your Child’s Memory

    Lecture 11:  Parent as Teacher-Homework and Beyond

    Lecture 12: Getting a Jump on Math-Without Math Anxiety

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Advantages of a Second Language

    Lecture 14:  What TV and Video Can and Can’t Teach

    Lecture 15:  Values and Pitfalls of Video Games

    Lecture 16:  Promoting Persistence and Self-Esteem

    Lecture 17: Encouraging Cooperation, Sharing, Empathy

    Lecture 18:  Peer Conflicts and Social Development

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Maria Montessori at Home for Young Children

    Lecture 20: Schooling and the Montessori Approach

    Lecture 21: Physical Development and Education

    Lecture 22: The Adolescent Brain

    Lecture 23:  Becoming a Parent-Scientist

    Lecture 24:  The Great Values of an Unhurried Childhood.

         The second course is entitled “Raising Emotionally and Socially Healthy Kids” and as for the first course and the rest of the Courses Covered in this and future blogs on the great courses the over view and lecturers credentials are taken from the Great Courses website.

    Overview

          As a parent, you can’t make friends for your children, nor can you prevent them from ever feeling hurt or upset. But with the right guidance, you can support them in learning how to solve problems, cope with feelings, and build satisfying relationships. Raising Emotionally and Socially Healthy Kids gives you access to the same practical advice and actionable plans that Dr. Kennedy-Moore – an in-demand psychologist and author who serves on the advisory board for Parents magazine – shares with clients in her Princeton, New Jersey, practice. Drawing from the her extensive clinical experience – as well as personal experience as a mother of four – these 12 lectures provide a deeper understanding of your child’s development and ways to address common stumbling blocks with compassion. In the first half, you’ll focus on emotional intelligence and the pivotal role parents can play in helping children understand and cope with their feelings. You’ll discover strategies for managing early-childhood meltdowns; simple techniques to inspire cooperation; constructive ways to deal with back-talk, aggression, and unkind behavior; methods to help children cope with anxiety; and more. In the latter half, you’ll turn to social intelligence and the challenges children face in making friends, plus practical ways you can guide them through the process. Here, you’ll explore how you can support your child in getting along with others; being a good sport; handling conflicts; dealing with bullying; and coping with gossip and cliques. You’ll conclude with a candid discussion of friendship in the digital age, looking at video game playing and the relatively new but troubling phenomena of cyberbullying and “Facebook depression”.

    Lecturer

    Eileen Kennedy-Moore is an author and clinical psychologist who specializes in parenting and children’s feelings and friendships at her private practice in Princeton, New Jersey (license #35SI00425400). She earned her BA in Psychology from Northwestern University and her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Stony Brook University. 

    Dr. Kennedy-Moore is the author or coauthor of four books for parents, including Kid Confidence: Help Your Child Make Friends, Build Resilience, and Develop Self-Esteem and What’s My Child Thinking? Practical Child Psychology for Modern Parents with Tanith Carey. She is also the author of a book for mental health professionals, Expressing Emotion: Myths, Realities, and Therapeutic Strategies. Her books for children include the award-winning What About Me? 12 Ways to Get Your Parents’ Attention (without Hitting Your Sister) and Growing Friendships: A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends.

    Dr. Kennedy-Moore has published academic articles in the Review of General Psychology and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. She has been quoted in numerous popular magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Parents, Real Simple, Working Mother, Woman’s Day, and the Chicago Tribune. She serves on the advisory board for Parents magazine, and her blog, Growing Friendships at PsychologyToday.com, has more than 4 million views. She has also been a featured guest on Live with Kelly and Ryan, TODAY, Good Day Philadelphia, and many highly rated and nationally syndicated radio shows.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Developing Your Child’s Emotional Intelligence

    Lecture 2: Anxiety-The Way Out is Through

    Lecture 3: How Kids Manage Anger-Positive Discipline

    Lecture 4:  Building Authentic Self-Esteem

    Lecture 5: Teaching Kids to Care – The Roots of Empathy

    Lecture 6: What makes Kids happy?

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: How Children Make Friends

    Lecture 8: Playing Well with Others

    Lecture 9:  Making Up and Breaking up with Friends

    Lecture 10:  Belonging, Status, Popularity and Rejection

    Lecture 11:  Teasing and Bullying

    Lecture 12:  Growing up in the Digital Age

          The next Course is an audio course entitled “How the World Learns: Comparative Educational Systems” on Compact Disc (CD), unlike the rest of the lectures in this particular blog which are on DVD. Once again the overview and lecturers credentials are from the Great Courses Website.

    Overview

    Seeing what education looks like in other countries and contexts – how the model America innovated has been adapted and implemented elsewhere – helps us understand how other systems create success. In each of these 24 thought-provoking lectures, you’ll engage in a detailed comparison of teaching methods and student achievement in both primary and secondary schools, from the focus on STEM instruction and the intent of morals education to the role of preschool and the importance of creativity. You’ll discover why Finland and South Korea consistently rank as the two best educational systems despite having diametrically opposed approaches, and consider the unique cultural challenges facing schools from America to South Africa. As you embark on this educational odyssey around the world, you’ll examine schools as close as Tulsa, Oklahoma and as far-flung as Ghana, Japan, and Myanmar. You may be surprised to learn that for all their differences, approaches to teaching don’t vary as widely as one might expect.

    With Professor Wiseman’s guidance, you’ll use internationally comparative data to identify strengths and weaknesses and to see how this information is used – and sometimes misused – to enact policies that shape what happens in classrooms. Along the way, you’ll contemplate a number of important questions about the goals of education and the ways teachers may help students reach them. Are teachers responsible for academic content only, or are they also caregivers and counselors? Which is more important: gaining knowledge or learning new skills? Is standardized testing the best way to measure what a person knows or is capable of? Is the point of school to prepare kids for college or for a job?

    These lectures go beyond the rhetoric of crisis and prescriptions for quick fixes to reveal the fullest picture possible of the practices that produce results (or don’t), the external factors over which schools have little control, and the potential for success.

    Lecturer

    Professor Alexander W. Wiseman is an Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in both Comparative and International Education and Educational Theory and Policy from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Wiseman has more than 19 years of professional experience, working worldwide with government education departments, university-based teacher education programs, and community-based professional development programs for teachers. He also has been a classroom teacher in both the United States and East Asia, and he currently serves as a frequent strategic planning and development consultant for ministries of education and national education organizations worldwide. He is a co-chair of the Committee on International Accreditation for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. Professor Wiseman is the author of many research-to-practice articles and books. Recent articles have appeared in Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education; Prospects: Quarterly Review of Comparative Education; American Behavioral Scientist; Computers & Education; and Research in Comparative and International Education. In addition, Professor Wiseman serves as the series editor for the International Perspectives on Education and Society volume series and as the chief editor of the Annual Review of Comparative and International Education volume. He also is the senior editor of the peer-reviewed journal FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: The Global Challenge to Educate

    Lecture 2: Sputnik Launches the Science-Math Race

       Disc 2

    Lecture 3: Education is Life

    Lecture 4: Evidence-Based Policy in Education

       Disc 3

    Lecture 5: What Should We Compare about Education?

    Lecture 6: The World Learns from Horace Mann

       Disc 4

    Lecture 7: When Culture Invades the Classroom

    Lecture 8: Germany and Japan’s Shattered Expectations

       Disc 5

    Lecture 9:  Borrowing Foreign School Cultures

    Lecture 10:  The Value in Linking School to Jobs

       Disc 6

    Lecture 11: Why Blame the Teacher?

    Lecture 12: Gender Pipeline Lifts Equality Dream

       Disc 7

    Lecture 13: Gulf Schools: The Non-National Advantage

    Lecture 14:  Who is Accountable for Education?

       Disc 8 

    Lecture 15: How Parents Shape Student Outcomes

    Lecture 16: Reading, Writing, and Religion

        Disc 9

    Lecture 17: International Test Scores: All and Nothing

    Lecture 18: Turning a Bood Teacher Into a Great One

        Disc 10

    Lecture 19: The Foundations of Civil Society

    Lecture 20: From National Student to Global Citizen

        Disc 11

    Lecture 21: The Problem with Teaching’s Best Practices

    Lecture 22: A School Inside Your Phone?

        Disc 12

    Lecture 23: The Rich-and-Poor Learning Cycle

    Lecture 24:  How to Fix Education: Heart, Head, Hands

    The next 2 courses are general courses for teenage and college students, the first of which is entitled “Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning, 2nd Edition” and which the overview and lecturer’s credentials are once more taken from the Great Courses Website for both courses.

    Overview

    What is effective reasoning? And how can it be done persuasively? These questions have been asked for thousands of years, yet some of the best thinking on reasoning and argumentation is recent and represents a break from the past. These 24 engaging lectures teach you how to reason, how to persuade others that what you think is right, and how to judge and answer the arguments of others – and how they will judge yours. Professor Zarefsky makes argumentation accessible and familiar by breaking it into five easy-to-understand components: The tools of formal logic, while essential and even definitive for mathematics and programming computers, are inadequate to decide most controversial issues. This course shows more useful approaches. Arguments can be divided into three parts: a claim, evidence, and an inference linking the evidence to the claim. All arguments fall into a handful of distinctive categories, and the same issues are at stake each time one of these distinctive patterns occurs. Three kinds of evidence can be advanced to prove an argument that something is true: objective data, social consensus, and personal credibility. There are six kinds of inference that link evidence to a claim: example, cause, sign, analogy, narrative, and form. How to use and challenge each is explained. Along the way, you’ll look at numerous actual controversies with a perspective that allows you to see the structure of all disputes. In this way, argument becomes an exchange, not just a flurry of words

    Lecturer

    Dr. David Zarefsky is the Owen L. Coon Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University, where he has taught for over 30 years. He earned his B.S., master’s degree, and Ph.D. from Northwestern University. From 1988 through 2000, he served as the Dean of the School of Speech.

    A nationally recognized authority on rhetoric and forensics, he is a past president of the National Communication Association (NCA) and recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Award in 1994 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2001. On no fewer than 13 occasions, his outstanding lecturing skills have been recognized by the inclusion of his name on Northwestern’s Associated Student Government Honor Roll for Teaching.

    Dr. Zarefsky has authored five books, edited three more, and published over 50 scholarly articles and reviews. He received the 1986 National Communication Association’s Winans-Wichelns Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address for his book President Johnson’s War on Poverty: Rhetoric and History and the same award again in 1991 for Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: Introduction to Argumentation and Rhetoric

    Lecture 2: Underlying Assumptions of Argumentation

    Lecture 3: Formal and Informal Argumentation

    Lecture 4: History of Argumentation Studies

    Lecture 5: Argument Analysis and Diagramming

    Lecture 6: Complex Structures of Argument

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Case Construction-Requirements and Options

    Lecture 8: Stasis-The heart of the Controversy

    Lecture 9:  Attack and Defense I

    Lecture 10:  attack and Defense II

    Lecture 11: Language and Style in Argument

    Lecture 12: Evaluating Evidence

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Reasoning from Parts to Whole

    Lecture 14:  Reasoning with Comparisons

    Lecture 15:  Establishing Correlations

    Lecture 16: Moving from Cause to Effect

    Lecture 17:  Commonplaces and Arguments from Form

    Lecture 18: Hybrid Patterns of Inference

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Validity and Fallacies I

    Lecture 20:  Validity and Fallacies II

    Lecture 21: Arguments between Friends

    Lecture 22:  Arguments among Experts

    Lecture 23: Public Argument and Democratic Life

    Lecture 24: The Ends of Argumentation

       The next course is entitled “The Art of Debate,” and is about exactly what the title implies, showing how debate is actually an art and methods needed to excel at it!

    Overview

    If you’re like many people, you might associate debate with either a college club or a TV political “debate” that features two or more candidates talking over each other. But if these are your only associations with debating, you’re missing out on an exhilarating intellectual pursuit that can help you in all aspects of your daily life. The ability to debate – to present persuasive arguments, pierce the logic of others, and turn the tables against withering cross-examinations – is one of the truest tests of one’s intellectual capacity.

    The Art of Debate offers you the ultimate how-to guide for anyone interested in learning this powerful skill. Taught by Professor Jarrod Atchison of Wake Forest University, these 24 stimulating lectures will help you develop your command of logic, construct clear and concise arguments, recognize the fallacies in others’ reasoning, and sharpen your strategic thinking skills. While Professor Atchison provides you with an abundance of insight into the formal elements of debate, this focus of this course is on applied debating – developing skills that you can apply to the real world to help you think through complex issues and arrive at better decisions.

    Whether you are trying to make a tough business decision or lead a lively discussion at the dinner table, this course will provide insight not only into how to win arguments, but how to present ideas more generally. The Art of Debate offers a dynamic introduction to one of life’s most fascinating skills.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Jarrod Atchison is an Associate Professor of Communication at Wake Forest University, where he teaches such courses as Argumentation Theory and Debate and Advocacy. He is also the Director of Debate for the Wake Forest University Debate Team, which dates back to 1835 and has won multiple national championships. Dr. Atchison received his Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Georgia, where he served as an assistant debate coach. As an undergraduate at Wake Forest University, Dr. Atchison was a Presidential Scholar in debate who was ranked the third overall individual speaker at the 2001 National Debate Tournament.

    Dr. Atchison has published extensively on the study of argumentation and rhetoric and is the author of a forthcoming book on the rhetorical leadership of Jefferson Davis. He researches 19th-century American public address, with an emphasis on the American Civil War. Additionally, Dr. Atchison researches public argument, including the best practices for intercollegiate debate. Dr. Atchison has been nominated twice for the Reid-Doyle Prize for Excellence in Teaching at Wake Forest University and was honored with the George Ziegmueller Award by the National Debate Tournament Board of Trustees in 2015. In the summer, Dr. Atchison works with high school students on the art of debate and was consistently voted the top-ranked lecturer at the University of Michigan summer debate workshop.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  The Hidden Value of Debate

    Lecture 2:  When and How to Use Debate

    Lecture 3: The Proposition: Choosing What to Debate

    Lecture 4:  The Structure of Argument

    Lecture 5: Using Evidence in Debate

    Lecture 6: Fallacies in Your Opponent’s Research

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Fallacies in Your Opponent’s Arguments

    Lecture 8: Elements of a Good Case

    Lecture 9:  Arguing for the Affirmative

    Lecture 10:  Building Affirmative Cases

    Lecture 11: Arguing for the Negative

    Lecture 12:  Building Negative Cases

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: The Crucible of Cross-Examination

    Lecture 14:  Asking and Answering Leading Questions

    Lecture 15:  Open-Ended Questions: Setting Traps

    Lecture 16:  Essentials of a Persuasive Rebuttal

    Lecture 17:  Dealing with the Unexpected in Debate

    Lecture 18: “Even If” Arguments: The Essential Weapon

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Debate Jujitsu: Flipping the Warrant

    Lecture 20:  The Power of Concessions

    Lecture 21: Conditional Argumentation

    Lecture 22:  Line-by-Line Refutation

    Lecture 23:  Judging Debates: The Art of the Decision

    Lecture 24:  Winning the Cocktail Party

        The next course is entitled “Effective research Methods for any Project,” which can be of value to both students and business people.

    Overview

    We rely on effective research in many areas of life. But what makes research effective? Any good research rests upon, above all else, method. And the best research methods are accessible and easy to utilize once you master them.

    In the 24 dynamic lectures of Effective Research Methods for Any Project, Professor Amanda M. Rosen of Webster University, introduces you to the remarkable procedures and techniques that make research such a powerful tool. This brilliantly conceived course gives you a deep, detailed, and practical guide to proper research methods—methods that are broadly applicable to all kinds of research. As groundwork for your own research, you’ll investigate research ethics, the role of reviewing the scholarly literature, how to choose a topic and a research question, how to choose the best research design, and how to measure your data.

    You’ll move from the most important categories of research design and methodology from “The Classic Experiment” where you grasp the fundamentals behind the hallmark of research through the various methodologies including “Applied Research” where you learn how experts seek collaborative solutions to real world problems, and even learn best practices to share your findings in the most impactful way possible, from the formal research report to less formal approaches.

    Gain real skills you can apply every day and in every project with this practical and transformative approach to knowledge creation.

    Lecturer

    Amanda M. Rosen is an Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations and a fellow in the Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at Webster University, where she regularly teaches research methods at both undergraduate and graduate levels. She holds a BA in Political and Economic Studies of Europe from Duke University as well as an MA and a PhD in Political Science from The Ohio State University. Dr. Rosen’s research specialization is the scholarship of teaching and learning, with particular focus on games and simulations, experiential learning, human rights education, and transparent teaching. She also works on climate change policy making, issues of human security, and international human rights of marriage and the family. Dr. Rosen’s work can be found in the Journal of Political Science Education; PS: Political Science & Politics; International Studies Perspectives; and Politics & Policy. She is also a cofounder of the Active Learning in Political Science blog. Dr. Rosen has been recognized with numerous teaching awards, including the International Studies Association’s Deborah Gerner Innovative Teaching Award, the William T. Kemper Award for Teaching Excellence, and the CQ Press Award for Teaching Innovation. She has led numerous workshops on teaching and pedagogy at conferences and universities and serves as the vice president and program chair for the International Studies Association’s International Education section.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: Why Research Methods Matter

    Lecture 2: Characteristics of Good Research

    Lecture 3: Doing Research Ethically

    Lecture 4: From Topic of Interest to Research Question

    Lecture 5: What’s Already Known? The Literature Review

    Lecture 6: Generating Hypotheses and Theories

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Selecting a Research Design

    Lecture 8: Measuring Concepts and Phenomena

    Lecture 9:  Choosing Populations, Samples, and Cases

    Lecture 10: The Classic Experiment

    Lecture 11: The Value of Quasi Experiments

    Lecture 12: Designing and Conducting a Survey

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Understanding Election Polls

    Lecture 14:  Research by Case Study

    Lecture 15: Interpretivism and Field Research

    Lecture 16: Applied, Evaluative, and Action Research

    Lecture 17: gathering and Preparing Data

    Lecture 18: Using Statistics to Interpret Data

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: Statistical Inferences from Data

    Lecture 20: assessing Correlation and Causation

    Lecture 21: From Bivariate to Multivariate Analysis

    Lecture 22: Foundations of Qualitative Analysis

    Lecture 23: Qualitative Analysis Variations

    Lecture 24: The Art of Presenting Your Findings

    The Second to the last course to be outlined is called “Music and the Brain,” and we once again take the overview and lecturers credentials from the Great Courses Website.

    Overview

    Music is an integral part of humanity. Every culture has music, from the largest society to the smallest tribe. Its marvelous range of melodies, themes, and rhythms taps into something universal. Babies are soothed by it. Young adults dance for hours to it.  Older adults can relive their youth with the vivid memories it evokes. Music is part of our most  important rituals, and it has been the medium of some of our greatest works of art.

    Yet even though music is intimately woven into the fabric of our lives, that fact itself remains puzzling, provoking questions such as: How and why did musical behavior originate? What gives mere tones such a powerful effect on our emotions? Are we born with our sense of music, or do we acquire it?

    In the last 20 years, researchers have come closer to solving these riddles thanks to cognitive neuroscience, which integrates the study of human mental processes with the study of the brain. This exciting field has not only helped us address age-old questions about music; it also allows us to ask new ones, like: Do the brains of musicians differ from non-musicians? Can musical training promote cognitive development? Is there a deep connection between music and language?

    Join neuroscientist and professor of psychology Dr. Aniruddh Patel to probe one of the mind’s most profound mysteries. Covering the latest research findings – from the origins of music’s emotional powers to the deficits involved in amusia, or the inability to hear music – these 18 enthralling lectures will make you think about music and your brain in a new way.

    Designed for music lovers and brain enthusiasts at all levels, Music and the Brain is truly interdisciplinary and assumes no prior background in neuroscience or music theory. Here is your unrivaled explanation of this marvelous gift.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Aniruddh D. Patel is a Professor of Psychology at Tufts University. He received his Ph.D. in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University, where he studied with Edward O. Wilson and Evan Balaban. His research focuses on the cognitive neuroscience of music. Prior to arriving at Tufts, Professor Patel was the Esther J. Burnham Senior Fellow at The Neurosciences Institute, a scientific research organization founded by the late Nobel laureate Gerald M. Edelman. Professor Patel is the author of Music, Language, and the Brain, which won a Deems Taylor Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 2008. In 2009, he received the Music Has Power Award from the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in New York City. Between 2009 and 2011, Professor Patel served as President of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition. He is an active speaker, having given many popular talks as well as scientific lectures. A major contributor to his field, his research has been reported in such publications as The New York Times, New Scientist, and Discover magazine and on National Public Radio. He has appeared in science documentaries, including The Music Instinct, which aired on PBS.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: Music: Culture, Biology, or Both

    Lecture 2: Seeking and Evolutionary Theory of Music

    Lecture 3: Testing Theories of Music’s Origins

    Lecture 4: Music, Language and Emotional Expression

    Lecture 5: Brain Sources of Music’s Emotional power

    Lecture 6: Musical Building Blocks Pich and Timbre

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Consonance, Dissonance, and Musical Scales

    Lecture 8:  Arousing Expectations: Melody and Harmony

    Lecture 9:  The Complexities of Musical Rhythm

    Lecture 10:  Perceiving and Moving to a Rhythmic Beat

    Lecture 11:  Nature, Nurture and Musical Brains

    Lecture 12:  Cognitive Benefits of Musical Training

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: The Development of Human Music Cognition

    Lecture 14: Disorders of Music Cognition

    Lecture 15: Neurological Effects of Hearing Music

    Lecture 16: Neurological Effects of Making Music

    Lecture 17: Are We the Only Musical Species?

    Lecture 18: Music: A Neuroscientific Perspective

          The Final course outlined in this blog is entitled “The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience.”

    Overview and lecturer’s credentials from the Great Courses Website

    The religious impulse is so powerfully pervasive that neuroscience has posed a provocative question: Are our brains wired to worship? In Dr. Newberg’s 24 riveting lectures, you’ll explore the new and exciting field of neurotheology, a discipline aimed at understanding the connections between our brains and different kinds of religious phenomena. Using an academic, experimental approach into what he calls “objective measures of spirituality,” Dr. Newberg attempts to explain what others have previously only guessed at: the neuroscientific basis for why religion and spirituality have played such a prominent role in human life. These lectures are grounded in the context of the brain’s neurophysiological structure and religious development from infancy through late adulthood. You’ll discover how the brain and spirituality appear to develop in parallel throughout a person’s life span; how the various parts of the brain work to create and sustain different beliefs about the world; the ways in which religious beliefs and practices have measurable, biological effects on individuals; and why the increasing neuroscientific data help us to better understand how spirituality may be inextricably intertwined with ongoing brain development. Why does religion play such a huge role in human experience? Peer directly into the seat of all human thought and action as you experience a leading researcher delve into the relationship between brain function and spirituality.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Andrew Newberg is the Director of Research at the Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He is also a Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University, and he teaches undergraduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Newberg received his medical degree in 1993 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, and he completed a fellowship in Nuclear Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Newberg has actively pursued neuroimaging research projects, including studies of aging and dementia, epilepsy, and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. He has been particularly involved in the study of religious and spiritual experiences and the relationship among the brain, religion, and health. Dr. Newberg’s research has included analyzing brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and various trance states. His research also has included understanding the physiological correlates of acupuncture therapy, massage, and other types of alternative therapies. Dr. Newberg has taught medical students, undergraduate and graduate students, and medical residents about stress management, spirituality and health, and the neurophysiology of religious experience. In 2010, he was named Teacher of the Year for the University of Pennsylvania’s Biological Basis of Behavior Program. Dr. Newberg has published numerous articles and chapters on brain function, brain imaging, and the study of religious and spiritual experiences. He is the author of Principles of Neurotheology, a culmination of ideas based on his research over the past 10 years. He is a coauthor of the best-selling books How God Changes Your Brain and Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief. His most recent book, Words Can Change Your Brain, was published in June 2012. Dr. Newberg is also a coauthor of Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs and The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience, both of which explore the relationship between neuroscience and spiritual experience. The latter book received the 2000 award for Outstanding Books in Theology and the Natural Sciences presented by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. Dr. Newberg has presented his work at scientific and religious meetings around the world and has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, CNN, and ABC’s World News Tonight. His research also has appeared in Newsweek; TIME; The New York Times; Los Angeles Times; Scientific American; O, The Oprah Magazine; and Reader’s Digest.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: A New Perspective on Ancient Questions

    Lecture 2: Why Do We Have a Spiritual Brain?

    Lecture 3: Brain function and Religion

    Lecture 4: How Dores Science Study Religion?

    Lecture 5:  Believers and Atheists

    Lecture 6: Spiritual Development

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: The Myth making Brain

    Lecture 8: The Brain and Religious Rituals

    Lecture 9: The Biology of Spiritual Practices

    Lecture 10: Religion and Health

    Lecture 11: Religion and Mental Health

    Lecture 12: Religion and Brain Dysfunction

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Transmitters to God

    Lecture 14:  Stimulated States and Religious Experiences

    Lecture 15: Near-Death Experiences and the Brain

    Lecture 16: The Believing Brain

    Lecture 17: The Brains Influence on Religious Ideas

    Lecture 18: Revelation, Salvation and the Brain

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: The Brain’s Influence on Religious Behavior

    Lecture 20: How the Brain Changes God

    Lecture 21:  How God Changes the Brain

    Lecture 22: Why God Won’t Go Away

    Lecture 23: The Mystical Mind

    Lecture 24: Reality and Beyond

    This concludes this blog.  The last two courses, though they may seem odd to include in a recap of courses regarding children reflects the fact that children must be well rounded individuals, with goals in life (in this case to be pleasing to God and save their souls) in order not to end up lost in our complex world.  The family discussed in a recent past blog, that fostered decent children, had a mother that listened to classical music during pregnancy and, I think, credits this, with the fact that they were able to learn to play music as well as their apparent intelligence.

  • Great Courses on General Health Self Education

    These are some courses on general health to be followed in the next blog that is done on  Great Courses by health courses of more concern to older adults, subjects concerning sleep, exercise etc.

    The courses outlined are as follows

    • The Human Body: How We fail, How We Heal
    • Changing Body Composition Through Diet and Exercise
    • The Science of Natural Healing
    • Nutrition Made Clear
    • Body Composition: Diet & Exercise
    • The Mayo Clinic Diet: The Healthy Approach to Weight Loss
    • Lifelong Health: Achieving Optimum Well-Being at Any Age
    • Mind-Body Medicine: The New Science of Optimal Health
    • The Science of Integrative Medicine
    • The Skeptic’s Guide to Health, Medicine, and the Media
    • Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us
    • Stress and Your Body
    • Understanding the Human Body: An Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology
    • What Science Knows about Cancer

    The subject of this course follows the title “The Human Body: How We fail, How We Heal.”

    The lecturer is Professor Anthony A Goodman has built his career on the study, Teaching, and practice of medicine.  And adjunct professor of Medicine at Montana state university and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, he spent 20 years as a general surgeon in South Florida and worked aboard the hospital ship for Project HOPE and with the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  How we fail

    Lecture 2:  Cell Biology – Introduction and Definitions

    Lecture 3:  Inflammation – Basic Principles

    Lecture 4:  The Inflammatory Response

    Lecture 5: Inflammation – Clinical Manifestations

    Lecture 6: The immune Response

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  The immune Response Continued

    Lecture 8:  Hypersensitivity and the Allergic Response

    Lecture 9:  Infectious Diseases – General Introduction

    Lecture 10: Bacteria

    Lecture 11:  Viruses

    Lecture 12: Spirochetes, Rickettsiae, Chlamydiae Prions

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Malaria

    Lecture 14:  Schistosomiasis, Filariasis, Tapeworms

    Lecture 15:  Infectious Diseases – Treatment

    Lecture 16:  Infectious Diseases – Triumph and Failure

    Lecture 17: Shock – Principles and Hypovolemic Shock

    Lecture 18:  Categories of Shock

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Cancer – the Enemy Withing

    Lecture 20: Environmental Carcinogens

    Lecture 21: Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis

    Lecture 22: Invasion, Metastasis, and Angiogenesis

    Lecture 23:  Treatment – Surgery, Radiation, Chemotherapy

    Lecture 24:  How We Heal

    The next course outlined is called ”Changing Body Composition Through Diet and Exercise,” whose subject is once again drawn out in the title.

    Overview

    Should you avoid red meat and eat only carbs, or avoid carbs and focus on healthy fats? Will 500 crunches a day turn that belly fat into a “six pack” or should you stick to cardio three times a week? Changing Body Composition Through Diet and Exercise presents the latest scientific research about changing your body composition, along with diet and exercise recommendations in incremental steps that men and women of all ages and fitness levels can follow. From the macro to the molecular, this course takes a science-based view to debunk common weight-loss misconceptions and help you understand your own body better than you ever have. Led by Professor Michael Ormsbee, Assistant Professor and Interim Director of the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine, you will gain access to cutting-edge research that demonstrates what does – and doesn’t – work. The lessons presented in this course can change your life by helping you to feel better, perform better, and be healthier now and into your older years.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Michael Ormsbee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences and Interim Director of the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine in the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University. He received his B.S. in Exercise Science from Skidmore College, his M.S. in Exercise Physiology (research emphasis in Sports Nutrition) from South Dakota State University, and his Ph.D. in Bioenergetics from East Carolina University. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa and a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

    Dr. Ormsbee researches the interaction of exercise training, nutrition, and supplementation to achieve optimal body composition, human performance, and health in populations ranging from younger athletes to older adults. His work has been published in numerous scientific journals as well as consumer publications, and he has been featured as a nutrition and exercise expert on radio and TV.

    Both his teaching and research have been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2013-2014 University Teaching Award, the Excellence in Online Course Design Award, the Excellence in Online Teaching Award, and the 2013 Transformation through Teaching Award. In 2015, he received the prestigious FSU Guardian of the Flame Award, granted to faculty members whose contributions have advanced FSU as a leading institution of higher education.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Body Composition: Managing Our Expectations

    Lecture 2:  A Healthier Way to Measure Body Composition

    Lecture 3:  How food is Digested and Absorbed

    Lecture 4:  Nutritional Needs and Cellular Function

    Lecture 5: Bioenergetics: converting Food to Energy

    Lecture 6: Carbohydrates: Composition, Storage, and Use

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Fat: Not the Nutritional Bad Guy

    Lecture 8:  Protein’s Critical Role in Body Composition

    Lecture 9:  High-Protein Diets and Anabolic Resistance

    Lecture 10: Critical Micronutrients and Water

    Lecture 11:  food Labeling and Nutritional Choices

    Lecture 12: Nutrient Timing and Frequency

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Night time eating

    Lecture 14:  Evaluating Dietary Supplements

    Lecture 15:  Energy Balance and Weight Control

    Lecture 16:  The Caloric Cost of Exercise

    Lecture 17:Exercise for fat loss

    Lecture 18: Exercise for Healthy Muscle Mass

       Disc 4

    Lecture 19: Hormones and Fody Composition

    Lecture 20:  Novel Ways to Change Body Composition

    Lecture 21:  Nutrition and Exercise: Special Needs

    Lecture 22: Set Point Theory and the Last Five Pounds

    Lecture 23:  Choosing Your Nutrition Plan

    Lecture 24:  Motivation to Change Your Body Composition

    Once again the subject of this course is self-explanatory from the title: “The Science of Natural Healing.”

    Overview

    Delve into the world of holistic healthcare, the range of nature-based methods and treatments that are both clinically proven and readily available to you – and that provide an alternative way for you to nurture your own optimal health, disarm stress, and deepen the experience of well-being. These 24 compelling and practical lectures offer a rich spectrum of choices and possibilities for your own healthcare, as well as practical tools for creating a truly healthful lifestyle. Whether you’re looking for a sound alternative to the drugs so common in our health-care system or you’re merely curious about the validity of herbal medications, this course points you to numerous empowering avenues for healthful living. You’ll examine a number of far-ranging topics, including: The power of food healing Micronutrients and natural supplements Clinically proven herbal medicines Natural treatments for common medical conditions The mind-body connection in healing And, natural approaches to mental and spiritual health No matter what kind of life you’re living, optimal health is one of the greatest assets you can have. In speaking deeply to a truly integrative approach to healing, these lectures can make a profound difference in your health now and in the future and help you live your life to the absolute fullest. Disclaimer: These lectures are not designed for use as medical references to diagnose, treat, or prevent medical illnesses or trauma. Neither The Great Courses nor Dr. Guarneri is responsible for your use of this educational material or its consequences. If you have questions about the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a medical condition or illness, consult a qualified physician.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Mimi Guarneri is board-certified in cardiology, internal medicine, nuclear medicine, and holistic medicine. She earned her medical degree from The State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, where she graduated first in her class. She completed her internship and residency at New York’s Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and held cardiology fellowships at New York University Langone Medical Center and the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California. While serving as an attending physician in interventional cardiology at the Scripps Clinic, Dr. Guarneri recognized the need for a more comprehensive and holistic approach to cardiovascular disease. As a result, she founded the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, where she uses state-of-the-art cardiac imaging technology and lifestyle-change programs to prevent, diagnose, and treat cardiovascular disease. In recognition of her leadership in the field of integrative medicine, Dr. Guarneri received the Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and the Bravewell Physician Leadership Award for Integrative Medicine in 2011. She was recently elected president of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, Alpha Omega Alpha, and the American Medical Women’s Association. She is also a diplomate of the American Board of Holistic Medicine. Dr. Guarneri has authored several articles that have appeared in professional journals such as the Journal of Echocardiography and the Annals of Internal Medicine. She is also the author of The Heart Speaks, a collection of stories from heart patients who have benefited from integrative medicine approaches. The Heart Speaks and her clinical work have been featured on NBC’s Today show and PBS’s To the Contrary and Full Focus. Her work was also featured in a two-part PBS documentary, The New Medicine.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Shifting the Health-Care Paradigm

    Lecture 2: Understanding Holistic Integrative Medicine       

    Lecture 3:  You Are More Than Your Genes

    Lecture 4:  Food Matters

    Lecture 5:  Not All Foods are Created Equal

    Lecture 6: Natural Approaches to Inflammation

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Food Sensitivity and the Elimination Diet 

    Lecture 8:  Vitamins and Supplements

    Lecture 9:  Herbal Remedies

    Lecture 10: Lowering Cholesterol Naturally

    Lecture 11:  Treating High Blood Pressure Naturally

    Lecture 12: Treating Diabetes Naturally

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Stress and Body Mind Connection

    Lecture 14:  Turning Stress into Strength

    Lecture 15:  Meditation, Yoga, and Guided Imagery

    Lecture 16:  Natural Approaches to Mental Health

    Lecture 17: Biofield Therapies

    Lecture 18:  The Power of Love

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: Spirituality in Health

    Lecture 20: Components of Spiritual Wellness

    Lecture 21: Applying the Lessons of Natural Healing

    Lecture 22:  Ecology and Health

    Lecture 23:  Healthy People, Healthy Planet

    Lecture 24:  You Are Your Own Best Medicine

    The next course out lined is “Nutrition Made Clear.” We get overview and lecturers credentials below from the web site.  These lectures, in the format I have are 30 minute compact disk (CD) lectures.

    Overview

    Making smart eating choices is essential to living a healthy, happy, and successful life. Yet all too often, we’re exposed to information and techniques that promise quick and easy results but can be harmful to your overall health. Now, finally sort through nutritional misconceptions and replace them with hard science you can understand with Nutrition Made Clear. By eating right, increasing your physical activity, reducing the risk of chronic illness through wise personal choices, and more, you can stay healthy and active. In 36 in-depth lectures taught by dietitian and award-winning Professor Roberta H. Anding, explore the fundamentals of good nutrition and get a practical and personal guide to applying these fundamentals to your own lifestyle. Designed to appeal to anyone at any age, this course is an invaluable source of medically backed, statistically proven information about the guidelines for healthy eating and living. It’s a fascinating learning experience and the perfect investment in your personal health – one that will educate, motivate, and reward you for the rest of your life.

    Lecturer

    Professor Roberta H. Anding is a registered dietitian and Director of Sports Nutrition and a clinical dietitian at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. She also teaches and lectures in the Baylor College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, Section of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, and in the Department of Kinesiology at Rice University. In addition, she is a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association, a certified specialist in sports dietetics, a certified diabetes educator, and the dietitian for the Houston Texans NFL franchise. She received her bachelor’s degree in Dietetics and her master’s degree in Nutrition from Louisiana State University. Throughout her prolific career, Professor Anding has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Texas Distinguished Dietitian Award, the Texas Dietetic Association Media Award, the John P. McGovern Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award from the University of Houston School of Nursing, and the Houston Area Dietetic Association’s Texas Distinguished Dietitian of the Year award several years running. She has also published work in a variety of scientific and medical publications, including Pediatrics, the Journal of Adolescent Health, and Critical Care Nursing.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Why We Eat What We Do

    Lecture 2:  Sources of Nutrition Fact and Fiction

        Disc 2

    Lecture 3:  Our Underappreciated Digestive Tract

    Lecture 4:  Its All about the Calories!

        Disc 3

    Lecture 5: Hydration – You Are What You Drink

    Lecture 6:  Not All Carbohydrates Are Created Equal

       Disc 4

    Lecture 7:  Facts on Fiber

    Lecture 8:  Protein – An Indispensable Nutrient

       Disc 5

    Lecture 9:  Fat, Fat Everywhere!

    Lecture 10:  Vitamins – Spotlight on C

        Disc 6

    Lecture 11:  Vitamins A and K-Multitaskers

    Lecture 12:  Vitamin E – fallen Hero; Vitamin D – Rising Star

       Disc 7

    Lecture 13:  B Vitamin Basics

    Lecture 14:  The Major Minerals

        Disc 8

    Lecture 15:  The Hights and Lows of Sodium and Potassium

    Lecture 16:  Iron, Zinc, Selenium – Balance Is Everything

        Disc 9

    Lecture 17: Cardiovascular Disease – What Are the Risks?

    Lecture 18: a Heart – Healthy Lifestyle

        Disc 10

    Lecture 19:  The DASH Diet-A Lifesaver

    Lecture 20: Obesity – Public Health Enemy Number One

        Disc 11

    Lecture 21: Healthy Weight Management

    Lecture 22: Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes

        Disc 12

    Lecture 23:  Dietary Approaches to Weight Management

    Lecture 24:  Nutrition and Cancer Prevention

        Disc 13

    Lecture 25: Nutrition and Digestive Health

    Lecture 26: Prebiotics and Probiotics in Your Diet

        Disc  14

    Lecture 27: food Safety – It’s in Your Hands

    Lecture 28: Demystifying Food Labels

        Disc 15

    Lecture 29:  Facts on functional Foods

    Lecture 30: A Look at Herbal Therapy

        Disc 16

    Lecture 31:  Organic or Conventional – Your Choice

    Lecture 32:  Fack or Real-Sugars and Fats

        Disc 17

    Lecture 33: Creating Your Own Personal Nutrition Plan

    Lecture 34: Exercise and Nutrition – Partners for Life

        Disc 18

    Lecture 35: The future of Nutrition – Science and Trends

    Lecture 36:  Nutrition Facts and FAQs

    The next course covered will be “The Mayo Clinic Diet: The Heathy Approach to Weight Loss” with the Overview and the Lecturer information coming from the great courses website.

    Overview

    After years of research and clinical study, Mayo Clinic has developed a weight-loss plan that gives everyone the very best chance for success. The Mayo Clinic Diet is a straightforward plan with endless food possibilities based on a simple framework of adding five new habits, breaking five old habits, and adopting five bonus habits.

    In The Mayo Clinic Diet: The Healthy Approach to Weight Loss, Donald D. Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., shares practical tips in a two-part strategy: An initial two-week plan designed to jump-start your weight loss in a safe and healthy way, called Lose It!, and a lifelong approach to help you meet and maintain your goal weight, called Live It!. You’ll learn about setting your caloric goals, food prep short-cuts, developing a physical activity plan, and tracking your progress. But Mayo Clinic will take you a step further as you learn how your thoughts and emotions also affect your weight loss.

    The Diet comes alive during numerous real-time demonstrations with the help of Mayo Clinic’s Chef Jen Welper, who offers an additional perspective focused on food preparation and cooking. As she demonstrates everything from slicing and dicing to searing, grilling, and roasting, her easygoing, down-to-earth manner will help build your own meal-prep confidence and excitement.

    The Mayo Clinic Diet was developed with only one goal in mind—to help you feel better and become healthier by following an eating and exercise program that fits comfortably into your real life. You don’t have to follow it to perfection, but by applying the principles of The Mayo Clinic Diet to your life, you will find yourself on a path to better health and greater happiness.

    Lecturer

    Donald D. Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., has been a member of the Mayo Clinic staff for 25 years and currently serves as Associate Professor of Nutrition and Preventive Medicine at Mayo Clinic and Director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. Dr. Hensrud holds four academic degrees: a B.S., an M.D., and Master’s Degrees in public health and nutrition sciences. He is board certified in the fields of Internal Medicine, Nutrition, and Preventive Medicine, and is a fellow of both the American College of Physicians and The Obesity Society.

    Dr. Hensrud has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters and has contributed to lay education as editor of the books Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody, The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook, The Mayo Clinic Plan: 10 Essential Steps to a Better Body and Healthier Life, and the New York Times bestseller The Mayo Clinic Diet. He was coeditor of the medical text Clinical Preventive Medicine and wrote a monthly health column for Fortune magazine for several years.

    Dr. Hensrud has received the Charles E. Kupchella Preventive Medicine and Wellness Award from the University of North Dakota and the Distinguished Alumni Award from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He consistently appears on the Best Doctors in America List.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  The Science of Weight and Weight Loss

    Lecture 2:  Getting Ready for the Mayo Clinic Diet

    Lecture 3:  Starting Your Diet: The Lose It! Phase

    Lecture 4: Assessing Your Weight-Loss Program

    Lecture 5: Maintaining Your Program: The Live It! Phase

    Lecture 6: Tracking Your Weight-Loss Progress

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Adapting The Mayo Clinic Diet

    Lecture 8:  Exercise Activity and Health

    Lecture 9:  Behavioral Strategy’s for Weight-Loss

    Lecture 10:  Cooking The May Clinic Diet Way

    Lecture 11:  Overcoming Obstacles to Weight Loss

    Lecture 12: Handling Lapses and Keeping Weigh Off

    The next course is “Lifelong Health: Achieving Optimum Well-Being at Any Age” with the overview and Lecturers credentials coming from the Great Courses Web site. 

    Overview

    We all want to discover the secret to a long and healthy life. But how do you incorporate the secrets of personal wellness into the unique demands of your own schedule? What information would a knowledgeable and compassionate family physician offer someone looking for a reference guide to healthy living?

    These 36 comprehensive lectures offer you practical and expert advice that allows you to make your own personalized choices about healthy living, as well as ways to apply that knowledge to your lifestyle. With this course, you’ll nourish your body, strengthen your mind, and forever change the way you think about and live your life. Dr. Anthony Goodman of Montana State University teaches you about the six fundamentals of personal well-being: aging, nutrition and whole foods, movement, mental health, specific health issues, and general health choices. These fundamentals offer a well-rounded and engaging survey of the concepts, issues, and lessons of lifelong health.

    Dr. Goodman’s advice is rooted in scientific information and proven results – without bogging you down in complex terminology or theories. More importantly, it is flavored with commonsense tips, helpful advice, and inspirational stories that make lifelong health both appealing and achievable.

    Crafted with the concerns of everyone in mind, whether you’re in adolescence or advancing age, this wonderful resource is the perfect way to take those first steps on the road to becoming a better, healthier you.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Anthony A. Goodman is Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Montana State University and Affiliate Professor in the Department of Biological Structure at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He earned his B.A. from Harvard College and his M.D. from Cornell Medical College and trained as a surgical intern and resident at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. He completed his surgical training and served as chief resident at the Harvard Surgical Service of Boston City Hospital, the New England Deaconess Hospital, the Lahey Clinic, and Cambridge City Hospital. For 20 years, Dr. Goodman worked as a general surgeon in south Florida and served as Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine. In addition, he served as a surgeon with the U.S. Army Medical Corps and on the hospital ship for Project HOPE. He was also Visiting Professor of Surgery at the Christchurch, New Zealand, Clinical School of Medicine. Founder of the Broward Surgical Society, Dr. Goodman is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Surgery.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  A Personal Path to Lifelong Health 

    Lecture 2:  The Cellular Biology of Aging

    Lecture 3:  The Physiology of Aging

    Lecture 4:  Myths of Aging-Magical Times and Places

    Lecture 5: Myths of Aging – Magical Substances

    Lecture 6: Optimizing Health – Tests and Procedures

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Optimizing Health – Prevention

    Lecture 8:  How We Look – Surgery and Skin-care

    Lecture 9:  The End of the Journey – Death and Dying

    Lecture 10: Health Advances on the Horizon

    Lecture 11:  Nutrition – Choices for a Healthy Life

    Lecture 12: The Physiology of Nutrition

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  The Role of Vitamins

    Lecture 14:  The Role of supplements

    Lecture 15:  Whole Foods for Optimum Health

    Lecture 16:  The Good Fats

    Lecture 17: Sugar, Salt, Allergies, and Additives

    Lecture 18:  The Physiology of Weight Management

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Healthful Eating versus Fad Diets

    Lecture 20:  Movement and Recreation – a.k.a. Exercise

    Lecture 21:  The Physiology of Muscle

    Lecture 22:  Resistance Training and Weight Training

    Lecture 23:  Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise

    Lecture 24:  Exercise in Dealing with Injury and Disease      

        Disc 5

    Lecture 25:  Joy in Movement – Sports and Exercise Options

    Lecture 26: Martial Arts and Yoga

    Lecture 27:  Mental Health and Stress Reduction

    Lecture 28: Brain Physiology, Alzheimer’s and Dementia

    Lecture 29: Maintaining Your Mental Edge

    Lecture 30: Focus on Women’s Health

        Disc 6

    Lecture 31:  Focus on Menopause

    Lecture 32:  Focus on Men’s Health

    Lecture 33:  Focus on Children’s and Adolescents’ Health

    Lecture 34: Healthy Choices in Your Daily Life

    Lecture 35:  Becoming and Educated Patient

    Lecture 36:  Here’s to Your Healthy Life!

    The next lecture is called “Mind-Body Medicine: The New Science of Optimal Health” overview and lecturers credentials again taken from the great courses website.

    Overview

    Cutting-edge research on the brain’s interaction with the body shows that health is directly impacted by our social environments, socioeconomic status, culture, behaviors, relationships, psychological states, and habits of mind, among many factors. Mind-body medicine – working in partnership with traditional medical practice – uses a large range of psychological, physical, and behavioral treatments in a model of health care that aims to treat the whole human being. It provides highly effective resources for prevention and treatment of a wide spectrum of medical conditions-and for fostering the ultimate goals of health care: truly optimal and lasting physical health, as well as emotional and psychological well-being. In these 36 revealing lectures, Professor Satterfield offers you a comprehensive overview of the field. You’ll look in depth at the anatomical and biological systems through which what is “outside” in the environment gets “inside” to affect our minds and bodies. You’ll also examine recent research on subjects ranging from the impact our emotions and psychology have on health to the crucial roles that social, cultural, and behavioral factors play. And you’ll learn about effective mind-body treatments for many common medical conditions and diseases. Finally, you’ll finish the course with a tool box of ideas and interventions for your personal wellness goals, empowering you to partner more effectively with your medical providers and maximize your own health.

    Lecturer

    Professor Jason M. Satterfield is Professor of Clinical Medicine, Director of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Director of Behavioral Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He earned his B.S. in Brain Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently directs the UCSF Behavioral Medicine Unit, which integrates mental and behavioral health services into adult primary care. Professor Satterfield’s book, A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to the Beginning of the End of Life: Minding the Body, was recognized as a Self-Help Book of Merit by the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. He served on the Behavioral and Social Science Subcommittee that revised the Medical College Admission Test-work that was recently featured in the New England Journal of Medicine and The New York Times. Professor Satterfield is also part of a core interdisciplinary team that is writing a medical textbook based on the biopsychosocial model. He has been nominated for multiple teaching awards at UCSF, and he is often competitively selected to teach at national conferences for a wide variety of health professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, and psychologists

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Weaving the Biopsychosocial Braid

    Lecture 2:  Vital Signs – Defining Health and Illness

    Lecture 3:  Fight or Flight vs. Rest and Digest

    Lecture 4: Simmering Soup – The Neuroendocrine System 

    Lecture 5: Deploying the Troops – Basic Immunology

    Lecture 6: Nature vs. Nurture – Genes, Health and Disease

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Forget Me Not Cognitive Function

    Lecture 8:  Mind over Matter – Cognition in Everyday Life

    Lecture 9:  Emotions revealed – Psychology of Emotions

    Lecture 10:  Agony and Ecstasy – Biology of Emotion

    Lecture 11:  What is Your EQ and How Can You Improve it?

    Lecture 12: What’s Your Type? Personality and Health

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  An Apple a Day – Behavior and Disease Prevention

    Lecture 14:  Staying on the Wagon – Making Changes That Last

    Lecture 15:  Ease the Burn – Modern-Day Stress and Coping

    Lecture 16: The Iceberg – Visible and Hidden Identity

    Lecture 17: Ties That Bind – Relationships and Health

    Lecture 18:  Building Bridges – Intimacy and Relationships

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Touched by Grace – Spirituality and Health

    Lecture 20:  A Matter of Class – Socioeconomics and Health

    Lecture 21: A Cog in the Wheel – Occupational Stress

    Lecture 22: The Power of Place – Communities and Health

    Lecture 23:  Master plan – Public Health and Policy

    Lecture 24:  Heart and Soul – Cardio Vascular Disease I       

        Disc 5

    Lecture 25: Heart and Soul – Cardio Vascular Disease II

    Lecture 26:  The Big C – Cancer and Mind Body Medicine

    Lecture 27:  Bugs, Drugs, and Buddha – Psychoneuroimmunology

    Lecture 28:  Fire in the Belly – The GI System

    Lecture 29:  Obesity – America’s New Epidemic

    Lecture 30:  The Strain in Pain Lies Mainly in the Brain

        Disc 6

    Lecture 31:  Catching Your Zs – Sleep and Health

    Lecture 32:  Chasing Zebras – Somatoform Disorders

    Lecture 33: Seeing the Glass Half Empty – Depression

    Lecture 34:  Silencing the Scream – Understanding Anxiety

    Lecture 35:  Lingering Wounds – Trauma, Resilience, Growth

    Lecture 36:  Tomorrow’s Biopsychosocial Medicine

    The next course is “The Science of Integrative Medicine,” again the overview and lecturer’s credentials are taken form the great courses website.

    Overview

    In the last few decades, a wide array of practices have gained greater acceptance as forms of treatment and healing. If you’ve ever considered herbal supplements, meditation, acupuncture, yoga, or a change of diet to promote better health, then you’re already familiar with integrative medicine. Integrative medicine describes the addition of natural or holistic practices into the health-care paradigm to complement conventional Western medicine and promote wellness. Western medicine can accomplish incredible feats of healing, but as advanced as it is, it still doesn’t have cures for everything. Relying solely on Western medicine, people often wait until they have serious health problems before seeking care – but integrative medicine includes many practices that are particularly good for preventing certain conditions and ameliorating the effects of others. The therapies discussed here have been shown to help people reach health goals such as presurgery preparation, postsurgery recovery, and better management and reduction of chronic pain. Studies indicate that they directly benefit wellness and can help alleviate, prevent, or remedy issues such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure, stress, heart disease, menopause, and the common cold. The Science of Integrative Medicine, produced in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic – one of the finest health institutions on the planet – provides you with 12 informative lectures on the science-based facts and historical context of commonly used integrative treatments. You’ll get a foundational explanation of this diverse new field of medicine, which will give you the knowledge you need to explore these techniques and improve your wellness. Taught by Brent Bauer, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program, this course provides you with an illuminating exploration of scientifically tested integrative approaches.

    Lecturer

    Brent A. Bauer, M.D., is board-certified in internal medicine, a Professor of Medicine, and the director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at Mayo Clinic, where he has been on staff for 24 years. His main research interest has been the scientific evaluation of integrative medicine therapies, which patients and consumers are using with increasing frequency. Dr. Bauer’s work is at the forefront of the emerging field of integrative medicine, which combines the best of conventional medicine with the best of evidence-based complementary therapies. Dr. Bauer has written several book chapters and more than 100 papers on integrative therapies, and he is the medical editor of Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine. He is a member of numerous scientific review panels and is currently collaborating on more than 20 studies being conducted at Mayo Clinic. He is the medical director of Rejuvenate, the first spa at Mayo Clinic, and of the Well Living Lab, a collaboration between Delos and the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Complementary and Integrative Medicine

    Lecture 2:  Making the Case for Integrative Medicine

    Lecture 3:  Herbal Supplements

    Lecture 4:  Supplements in Practice

    Lecture 5: Guided Imagery, Hypnosis, and Spirituality

    Lecture 6: Guided Imagery, Hypnosis and Spirituality

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Practicing Meditation

    Lecture 8:  Moving Meditation: Yoga, Tai Chi and Qi Gong

    Lecture 9:  Relaxation Therapies

    Lecture 10: Effective Acupuncture

    Lecture 11:  Massage Therapy and Spinal Manipulation

    Lecture 12: Living Well

    “The Skeptic’s Guide to Health, Medicine, and the Media,” is the next course with Overview and lecturer’s credentials again coming from the great courses’ website.

    Overview

    As consumers of medical news, how can we know whether the article we just read is based on solid science or is just an ill-informed attempt to grab readers? Professor Roy Benaroch of Emory University School of Medicine provides just the direction we need in The Skeptic’s Guide to Health, Medicine, and the Media. In 24 fascinating lectures that address the most important health issues of our day—heart health, obesity, longevity, the opioid crisis, the stigma of mental illness, alternative medicine approaches, toxins in the environment, and more—Dr. Benaroch shows us how to recognize the good reporting and the bad. With his guidance, you’ll create a “Skeptic’s Toolkit,” asking the questions that take you past the headlines and beyond the way health news is typically reported. You’ll learn six specific questions to always keep in mind as you read any article in print or online: What’s the source of the article? Is the evidence presented strong enough to be valuable? Is someone trying to sell me something? Is this study about people like me, and are the factors they’re measuring in the study important to me? Does the report present a viewpoint from scientists not directly involved in the study? And is the story itself sensible, fitting in with what we already know? Armed with these questions, you’ll be able to find valuable information to help inform your own health care decisions, without falling prey to snappy-sounding articles that have no basis in solid science.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Roy Benaroch is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine. He earned his B.S. in Engineering at Tulane University, followed by his M.D. at Emory University. He completed his residency through Emory University’s affiliated hospitals in 1997, serving as chief resident and instructor of pediatrics in 1998. Board certified in general pediatrics in 1997, Dr. Benaroch practices full time at Pediatric Physicians, PC, located near Atlanta, Georgia. In his dual roles, he teaches medical students and residents at his practice and gives regular lectures to physician’s assistants at Emory University.

    Dr. Benaroch has published two books on parenting and pediatric health topics: Solving Health and Behavioral Problems from Birth through Preschool: A Parent’s Guide and A Guide to Getting the Best Health Care for Your Child. He also has a blog for parents and health professionals at pediatricinsider.com, and he has served as a featured expert on WebMD.com. Dr. Benaroch also serves on the board of directors of the Cobb Health Futures Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to public health for people of all backgrounds.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Hormone Replacement Therapy

    Lecture 2:  Concussions and the Future of Football

    Lecture 3:  New Drugs on the Block

    Lecture 4:  Is It Time for Medical Marijuana?

    Lecture 5: The Media and Weight Loss

    Lecture 6: Alternative Medicine in the News

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  The Media’s Take on Mental Health

    Lecture 8:  The Media and the Internet

    Lecture 9:  We share Our World with Toxins

    Lecture 10: Are Coffee and Wine Good for Your heart?

    Lecture 11:  Life Expectancy and Infant Mortality

    Lecture 12: Is It Really OK to Stop Flossing?

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Does Cancer Screening Work?

    Lecture 14:  Drug Prices in the News

    Lecture 15:  Selling Disease

    Lecture 16:  The Opioid Crisis

    Lecture 17:  Infections in the Headlines

    Lecture 18:  Health Risks in Our Environment

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Bad Science

    Lecture 20:  diet, Health, and the Power of Words

    Lecture 21:  Genetics and the Media

    Lecture 22: How to Stay Young

    Lecture 23:  Cures for the Common Cold

    Lecture 24:  The Media’s Role in Improving Health

    “Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us,” is the next course with the overview and lecturer credentials.

    Overview

    True or false: Eight glasses of water a day are mandatory for staying hydrated. Vitamin C protects you from catching a cold. Natural foods are always better for you. What do these nuggets of so-called medical wisdom have in common? They’re not true. They’re myths, half-truths, and misconceptions – pieces of information so familiar we take them for granted without truly considering the scientific truth behind them. In today’s information age, such medical myths are all around us. And using them to make decisions about your own health can be harmful. Even deadly. That’s why it’s critical to understand the accuracy of medical information and discover the truth about everyday health and well-being. That’s the core of this important series of 24 eye-opening lectures from an acclaimed neurologist, educator, and science broadcaster. Dr. Novella will give you evidence-based guidelines for good health, enhance your ability to be better informed about common medical myths, and strengthen your skills at assessing medical information and advice. An essential aid for any home, the lecture series is divided into three sections that focus on specific aspects of health. “You Are What You Eat and Drink”: Get pointed looks at proper hydration, the routine use of multivitamins, natural foods and probiotics, antioxidants, and more. “Fighting Diseases”: Sort out truth from fiction regarding vaccines, the supposed link between vaccination and autism, chronic diseases, and other subjects. “Exploring the Alternatives”: Investigate the claims behind herbal medicines, homeopathy, acupuncture, and other alternatives that aren’t as worthwhile as they claim to be.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Steven Novella is Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Yale School of Medicine. He earned his M.D. from Georgetown University and completed his residency training in neurology at Yale University. Dr. Novella is active in both clinical research and in medical education at every level, including patients, the public, medical students, and health professionals. An expert in neuroscience, Dr. Novella focuses his practice on neuromuscular disorders. His personal blog, NeuroLogica Blog, is considered one of the top neuroscience blogs and covers issues in neuroscience as well as the intersection of science with the media and society. Dr. Novella is also the founder and senior editor of Science-Based Medicine, a medical blog dedicated to promoting the highest standards of basic and clinical science in medical practice. Dr. Novella is president and cofounder of the New England Skeptical Society, a nonprofit educational organization designed to further public understanding of science. As the host and producer of the organization’s award-winning science show, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, Dr. Novella explores the latest scientific discoveries, the presentation of science in the mainstream media, and public understanding and attitudes toward science.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Medical Knowledge versus Misinformation

    Lecture 2:  Myths about Water and Hydration

    Lecture 3:  Vitamin and Nutrition Myths

    Lecture 4:  Dieting – Separating Myths from Facts

    Lecture 5:  The Fallacy That Natural Is Always Better

    Lecture 6:  Probiotics and Our Bacterial Friends

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Sugar and Hyperactivity

    Lecture 8:  Antioxidants – Hype versus Reality

    Lecture 9:  The Common Cold

    Lecture 10:  Vaccination Benefits – How Well Vaccines Work

    Lecture 11:  Vaccination Risks – Real and Imagined

    Lecture 12: Antibiotics, Germs and Hygiene

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Vague Symtoms and Furzzy Diagnoses

    Lecture 14:  Herbalism and Herbal Medicines

    Lecture 15:  Homeopaty – One Giant Myth

    Lecture 16:  Facts about Toxins and Myths about Detox

    Lecture 17:  Myths about Acupuncture’s past and Benefits

    Lecture 18:  Myths about Magnets, Microwaves, Cell Phones

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  All about Hypnosis

    Lecture 20:  Myths about Coma and Consciousness

    Lecture 21: What Placebos Can and Cannot Do

    Lecture 22:  Myths about Pregnancy

    Lecture 23:  Medical Myths from around the World

    Lecture 24:  Roundup – decluttering Our Mental Closet

    The next set of lectures is on “Stress and Your Body” and the overview and lecturer info again comes from the great courses’ website.

    Overview

    You’re not alone. Stress is an inherent aspect of life that can have tremendous negative effects on your mental and physical health. This makes coping with stress a critical part of how well we live.

    Once you understand the inner workings of your stress response system, you’ll possess powerful knowledge that will help you understand and better deal with this common aspect of your busy life. Now, from one of the world’s foremost researchers on stress and neurobiology, comes a fascinating series of 24 lectures that guide you through the psychological and psychosocial stress that is a central part of everyday life in Western society.

    You’ll learn how the stress-response system is actually a natural survival system-giving, for example, a zebra the best chance to escape from a pursuing lion – that can change from a safety mechanism into a real problem for our physical and mental well-being. You’ll see it coming into play against situations it wasn’t designed to combat, such as traffic, troublesome thoughts and memories, and concerns over the economy, environment, and international events. And you’ll gain valuable insights into how and why stress can affect every part of your body-including your cardiovascular, digestive, and immune systems – and learn about its relationship to important disorders and behaviors, like depression, anxiety, and even addiction.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Robert Sapolsky is John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery in Stanford’s School of Medicine. Professor Sapolsky earned his A.B. summa cum laude in Biological Anthropology from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in Neuroendocrinology from The Rockefeller University in New York. He is also a research associate at the Institute of Primate Research operated by the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi. Dr. Sapolsky is a recipient of a MacArthur genius fellowship. His teaching awards include Stanford University’s Bing Award for Teaching Excellence and an award for outstanding teaching from the Associated Students of Stanford University. Professor Sapolsky is the author of several books, including Stress, the Aging Brain and the Mechanisms of Neuron Death (MIT Press, 1992); The Trouble with Testosterone (Macmillan Library Reference, 1997); and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress-Related Diseases and Coping (W.H. Freeman, 1995), which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He also regularly contributes to magazines and journals such as Discover, Science, Scientific American, Harper’s, and The New Yorker.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Why Don’t Zebras Ge Ulcers? Why Do We?

    Lecture 2:  The Nuts and Bolts of the Stress-Response

    Lecture 3:  Stress and Your Heart

    Lecture 4:  Stress, Metabolism and Liquidating Your Assets

    Lecture 5:  Stress, Overeating, and Your Digestive Tract

    Lecture 6:  Stress and Growth-Echoes from the Womb

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Stress, Growth, and Child Development

    Lecture 8:  Stress and Female Reproduction

    Lecture 9:  Stress and Male Reproduction

    Lecture 10: Stress and Your Immune System

    Lecture 11:  Stress and Cancer

    Lecture 12: Stress and Pain

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Stress, Learning, and Memory

    Lecture 14:  Stress, Judgement, and Impulse Control

    Lecture 15:  Stress, Sleep, and Lack of Sleep

    Lecture 16:  Stress and Aging

    Lecture 17:  Understanding Psychological Stress

    Lecture 18:  Psychological Modulators of Stress

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Stress and the Biology of Depression

    Lecture 20:  Stress and the Psychology of Depression

    Lecture 21:  Anxiety, Hostility, repression, and Reward

    Lecture 22:  Stress, Health, and Low Social Status

    Lecture 23:  Stress Management – Clues to Success?

    Lecture 24:  Stress Management – Approaches and Cautions

    The second to last course we will cover in this blog is “Understanding the Human Body: An Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology” and unlike the courses above which are each 30 minutes long, each of these lectures is about 45 minutes long and are of the first edition, the lectures on the site are second edition lectures.  As usual the overview and lecturer’s credentials are taken from the great courses site as well as the lecture titles for the second edition.

    Overview

    You live with it 24 hours a day. But how well do you really know it? These 32 lectures are your owner’s manual to a remarkably complex, resilient, and endlessly fascinating structure: the human body. Surgeon and professor of medicine Dr. Anthony Goodman takes you step by step through the major systems of the body, explaining exactly how things work and why they sometimes don’t. Unlike a typical anatomy lab in medical school, these lectures introduce anatomy by systems. Dr. Goodman correlates the findings in anatomy with the functioning of the normal human body, its physiology. Each lecture concentrates on a particular organ or organ system; for example, the heart. The following lecture then examines the physiology of the system, looking, for example, at a normally functioning heart. Finally, to make the connections even more meaningful, Dr. Goodman discusses the more common clinical problems that occur when something goes wrong, known as the pathology of the organ or system; for example, a heart attack. The systems you’ll learn about include the cardiovascular, respiratory, nervous, digestive, urinary, reproductive, reproductive, and immune systems. You’ll also get a fascinating lecture on the biology of human cancer. Dr. Goodman’s teaching style is clear but comprehensive, objective but humane, learned but lighthearted.

    Lecturer

    Dr. Anthony A. Goodman is Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Montana State University and Affiliate Professor in the Department of Biological Structure at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He earned his B.A. from Harvard College and his M.D. from Cornell Medical College and trained as a surgical intern and resident at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. He completed his surgical training and served as chief resident at the Harvard Surgical Service of Boston City Hospital, the New England Deaconess Hospital, the Lahey Clinic, and Cambridge City Hospital. For 20 years, Dr. Goodman worked as a general surgeon in south Florida and served as Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine. In addition, he served as a surgeon with the U.S. Army Medical Corps and on the hospital ship for Project HOPE. He was also Visiting Professor of Surgery at the Christchurch, New Zealand, Clinical School of Medicine. Founder of the Broward Surgical Society, Dr. Goodman is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Surgery.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Cardiovascular System – Anatomy of the Heart

    Lecture 2:  Cardiovascular System – Physiology of the Heart

    Lecture 3:  Cardiovascular System – Anatomy of the Great Vessels

    Lecture 4:  Cardiovascular System – Anatomy of the Great Vessels

       Disc 2

    Lecture 5: Respiratory System – Anatomy of the Lungs

    Lecture 6: Respiratory System – Physiology of the Lungs

    Lecture 7:  Nervous System – Anatomy of the Brain

    Lecture 8:  Nervous System – Physiology of the Brain

        Disc 3

    Lecture 9:  Nervous System – Spinal Cord and Spinal Nerves

    Lecture 10:  Nervous System – Autonomic Nervous System and Crania

    Lecture 11:  Nervous System – The Eyes

    Lecture 12:  Nervous System – The Ears, hearing, and Equilibrium

       Disc 4

    Lecture 13:  Nervous System – Memory

    Lecture 14:  Digestive System – Anatomy of the Mouth, Esophagus, and Stomach

    Lecture 15:  Digestive System – Physiology of the Mouth, Esophagus, and Stomach

    Lecture 16:  Digestive System – Anatomy of the Pancreas, Liver, and the Biliary tree

        Disc 5

    Lecture 17:  Digestive System – Physiology of the Small Intestine, Colon, and Rectum

    Lecture 18:  Digestive System – Anatomy of the Small Intestine, Colon, and Rectum

    Lecture 19:  Digestive System – Physiology of the Small Intestine, Colon, and Rectum,

    Lecture 20:  Endocrine System – The Pituitary and Adrenal Glands

        Disc 6

    Lecture 21:  Endocrine System – Pancreas

    Lecture 22:  Endocrine System – Thyroid and Parathyroid Glands

    Lecture 23:  Urinary System – Anatomy of the Kidneys, Ureters, and Blader

    Lecture 24:  Urinary System – Physiology of the Kidneys, Ureters, and Blader        

        Disc 7

    Lecture 25: Reproductive System – Male

    Lecture 26:  Reproductive System – Female

    Lecture 27: Reproductive System – Physiology of Genetic Inheritance

    Lecture 28: Musculoskeletal System – Physiology and Physics of the Muscles

       Disc 8

    Lecture 29:  Musculoskeletal System – Anatomy of the Muscles

    Lecture 30:  Musculoskeletal System – Bones

    Lecture 31:  Immune System – Anatomy and Physiology

    Lecture 32:  The Biology of Human Cancer

    The final course we will outline in this blog is entitled “What Science Knows about Cancer,” and as before the overview and lecturers’ credentials are from the great courses’ website

    Overview

    The landscape of cancer treatment and prevention is a vastly different place than it was even a decade ago. Thanks to a relatively new focus on molecular medicine, researchers are gaining a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved in the disease, poising them on the brink of huge breakthroughs. What Science Knows about Cancer reports from the front lines of the war on cancer with a clear and scientifically precise – yet thoroughly accessible – guide to how the disease develops, thrives, and can potentially be conquered. An abundance of edifying charts, slides, and animations provide a rich visual reference for the information presented, while in-depth accounts of patient histories, clinical trials, and epidemiologic studies enrich your experience and aid comprehension. Taught by David Sadava, a laboratory researcher at the City of Hope Medical Center and an award-winning professor of biology at The Claremont Colleges, this fascinating 24-lecture course leaves no stone unturned in explaining the amazing ways cancer works to subvert the body, and how new therapies can reverse these insidious processes. Cancer isn’t necessarily something any of us likes to think about, but knowledge truly is power.

    Lecturer

    Dr. David Sadava is Adjunct Professor of Cancer Cell Biology at the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, CA, and the Pritzker Family Foundation Professor of Biology, Emeritus, at The Claremont Colleges. Professor Sadava graduated from Carleton University as the science medalist with a B.S. with first-class honors in biology and chemistry. A Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he earned a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California, San Diego. Following postdoctoral research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, he joined the faculty at Claremont, where he twice won the Huntoon Award for Superior Teaching and received numerous other faculty honors. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Colorado and at the California Institute of Technology. Professor Sadava has held numerous research grants and written more than 55 peer-reviewed scientific research papers, many with his undergraduate students as coauthors. His research concerns resistance to chemotherapy in human lung cancer, with a view to developing new, plant-based medicines to treat this disease. He is the author or coauthor of five books, including the recently published 10th edition of a leading biology textbook, Life: The Science of Biology, as well as a new biology textbook, Principles of Life.

    Lectures

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Cancer Is and Ongoing Challenge

    Lecture 2:  Cancer is a Major Burden to Society

    Lecture 3:  Dicovering Causes of Cancer in Populations

    Lecture 4:  Some Causes of Cancer in Populations

    Lecture 5: DNA Is the Key to Understanding CAncer

    Lecture 6: How Does DNA Change to Initiate Cancer?

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  How do we Know If Something Causes Cancer?

    Lecture 8:  How Do Normal Cells Function?

    Lecture 9:  What Is Different about Cancer Cells?

    Lecture 10: How Do Tumors Grow?

    Lecture 11:  How Tumors Spread and Thrive

    Lecture 12: What Are Tumor Viruses?

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  How Do Tumor Viruses Cause Cancer?

    Lecture 14:  How Do Cancer-Causing Genes Work?

    Lecture 15:  Can Cancer Be Inherited?

    Lecture 16:  How Do Normal Genes Suppress Tumors?

    Lecture 17:  How Do Genetic Changes Result in Cancer?

    Lecture 18:  Treating Cancer with Surgery

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Treating Cancer with Radiation

    Lecture 20: Treating Cancer with Drugs

    Lecture 21: How Do Drugs Attack Cancer?

    Lecture 22:  Frontiers of Cancer Treatment

    Lecture 23:  Can Screening for Cancer Be Useful?

    Lecture 24:  Can Cancer Be Prevented?

  • What is a “Father” of the Church?

    What is a “Father” of the Church?

    This is a quote from the pertinent part a general forward by Roy J. Deferrari from a collection of pamphlets on the works of the fathers of the church. The Imprimatur for this particular pamphlet is from Henry J. O’Brien, archbishop of Hartford, October 15, 1958, as well as Richard Cardinal Cushing, archbishop of Boston, November 23, 1962.

    What is a “Father” of the Church? If you consult the theologians, you will find that they name four requirements which may be summed up as follows:

    1.  He must be and author whose works are still extant.  Fathers are important, because they are quoted as authorities in theology.  They are all people who wrote works that can be quoted.  St. Anthony the Hermit, St. Lawrence and St. Sebastian are not Fathers because they left no writings.
    2. He must be a Catholic, who lived in communion with the Church, whose writings are correct and orthodox. It is difficult to apply this criterion always.  Exceptions are sometimes made in the case of ancient authors who were learned and prolific and who were in close contact with the Fathers in the Strict sense of the term, even though they have been judged to be heretics.  Among these are Apollinaris of Laodicea (died c. 390) and Tertullian (d. 240).
    3. A Father is a person of eminent sanctity as well as learning.  The title “Father” includes and involves the title of saint, but in this respect also a few exceptions exist.  Thus Clement of Alexandria (d. 217) and Origen (d. 245) are not strictly Fathers, because they have not been named saints.  In all other respects, however, they are Fathers, and have made outstanding contributions to the early life of the Church.
    4. Antiquity.  The Fathers are the great authorities for ancient tradition.  They are the witnesses of the faith in earlier times and are the great interpreters of Holy Writ.

    The period of the Fathers begins at once after that of the Apostles.  It is commonly said that the age of the Fathers ends when the Middle Ages begins, although there is no clear line of demarcation here.  St. Martin of Bracara (d. 580) and St. Isidore of Seville (d. 600 or 601).

  • Great Courses that Create Cultural Literacy in Religion: Essential Courses for Understand-ing

    Great Courses that Create Cultural Literacy in Religion: Essential Courses for Understand-ing

          These courses concentrate on the largest religions/philosophies on earth today as well as touch on the Pagan religions with an emphasis on the larger religions, specifically Confucianism/Hinduism (the great Asian religions), Judaism, Catholicism, Muhammadism/Islam and Protestantism.  The courses outlined will be as follows:

    • Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should know.
    • Comparative Religion
    • The Pagan World: Ancient Religions before Christianity
    • Jesus and His Jewish Influences
    • Confucius, Buddha Jesus, and Muhammad
    • Beginnings of Judaism
    • The World of Biblical Isreal
    • The Book of Genesis
    • The Dead Sea Scrolls
    • Myth in Human History
    • Luther: Gospel, Law and Reformation

           The first course we will cover is one on “Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should know.” The lecturer is Professor Mark Berkson, an Associate Professor and Chair in the Religion Department at Hanline University. Professor Berkson is a regular presenter on religious issues fo conferences, universities, community groups, and churches and has been featured on television and radio news shows.  His work has appeared in such prestigious journals as the Journal of Religious Ethics, Teaching Theology & Religion and Buddhist-Christian Studies.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Religion – its Meaning and importance

    Lecture 2:  Facets of Religion – Divinity and Devotion

    Lecture 3:  Hinduism – Foundational Texts and Teachings

    Lecture 4: Hindu gods and Devotional Practices

    Lecture 5: Gita to Gandi – Yogas and Modern Hinduism

    Lecture 6: Waking Up Buddha and His Teachings

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Vehicles to Nirvana – The Schools of Buddhism

    Lecture 8: Chinese Religion and Cosmology

    Lecture 9: Confucianism – Rituals and Relationships

    Lecture 10: Daoism – Harmony, Nature, and the Way

    Lecture 11: Kami and Spirits – Shinto and Shamanism

    Lecture 12: East Asian Buddhism – Zen and Pure Land

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Judaism – God, Torah, and Covenant

    Lecture 14: Varieties of Jewish Thought and Practice

    Lecture 15: Living a Jewish Life

    Lecture 16: The Life and Commemoration of Jesus

    Lecture 17:  Catholic and Orthodox Christianity

    Lecture 18:  Protestantism and Christianity today

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Muhammad, Qur’an, and Islamic civilization

    Lecture 20:  Unity in Islam – the Five Pillars

    Lecture 21: Forms of Islam – Diversity among Muslims

    Lecture 22: Jains, Sikhs, and Baha’is

    Lecture 23: Religion and Law in America

    Lecture 24: Religion Today – Trends, Challenges, and Hope

      The next course is actually called “Comparative Religion.” The lecturer is Professor Charles Kimball. He is the presidential professor and Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma Former director of the Middle East Office at the National Council of Churches. Professor Kimball is a frequent lecturer and analyst on issues in Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, Professor Kimball’s books include When Religion Becomes Evil, named one of Publishers Weekly’s Top 15 Books on Religion in 2002.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Comparative Religion – Who, What , Why How

    Lecture 2: Exploring Similarities and Differences

    Lecture 3: The Sacred, the Holy, and the Profane

    Lecture 4: Sacred Time, Sacred Space, Sacred Objects

    Lecture 5: Sacred People – Prophets, Sages, Saviors

    Lecture 6: Sacred People – Clergy, Monastics, Shamans

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Sacred Sign, Analogs, and Sacraments

    Lecture 8: Creation Myths and Sacred Stories

    Lecture 9: From Sacred Stories and Letters to doctrine

    Lecture 10: Sacred Text – The Bible and the Qur’an

    Lecture 11: Sacred Texts for Hindus and Buddhists 

    Lecture 12: Polytheism, Dualism, Monism and Monotheism

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  From Birth to Death – Religious Rituals

    Lecture 14: Daily, Weekly, Annual Religious Rituals

    Lecture 15: Ritual Sacrifice in the World’s Religions

    Lecture 16: The Human Predicament – How to Overcome It

    Lecture 17: The problems of sin and forgetfulness

    Lecture 18: Breaking through the Illusion of Reality

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: The Goals of Religious Life

    Lecture 20:  The Way of Faith and the Way of Devotion

    Lecture 21:  The Way of Action and the Way of Meditation

    Lecture 22:  The Way of the Mystics

    Lecture 23:  The Evolution of Religious institutions

    Lecture 24:  Religious Diversity in the 21st Century

       The next courses is entitled “The Pagan World: Ancient Religions before Christianity.” As the summary on the back of the set says the purpose of the course is to: “Take a close, Behind-the-scenes look at religion and life in the ancient Mediterranean to see how early pagan religions helped shape the world as we know it.” The lecturer is Hans-Fredrich Mueller.  He is the Thomas Lamont Professor of Ancient and Modern Literature at Union College.  He earned his PhD in Latin from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Mueller received the American Philological Association’s Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Classics at the College Level in addition to numerous articles.  Professor Mueller is the author of Roman Religion in Valerius Maximus and editor of an abridged edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the roman Empire.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: Early Pagan religion in Mesopotamia

    Lecture 2:  The Rigveda and the Gods of Ancient India

    Lecture 3: State Religion in Ancient Egypt

    Lecture 4: From Myth to Religion: The Olympian Deities

    Lecture 5: Household and local Gods in Ancient Greece

    Lecture 6: Feeding the Gods: Sacrificial Religion

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Prayers, Vows, Divination and Omens

    Lecture 8: Delphi and other Greek Sanctuaries

    Lecture 9:  Cults and Mystery Religions

    Lecture 10:  Philosophical Critiques of Paganism

    Lecture 11: Greek Funerary Practices and the Afterlife

    Lecture 12: Egyptian influences on Ancient Religion

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Ancient Roman Ancestor Worship

    Lecture 14: God of the Roman Household

    Lecture 15: Gods of the Roman State

    Lecture 16:  Priests and Ceremonies in the Roman Republic

    Lecture 17:  Religion, Politics, and War in Rome

    Lecture 18: Romes Reactions to Foreign Religions

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: The Roman Calander and Sacred Daus.

    Lecture 20: Julius Ceasar: A Turning Point in Roman Religion

    Lecture 21: Emperor Worship in Rome

    Lecture 22: Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians

    Lecture 23: Popular Religions of Late Antiquity

    Lecture 24: The End of Paganism in the Roman Empire

       The next Course is entitled “Jesus and His Jewish Influences,” Which is once again self-explanatory.  The lecturer is Dr. Jodi Magness. She is the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She earned her PH.D in Classical Archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania and has received many teaching and academic awards,.  An archaeologist with extensive field experience in Isreal. Dr. Magness also has published a number of books, including The Archaeology of the Holy Land: From the Destruction of Solomon’s Temple to the Muslim Conquest.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: Jesus the Jew

    Lecture 2: Sacred Mountains and Law Giving in Judaism

    Lecture 3:  The United and Divided Israelite Kingdoms

    Lecture 4: The Destruction of Solomon’s Temple

    Lecture 5: The Jewish Samaritan Schism

    Lecture 6: The Jewish Diaspora and the Golden Rule

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Alexander the Great’s Impact on the Jews

    Lecture 8: Jews and Greek Rule: The Heliodorus Affair

    Lecture 9: Desolating Sacrilege and the Maccabean Revolt

    Lecture 10: Apocalyptic Works and the “Son of Man”

    Lecture 11: Jesus’s Jewish Lineage

    Lecture 12: Was Jesus a Pharisee?

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Jewish Ritual Purity: The Sons os Light

    Lecture 14: The Dead Sea Scrolls

    Lecture 15: Was Jesus and Essene?

    Lecture 16: The Hebrew Scripture and the Septuagint

    Lecture 17: The reign of Herod the Great

    Lecture 18: Pontius Pilate a Roman Prefect

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: Anarchy in Judea

    Lecture 20: Jesus’s Prophecy: Jerusalem’s Destruction

    Lecture 21: Flavius Josephus:  Witness to 1st Century AD

    Lecture 22: Rabbinic Judaism’s Traditions about Jesus

    Lecture 23:  Jesus’s Apocalyptic Outlook

    Lecture 24: Jesus’s Teachings and Sayings in Context

      The next course is called “Confucius, Buddha Jesus, and Muhammad.” It looks at each of these religious leaders and eventually compares them.  The lecturer for this course is Professor Mark W. Muesse.  He is and Associate Professor of religious Studies and currently Director of the Asian Studies Program a Rhodes College.

        Disc 1

    Lecture 1: A quartet of Sages

    Lecture 2: Confucius’s China

    Lecture 3: Becoming a Sage

    Lecture 4: A Gentleman and a Scholar

    Lecture 5: Heaven and Earth

    Lecture 6: Doing unto Others

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: How to Rule a Kingdom

    Lecture 8: What a Sage Does

    Lecture 9: Confucius and Confucianism

    Lecture 10: India at the Time of the Buddha

    Lecture 11: Siddhartha Gotama

    Lecture 12:  The First and Second Great Awakenings

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Knowing the World

    Lecture 14: Can’t Get No Satisfaction

    Lecture 15: Getting to the Farther Shore

    Lecture 16: How the Buddha Taught

    Lecture 17:  The Buddha and Buddhism

    Lecture 18:  The Jewish and Roman Worlds of Jesus

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  The Son of Mary

    Lecture 20:  The first 30 Years

    Lecture 21:  The Kingdom of God

    Lecture 22:  Back to the Future

    Lecture 23: Jesus Christology

    Lecture 24:  The Last Days in Jerusalem

       Disc 5

    Lecture 25:  How Jesus Became Christ

    Lecture 26: Arabia in the Days of Ignorance

    Lecture 27: The Trustworthy One

    Lecture 28: “I Am Only a Messenger”

    Lecture 29:  Madinah

    Lecture 30: “There is No God But al-Lah”

        Disc 6

    Lecture 31: The Ethics of Islam

    Lecture 32:  The Greater Jihad

    Lecture 33:  The Conquest of Makkah

    Lecture 34: Their Lives Compared

    Lecture 35: Their Teachings Compared

    Lecture 36: Their Enduring Significance

         The next course is the “Beginnings of Judaism” once again whose title is self-explanatory. The Lecturer is Professor Isaiah M. Gafni has taught students about ancient Judaism for mor than 40 years at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he is the Sol Rosenbloom Professor of Jewish History. His more than 15 books include The Jews of Talmudic Babylonia: a Social and Cultural History, winner of the Holon Prize in Jewish Studies. For his exceptional teaching, Professor Gafni received Hebrew University’s acclaimed Michael Milken Prize.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  The Beginnings of Judaism – Biblical Roots

    Lecture 2: New Challenges in the Late Biblical Period

    Lecture 3: Jews under Persian Rule – The Return to Zion

    Lecture 4:  The Challenge of Hellenism

    Lecture 5: The Maccabees – From Rebels to Kings

    Lecture 6: The Canonization of the Hebrew Bible

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Translating the Bible – The Septuagint

    Lecture 8: Adding to the Bible – The Apocrypha

    Lecture 9:  Tobit – A New Path of Righteousness

    Lecture 10:  Retelling the Bible – The Book of Jubilees

    Lecture 11:  Revealing the Unknown

    Lecture 12: “Judaism” or “Judaisms?             

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Sectarianism – Pharisees and Sadducees

    Lecture 14: Out of the Caves – Discovery at Qumran

    Lecture 15: The End of Days – Messianic Eschatology

    Lecture 16: Other Lands, Other Jews – The Diaspora

    Lecture 17: Judaism in the Hellenistic World

    Lecture 18: Changing God’s Address – Temple to Synagogue

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: Rome Arrives in Jerusalem

    Lecture 20: Parting with the Temple

    Lecture 21: From Jerusalem to Yavne -Rabbinic Judaism

    Lecture 22: The Shaping of Rabbinic Judaism

    Lecture 23:  A Violent Epilogue – Bar Kokhba

    Lecture 24:  From “Roots” to “Tree”

       The next title is “The World of Biblical Isreal.” World is sort of an amorphous term.  In this case the lecturer talks about the day to day customs (worship, meals, etc.), politics, economy, literacy, education, living in certain times and things such as the Assyrian Incursion into Isreal and Judah. The lecturer is Professor Cynthia R. Chapman, an Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences, where she has taught for 11 years.  She holds an M.Div from Vanderbilt Divinity School and a Th.D from Harvard Divinity School. At Oberlin, she offers courses in Old and New Testaments, biblical women, and other topics.  Professor Chapman’s research has focused on the historiography of the Bible considered with in the larger ancient Near Eastern environment and on gender in ancient Isreal. Her first book was entitled The Gendered Language of Warfare in the Israelite-Assyrian Encounter.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: Biblical Isreal – The Story of a People

    Lecture 2: By the Rivers of Babylon – Exile

    Lecture 3: Ancestor Narratives in Genesis

    Lecture 4: Moses – The Torah’s Central Hero

    Lecture 5: Becoming the Nation of Isreal

    Lecture 6: Kinship and Economics in Highland Villages

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Three Wedding and a Funeral

    Lecture 8: Political Power Basics in Early Isreal

    Lecture 9: Kingdoms and King Making

    Lecture 10: Politics and Economy of a Centralized Cult

    Lecture 11: Worshiping Locally

    Lecture 12: Lives of the Rich, Lives of the Poor

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Assyrian Incursion into Isreal of Judah

    Lecture 14: Life under Siege

    Lecture 15: Religious Debates and Preserved Text

    Lecture 16: Ezekiel – Exilic informant

    Lecture 17: Life in Exile, Life in Judah

    Lecture 18: Literacy and Education

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Religious Developments of the Exile

    Lecture 20:  The New Isreal – Resettling the Land

    Lecture 21:  Food  and the Family Meal – Boundaries

    Lecture 22:  National Identity – Intermarriage

    Lecture 23:  National Identity – Twins and Enemies

    Lecture 24: Loss and Restoration – Two Biblical Stories

       The next course is entitled “The Book of Genesis.”  This is about the stories in the first book of the Bible, the first book of the New Testament. The lecturer is Professor Gary A. Rendsburg who holds the Blanche and Irving Laurie Chair in Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rudgers University. An expert in the history of ancient Isreal and the literature of the Bible, he has spent decades immersed in the study and exploration of Qumran and other ancient sites in Isael, Egypt, and Jordan.  Among his more than 120 scholarly articles and books is the Bible and the Ancient near East.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: On Reading the Book of Genesis

    Lecture 2: Genesis 1: The Creation Story

    Lecture 3: Genesis 2-3: The Second Creation Story:

    Lecture 4: An Overview of Ancient Israelite History

    Lecture 5: The Ancient Near East

    Lecture 6: The JEDP Theory – The Alternative Approaches

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Genesis 6-8, the Flood Story

    Lecture 8: Genesis 9, Covenant

    Lecture 9: Genesis 12-22, the Abraham Story

    Lecture 10: When and Where Did Abraham Live?

    Lecture 11: Genesis 21-22, Abraham Put tot the Test

    Lecture 12: Women in the Bible – Sarah and Hagar

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Genesis 24: A Bride for Isaac

    Lecture 14: The Barren Woman and the Younger Son

    Lecture 15: The Literary Structure of Genesis

    Lecture 16: Different Bible Translations

    Lecture 17:  Genesis 27, Jacob and Esau

    Lecture 18: Genesis 29, Jacob and Rachel

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: The Date of the Book of Genesis

    Lecture 20: Genesis 37, Joseph and His Brothers

    Lecture 21: Genesis 38, The Story of Judah and Tamar

    Lecture 22: Genesis 39, The Story of Potipher’s Wife

    Lecture 23: The Egyptian background of the Joseph Story

    Lecture 24: One Last Text – and the Text as a Whole

    The next course covered in this blog is titled “The Dead Sea Scrolls.” The following description is taken from the google AI Overview: The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient religious manuscripts, primarily dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, discovered in caves near the Dead Sea. They consist of about 950 different manuscripts, with many found as fragments, and include biblical texts, sectarian documents, and other Jewish religious works written in Hebrew and Aramaic. They are considered one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century, offering invaluable insights into Judaism and the world of early Christianity. This incudes Biblical manuscripts where approximately 40% of the scrolls are copies of books from the Hebrew Bible, providing the oldest known versions of these texts. While the scrolls do not mention Jesus, they provide critical historical and theological context for the world in which he lived, showing that many of the ideas and expectations discussed in his ministry were topics of conversation among Jewish groups at the time. An Interesting article containing fascinating facts can be found at: https://guideposts.org/angels-and-miracles/miracles/the-dead-sea-scrolls-11-fascinating-facts/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22710552711&gbraid=0AAAAADzKssNXOsTTnRsEatrz1PNoptcIB&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9czHBhCyARIsAFZlN8Sk9Yn1Amn0_VzK0L4mdYWG0aFQXDhZHth0tPwTsHzohASmMuR2hx8aAsuYEALw_wcB

      The lecturer is the same as the previous course outlined – Professor Gary A Rendsburg.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: The Discoveries and Their Significance

    Lecture 2: The First Seven Scrolls

    Lecture 3: Opening and Reading the First Scroll

    Lecture 4: The Historical Backdrop of Ancient Judaism

    Lecture 5: The Rise of the Jewish Sects

    Lecture 6: The Dead Sea Site

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: The Emergence of the Rabbinic System

    Lecture 8: A Dead Sea Scroll form Medieval Cairo

    Lecture 9: Pesher Interpretation – Prophecy Read Anew

    Lecture 10: The War Scroll and other Apocalyptic Texts

    Lecture 11: Biblical Manuscripts at Qumran

    Lecture 12: Alternative Views of Qumran and the Scrolls

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Stops and Starts En Route to Publication

    Lecture 14: The Qumran Vision for a New Temple

    Lecture 15: Daily Life of Qumran

    Lecture 16: The Halakhic Letter – Rituals Define the Sect

    Lecture 17: The Qumran Biblical Canon

    Lecture 18: The Qumran Calander

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: Jewish Scholars and Qumran Ritual Practices

    Lecture 20: Prayers, Hymns, and the Synagogue

    Lecture 21: Qumran Hebrew as an Anti-Language

    Lecture 22: The Enigma of the Copper Scroll

    Lecture 23: Connections to Christianity

    Lecture 24: Scroll Fragments and a New View of Judaism

         The second to last course outlined in this blog is entitled “Myth in Human History.”  The lecturer is Professor Grant L. Voth.  He is Professor Emeritus in English and Interdisciplinary Studies of Monterey Peninsula College and an expert in literature from Around the world. A former Professor at Northern Illinois University and Virgina Tech. Professor Voth is the author of more than 30 books and articles on subjects raging from Shakespear to modern American fiction His distinguished awards include the Alien Griffin Award for Excellence in Teaching.

        Disc 1

    Lecture 1: Myth and Meaning

    Lecture 2: The Continuing Importance of Myth

    Lecture 3: Creation Myths

    Lecture 4: Mesopotamian Creation – Enuma Elish

    Lecture 5: Hebrew Creation Myths

    Lecture 6: Emergence and World–Parent Creation Myths

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: Cosmic Egg and Ex Nihlio Creation Myths

    Lecture 8: Earth-Diver and Dismembered God Creation Myths

    Lecture 9: Mesopotamian and Hebrew Flood Myths

    Lecture 10: Other Flood Myths

    Lecture 11: Myths of Cosmic destruction

    Lecture 12: Greek and Norse Pantheons

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: The Great Goddess Remembered?

    Lecture 14: The Goddess – Inanna and Dumuzi

    Lecture 15: The Goddess – Isis and Osiris

    Lecture 16: The Eclipse of the Goddess

    Lecture 17: Shamans and Vegetation Gods

    Lecture 18: Sky Gods and Earth Goddesses

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: Creator Gods

    Lecture 20: Gods and Goddesses of India

    Lecture 21: Hero Myths

    Lecture 22: Mythic Heroes – Gilgamesh

    Lecture 23: Mythic Heroes – King Arthur

    Lecture 24: Mythic Heroes – Jason and the Argonauts

       Disc 5

    Lecture 25: The Monomyths of Rank and Campbell

    Lecture 26: Mythic Heroes – Mwindo

    Lecture 27:  Female Heroes – Demeter and Hester Pryhee  

    Lecture 28: Female Heroes – Psyche and Beauty

    Lecture 29: The Trickster in Mythology

    Lecture 30: Tricksters from around the World

        Disc 6

    Lecture 31: Native American Tricksters

    Lecture 32: African Tricksters

    Lecture 33: Mythic Tricksters – Eshu and Legba

    Lecture 34: The Places of Myth – Rocks and Lakes

    Lecture 35: The Places of Myth – Mountains

    Lecture 36: The Places of Myth – Sacred Trees

        The Final course outlined in this blog is “Luther: Gospel, Law and Reformation” which is about Martin Luther, the progenitor of the Protestant movement. The Lecturer is Professor Phillip Cary. He is Director of the Philosophy Program at Eastern University (formerly Eastern College) is St Davids, Pennsylvania, where he is also Assistant Professor in the Templeton Honors College. He received his M.A. in Philosophy and Ph.D in Philosophy and Religious Studies from Yale Univesity. He has published several papers on St. Augustine and other topics.  He is author of Augustine’s Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian Platonist.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Luther’s Gospel

    Lecture 2: The Medieval Church – Abuses and Reform

    Lecture 3: The Augustinian Paradigm of Spirituality

    Lecture 4: Young Luther Against Himself

    Lecture 5: Hearing the Gospel

    Lecture 6: Faith and works

       Disc 2

    Lecture 7: The Meaning of the Sacraments

    Lecture 8: The Indulgence Controversy

    Lecture 9: The Reformation Goes Public

    Lecture 10: The Captivity of the Sacraments

    Lecture 11: Reformation in Wittenberg

    Lecture 12: The Work of the Reformer

       Disc 3

    Lecture 13: Against the Spirit of Rebellion

    Lecture 14: Controversy Over the Lord’s Supper

    Lecture 15: Controversy Over Infant Baptism

    Lecture 16: Grace and Justification

    Lecture 17:  Luther and the Bible

    Lecture 18: Luther and Erasmus

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19: Luther and Predestination

    Lecture 20: Luther and Protestantism

    Lecture 21: Luther and Politics

    Lecture 22: Luther and His Enemies

    Lecture 23: Luther and the Jews

    Lecture 24: Luther and Modernity  

       The different perspectives and dimensions of Jesus, the Bible and religions in general are almost infinite, each giving us a deeper look into the ultimate reality.

  • Courses Giving a Taste of How Christianity Shaped Education and Knowledge

          Christianity has touched literally every corner of Human endeavor mainly because it is the progenitor of the University system.  Before Christ said all men, women, races and social classes are equal (Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11), there were experts that rose to fame among their people, for certain things, and the rich as well as Kings and Queens went to them for help in medicine, philosophy fighting skills. Knowing all men are spiritual equal they interpolated this to the assumption that all men’s intellects were basically equal and consequently experts could train other experts and they could pass their knowledge on in a common space among numerous people. So, literacy as well as all types of knowledge spread, expanding literacy from about (according to a google AI Overview) 5%-10% in the year 100 AD to about 81% according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)  in the year 2000 AD.

    The first course, seeing some of Catholicism’s influence on philosophy, is entitled “Skeptics and Believers: Religious Debate in the Western Intellectual Tradition.” The lecturer is Professor Tyler Robers who is a scholar of Western religious thought, and is Professor of Religious Studies at Grinnell College. He was educated at Brown University and the Harvard Divinity School.  Professor Robert’s essays have appeared in leading academic journals, including The Journal of Religion and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.  He is also the author of Contesting Spirit: Nietzsche, Affirmation, Religion.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1: Religion and Modernity

    Lecture 2: From Suspicion to the Premodern Cosmos  

    Lecture 3: From Catholicism to Protestantism

    Lecture 4: Scientific Revolution and Descartes

    Lecture 5:  Descartes and Modern Philosophy

    Lecture 6: Enlightenment and religion

        Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Natural Religion and its Critics

    Lecture 8:  Kant – Religion and Moral Reason

    Lecture 9:  Kant, Romanticism, and Pietism

    Lecture 10:  Schleiermacher – Religion and Experience

    Lecture 11:  Hegel – Religion, Spirit and History

    Lecture 12: Theology and the Challenge of History

        Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  19th Century Christian Modernists

    Lecture 14:  19th Century Christian Antimodernists

    Lecture 15:  Judaism and Modernity

    Lecture 16:  Kierkegaard’s Faith

    Lecture 17:  Kierkegaard’s Paradox

    Lecture 18:  19th Century Suspicion and Feuerbach

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Marx – Religion and False Consciousness

    Lecture 20:  Nietzsche and the Genealogy of Morals

    Lecture 21:  Nietzsche and the Ascetic Ideal

    Lecture 22:  Freud – Religion as Neurosis

    Lecture 23:  Barth and the end of Liberal Theology

    Lecture 24:  Theology and Suspicion

       Disc 5

    Lecture 25:  Protestant Theology after Barth

    Lecture 26:  20th Century Catholicism

    Lecture 27:  Modern Jewish Philosophy

    Lecture 28:  Post-Holocaust Theology

    Lecture 29:  Liberation Theology

    Lecture 30:   Secular and Postmodern Theologians

       Disc 6

    Lecture 31: Postmodernism and Tradition

    Lecture 32:  Fundamentalism and Islamism

    Lecture 33:  New Atheisms

    Lecture 34:  Religion and Rationality

    Lecture 35:  Pluralisms – Religious and Secular

    Lecture 36:  Faith, Suspicion and Modernity

    For Architecture we look at the course entitled “The Cathedral.” The lecturer we have seen in another blog. To refresh our memory “Professor William R. Cook has taught thousands of students over the course of more than 35 years at the State University of New York at Geneseo, where he is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History.  Professor Cook is an expert in medieval history, the Renaissance and Reformation periods, and the Bible and Christian thought. The Medieval Academy of America awarded Professor Cook the CARA Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Medieval Studies for his achievements.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  What is a Cathedral?

    Lecture 2:  Early Christian Architecture

    Lecture 3: Romanesque – A New Monumental Style

    Lecture 4:  Vaulting – a look at Roofs

    Lecture 5:  Romanesque at its best

    Lecture 6: Saint-Denis and the Beginning of Gothic Style

        Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  The Urban Context of Cathedrals

    Lecture 8:  Notre Dame in Paris

    Lecture 9:  Early Gothic Style – Laon

    Lecture 10:  Chartres – The Building

    Lecture 11:  Chartres – The Sculpture

    Lecture 12:  Chartres – The Windows

        Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Amiens – The Limits of Height

    Lecture 14:  Amiens – The Facade

    Lecture 15:  Reims – The Royal Cathedral

    Lecture 16:  Cathedrals – Who Builds? Who Pays? How Long?

    Lecture 17:  New Developments in Gothic France

    Lecture 18:  Late Gothic Churches in France

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  Early Gothic Architecture in England

    Lecture 20:  Decorated and Perpendicular English Gothic

    Lecture 21:   Gothic Churches in the Holy Roman Empire

    Lecture 22:  Gothic Churches in Italy

    Lecture 23:  Gothic Styles in Iberia and the New World

    Lecture 24:  Gothic Architecture in Today’s World

            For literature we look at “Dante’s Divine Comedy.” (of which the course has the same name) The lecturer, Professor Ronald B. Harzman, is Distinguished Teaching Professor of English at the State University of New York, Genesco. He received his Ph.D in English literature from the University of Delaware. He is coauthor of the Apocalyptic Imagination in Medieval Literature. Her received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.  We have seen Dr. Cooks credentials in other blogs but In 2003 Professor Herzman and Professor William R. Cook won the Medieval Academy of America’s first ever CARA Award for Excellence in Teaching Medieval Studies.

    The following quote about the course is provided by they great courses website: Professors Cook and Herzman provide you with an illuminating introduction to one of the greatest works ever written. One of the most profound and satisfying of all poems, The Divine Comedy (or Commedia) of Dante Alighieri is a book for life. In a brilliantly constructed narrative of his imaginary guided pilgrimage through the three realms of the Christian afterlife, Dante accomplished a literary task of astonishing complexity. But the full achievement of the Commedia goes beyond anything merely literary. In these twenty-four lectures, as you follow Dante on his journey, you’ll learn how medieval literature offers insights into fundamental questions: What is the quality of our moral actions? How does spiritual transformation come about? What is the nature of good and evil, virtue and vice, sin and sanctity? Why is the world so full of strife? How do we go on when we lose the things we love? You’ll discover why, in the centuries since the Commedia was written, not one of these questions has lost its force. Moreover, you’ll hear Dante address them in a demanding and innovative Italian verse form (terza rima) that makes the Commedia one of the great virtuoso pieces of world literature. With the guidance of these two master professors, you’ll learn invaluable background information on Dante’s life and times; why Dante wrote the Commedia; how to approach the various English editions available; and how each part of the poem is connected to what has come before. But above all, you’ll understand why the Commedia is not a puzzle to be solved or a book to be read and put aside-but a mystery whose beauty and richness is to be constantly savored.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Reading the Poem – Issues and Editions

    Lecture 2:   A Poet and His City – Dante’s Florence

    Lecture 3:  Literary antecedents, I

    Lecture 4:  Literary antecedents, II

    Lecture 5:  “Abandon Every Hope, All You Who Enter”

    Lecture 6:  The Never-Ending Storm

        Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  Heretics

    Lecture 8:  The Seventh Circle – The Violent

    Lecture 9:  The Sin of Simony

    Lecture 10:  The False Counselors

    Lecture 11:   The Ultimate Evil

    Lecture 12:   The Seven-Story Mountain

        Disc 3

    Lecture 13:  Purgatory’s Waiting Room

    Lecture 14:  The Sin of Pride  

    Lecture 15:  The Vision to Freedom

    Lecture 16:  Homage to Virgil

    Lecture 17:  Dante’s New Guide

    Lecture 18:  Ascending the Spheres

        Disc 4

    Lecture 19:  An Emperor Speaks

    Lecture 20:  The Circle of the Sun – Saints and Sages

    Lecture 21:    A Mission Revealed – Encounter with an Ancestor

    Lecture 22:   Can a Pagan Be Saved?

    Lecture 23:  Faith, Hope, Love, and the Mystic Empyrean

    Lecture 24:  “In My End Is My Beginning”

    Finally for science we have the course entitled “Science and Religion.” The following is an overview quoted from the website:

    What is the nature of the relationship between science and religion? When do they conflict? And how do they influence each other in the pursuit of knowledge and truth? While conventional wisdom says that science and theology must perpetually clash, they have actually been partners in an age-old adventure. These 12 engaging lectures cover both the historical sweep and philosophical flashpoints of this epic interaction. You’ll encounter a surprisingly cooperative dynamic in which theologians and natural scientists – from St. Augustine to Sir Isaac Newton to contemporary thinkers – share methods, ideas, aspirations, and a tradition of disputational dialogue. Moving from the early centuries of the Christian era and the Middle Ages to our own day, Professor Principe examines St. Augustine’s profound ideas about reason and faith, and he follows St. Thomas Aquinas’s exploration of miracles – the need to identify them is one example of how scientific and theological inquiry overlap. You’ll meet a 19th-century writer whose anti-Catholic diatribe spread myths that persist today, and you’ll learn about the courage (and stubbornness) of Galileo, the unexpected rationality of his accusers, the inspiration of Darwin’s natural selection, and the religious implications of Lemaître’s big bang theory. The solution to modern conflicts is the study of history. Such study will equip you to join that partnership with ideas and a clear, historical perspective on the science/religion relationship. These tools will help you participate more effectively in a dialogue that is as thought-provoking today as it was hundreds of years ago.

    On the lecturer (also quoted from the website)

    Dr. Lawrence M. Principe is Drew Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Principe earned a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Liberal Studies from the University of Delaware. He also holds two doctorates: a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Johns Hopkins University. In 1999, the Carnegie Foundation chose Professor Principe as the Maryland Professor of the Year, and in 1998 he received the Templeton Foundation’s award for courses dealing with science and religion. Johns Hopkins has repeatedly recognized Professor Principe’s teaching achievements. He has won its Distinguished Faculty Award, the Excellence in Teaching Award, and the George Owen Teaching Award. In 2004, Professor Principe was awarded the first Francis Bacon Prize by the California Institute of Technology, awarded to an outstanding scholar whose work has had substantial impact on the history of science, the history of technology, or historically-engaged philosophy of science. Professor Principe has published numerous papers and is the author or coauthor of three books, including The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest.

       Disc 1

    Lecture 1:  Science and Religion

    Lecture 2:  The Warfare Thesis

    Lecture 3:  Faith and Reason – Scripture and Nature

    Lecture 4:  God and nature – Miracles and Demons

    Lecture 5:  Church, Copernicus, and Galileo

    Lecture 6:  Galileo’s Trial

        Disc 2

    Lecture 7:  God the Watchmaker

    Lecture 8:  Natural Theology and Arguments from Design

    Lecture 9:  Geology, Cosmology, and Biblical Chronology

    Lecture 10: Darwin and Response to Evolution

    Lecture 11:  Fundamentalism and Creationism

    Lecture 12:  Past, Present, and Future

      The courses should be a taste of how the Catholic church influenced the world around it, especially through its creation of the very first university system (as opposed to local experts which you could go to learn from, usually if you were rich or powerful, for example Alexander the Great and Aristotle) and its appending elementary school, mostly free, as I understand, offerings.

  • Great Courses Black Friday Sale from Today Until 1 December 2025 with A Good Sample of Courses Available

    Great Courses Black Friday Sale from Today Until 1 December 2025 with A Good Sample of Courses Available

           As I said in an earlier post the Great Courses’  business model is switching from making and selling tapes, CDs and DVDs (physical media) to selling streaming content.  I am out lining courses I have bought in physical media while hopefully some copies can be ordered off of Amazon, ebay and other sellers over the next few months.  Currently this company is running a sale to from what I understand, have unlimited access to their content starting at a reduced monthly rate of $1.99 for the first 2 months in the U.S. rising to $9.99/month for and unlimited subscription after that.  You can also buy titles for about $50 that you can stream anytime without a subscription.  Everything I bought directly from them in physical media, is available for me to stream from their website.  Physical media I am now buying off of Amazon will not be available to me through the website unless I either buy a subscription or buy a particular title.

          In my opinion this would be a good time to take advantage of this offer and see if you like the content or just find the content you like and binge watch that for about 2 months and then terminate your subscription, possibly buying anything you might like.  This company is going the way of providers; amazon prime etc. so they will not need the evidently more costly logistics train and just create and store content in servers and distribute it on the internet.

         I’m buying the ones contained on physical media because though it may be unlikely, the company may go out of business or may be temporarily unreachable through the Internet when I need access to the content, possibly for my family in the future.  A catastrophic occurrence like an earthquake (meteor strike, civil unrest or war) could also destroy their servers leading to a prolonged outage of a month or so until they can reload backups. Yes, I am overly cautious.

          I am printing out a list of titles I currently have at my location that I can find (I have a lot of them since I am using them in some part to write these blogs in parallel with looking at the website) or i am currently in the process of buying, below. I am currently in the process of trying to move to another house. As a parent I would examine the content before allowing access to children.  I have not watched all the courses but I have seen complaints on line of iffy material when it comes to literary images and only a few that I have seen that show images of any sort.

    This is the Comprehensive Catalog of Course to give people who take advantage of the Black Friday 2 month deal to see what was available before deciding to commit for a couple of months for a lower price and decide if there is something they want to buy or if they want to subscribe.

    1) Courses related to comparative religions and religious cultural literacy

    • Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should know.
    • Comparative Religion
    • The Pagan World: Ancient Religions before Christianity
    • Jesus and His Jewish Influences
    • Confucius, Buddha Jesus, and Muhammad
    • Beginnings of Judaism
    • The World of Biblical Isreal
    • The Book of Genesis
    • The Dead Sea Scrolls
    • Myth in Human History
    • Luther: Gospel, Law and Reformation

    2) Courses on Catholicism’s Influence on Philosophy, Architecture, literature, and Science

    • Skeptics and Believers: Religious Debate in the Western Intellectual Tradition
    • The Cathedral
    • Dante’s Divine Comedy
    • Science and Religion

    3) Courses on Christianity

    • From Jesus to Constantine: A history of Early Christianity
    • The Historical Jesus
    • The History of the Bible, the making of the New Testament Canon
    • After the New Testament: The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers
    • Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication
    • The Triumph of Christianity
    • The History of Christianity II: From the Reformation to the Modern Megachurch
    • The History of Christianity in the Reformation Era
    • Jesus and the Gospels
    • The History of Christian Theology
    • Myth in Human History
    • Luther: Gospel, Law, and Reformation

    4) Courses on the great world religions:

    • Great World Religions: Judaism
    • Great World Religions: Christianity
    • Great World Religions: Islam
    • Great World Religions: Buddhism
    • Great World Religions: Hinduism

    5) Courses on General Health Self Education

    • The Human Body: How We fail, How We Heal
    • Changing Body Composition Through Diet and Exercise
    • The Science of Natural Healing
    • Nutrition Made Clear
    • Body Composition: Diet & Exercise
    • The Mayo Clinic Diet: The Healthy Approach to Weight Loss
    • Lifelong Health: Achieving Optimum Well-Being at Any Age
    • Mind-Body Medicine: The New Science of Optimal Health
    • The Science of Integrative Medicine
    • The Skeptic’s Guide to Health, Medicine, and the Media
    • Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us
    • Stress and Your Body
    • Understanding the Human Body: An Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology

           –     What Science Knows about Cancer

    6) Great Courses on Raising Children

    – Scientific Secrets: for Raising Kids Who Thrive

    – Raising Emotionally and Socially Healthy Kids

    – How the World Learns: Comparative Educational Systems

    – How to Become a SuperStar Student, 2nd Edition

    – Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning, 2nd Edition

    – The Art of Debate

    – Effective research Methods for Any Project

    – Music and the Brain

    – The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience

    7) A few courses of interest to more mature adults

    -Tai Chi for Aging with Strength and Tranquility

    -Secrets of Sleep Science: From Dreams to Disorders

    -How to Stay Fit as You Age

    -Physiology and Fitness

    – Myths of Nutrition and Fitness

    -Lifelong Health: Achieving Optimum Well-Being at Any Age

    -Essentials of Tai Chi and Qigong

    8) Courses for people and students considering medical school

    -Understanding Genetics: DNA, Genes, and Their Real-World Applications

    -Medical School for Everyone: Pediatrics Grand Rounds

    -Medical School for Everyone: Grand Rounds Cases

    -Medical School for Everyone: Emergency Medicine

          9)  Great Courses involving Self Help Wisdom

    –  Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World

    –  Origins of the Human Mind

    –  The Neuroscience of Everyday Life

    –  Outsmart Yourself: Brain Based Strategies to a Better You

    –  Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior

    –  How to Break the Habit of Self-Doubt and Build Real Confidence

    –  Understanding and overcoming Fear

    –  Cognitive Behaviors Therapy: Techniques for Retraining Your Brain

    – Scientific Secrets of Self Control

    –  Music and the Brain

    – Essentials of Strength Training

    – Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies

    –  How to Turn Your Passion into Profit

    –  Understanding Inner Genius

    – Boosting Your Emotional Intelligence

    – Building Love That Lasts

    – The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience

    – Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking

    – Achieve Your Potential

    – How Colors Affect You: What Science Reveals

    – A Brand Called Your

    – Understanding the Brain

    – The Learning Brain

    – The Addictive Brain

    – Memory and the Human Lifespan

         10)  Great Courses for Writers

    –  Writing Creative Nonfiction

    – Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write About Anything

    – Building Great Sentences: Exploring the writer’s Craft (CD)

    – The Art of Storytelling: From Parents to Professionals (CD)

    – Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques

    – Writing and Civilization From Ancient Worlds to Modernity

    – The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins

    – Storytelling and the Human Condition

    – How to Write Best-Selling Fiction

    – The Secrets of Great Mystery and Suspense Fiction

    – How to Publish Your Book

        11)  Great Courses for Travelers and Tourists

    – Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are

    –  The World’s Greatest Churches

    –  Experiencing Rome: A Visual Exploration of Antiquity’s Greatest Empire

    –  Understanding Japan: A Cultural History

    –  The Great Tours: Washington DC

    – The Great Tours: African Safari

    – The Great Tours: A Guided Tour of Ancient Egypt

    – The Great Tours: Greece Turkey, from Athens to Istanbul

    – The World’s Greatest Geological Wonders: 36 Spectacular Sites

    – London: A Short History of the Greatest City in the Western World

    – The Great Tours: England, Scotland, and Wales

    -The Great Tours: Ireland and Northern Ireland

    – The Celtic World

    – The Great Tours: Experiencing Medieval Europe

    – Wonders of the National Parks: A Geology of North America

    – World Heritage Sites: Exploring the World’s Greatest Places 

    – Food: A Cultural Culinary history

     12) Great Courses on the American Founding Fathers, Constitution and Thought Constructing the United States of America and The Industrial Revolution plus courses concerning American History

    – The Industrial Revolution

    – Experiencing America: A Smithsonian Tour through American History

    – Thinking about Capitalism

    – Socialism Vs. Capitalism: Comparing Economic Systems

    – History of Freedom

    – The American Mind

    – The Skeptic’s Guide to American History

    – Before 1776: Life in the American Colonies

    – The Great Debates: Advocates and Opponents pf the American Constitution

    – Civil liberties and the Bill of Rights

    – The Evolution of American Federalism

    – Books that Matter: The Federalist Papers

    – What America’s Founders Learned from Antiquity

    – America’s Founding Fathers

    – The Age of Benjamin Franklin

    – Origins and Ideologies of the American Revolution

    – The American Revolution   

    – Turning Points in American History

    – The American West: History, Myth and Legacy

    – History of the United States 2nd Edition

    – America in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

    – United States and the Middle East: 1914 to 9/11

    – America and the New Global Economy

    – America and the World: A Diplomatic History

    – Understanding the US Government

    – The American Identity

    13) Great Courses on Mathematics for the most part are overviews for the general public. If you want to actually learn to do the type of problems covered might I suggest the Khan academy at Khan Academy | Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice. Though it is free it works on donations so if you can donate. I have also heard Beestar is good at Beestar.org – Math and Reading for Kids for the more basic math.  Math appears to be free but I think you need to pay for English Language Arts (ELA) which is how they probably get some of their funding.

    – The Joy of Mathematics

    – The Queen of the Sciences: A History of Mathematics

    – Zero to Infinity: A History of Numbers

    – Mathematics, Philosophy, and the “Real World”

    – Secrets of Mental Math

    – An Introduction to formal logic

     – Introduction to Number Theory

    – Great Thinkers, Great Theorems

    – Discrete Mathematics

    – Geometry: An Interactive Journey to Mastery

    – High School Level-Geometry

    – The Art and Craft of Mathematical Problem Solving

    – Mathematics Describing the Real World: Precalculus and Trigonometry

    – Algebra I

    – Algebra II

    – How Music and Mathematics Relate

    – The Power of Mathematical Visualization

    – Mastering Linear Algebra: An Introduction with Applications

    – Learning Statistics: Concepts and Applications in R

    – Mathematical Decision Making: Predictive Models and Optimization

    – An Introduction to Numbers Theory

    – Understanding Calculus: Problems, Solutions, and Tips

    – Understanding Calculus II: Problems, Solutions, and Tips

    – Change and Motion: Calculus Made Clear, 2nd Edition

    – Mastering Differential Equations: The Visual Method

    – Understanding Multivariable Calculus: Problems, Solutions, and Tips

    – The Shape of Nature

    – Mathematics from the Visual World [on triangles, conics, circle, squares, planes, etc.]

    – What are the Chances? Probability Made Clear

    – Chaos

    – Prove it: The Art of Mathematical Argument

    14)  Great Courses on Physics. Once again these are looked at for the most part from the qualitative aspect as opposed to the quantitative or more technical aspect, and as with mathematics the Khan academy is a good place to start for the more elementary stuff.

    – The Joy of Science

    – Physics in Your Life

    – Fundamentals of Sustainable Living

    – Physics and Out Universe: How it All Works

    – Science and Mathematics, Great Ideas of Classic Physics

    – The Nature of Matter: Understanding the Physical World

    – Thermodynamics: Four Laws That Move the Universe

    -The Science of Energy: Recourses and Power Explained

    – The Science of Flight

    – The Scientific Wonder of Birds

    – Understanding the World’s Greatest Structures: Science and Innovation from Antiquity to Modernity

    – Understanding the Quantum World

    – Quantum Mechanics: The Physics of the Microscopic World

    – Introduction to Nanotechnology: The New Science of Small

    – The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality

    – Superstring Theory: The DNA of Reality

    – Dark Matter, Dark Energy: The Dark Side of the Universe

    – The Nature of Matter: Understanding the Physical World

    – Particle Physics for the Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos

    – Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time

    – Nuclear Physics Explained

    – Cosmology: The History and Nature of Our Universe

    – Radio Astronomy: Observing the Invisible Universe

    –  Introduction to Astrophysics

    – The Life and Death of Stars

    – The Search for Exoplanets: What Astronomers Know

    – Black Holes, Tides and Curved Spacetime: Understanding Gravity

    – Impossible Physics: Beyond the Edge

    -The Evidence for Modern Physics: How We Know What We Know

    – The Origin and Evolution of Earth From the Big Bang to the Future of Human Existence

    – My Favorite Universe

    – Physics in Your Life

    15) Great Courses on the Pre-Historic/Ancient world, history changing events and exploration.

    – A New History of Life

    – Rise of Humans: Great Scientific Debates

    – Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations

    – Latin 101: Learning a Classical Language

    – Greek 101: Learning an Ancient Language

    – Ancient Greek Civilization

    – The Other Side of History: Daily life in the Ancient World

    – Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs

    – The History of Ancient Egypt

    – The World Was Never the Same: Events that changed history

    – Cities of the Ancient World

    – The Holy Land Revealed

    – Understanding Greek and Ronam Technology: From Catapult to the Pantheon

    – Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor

    – Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia

    – Ancient Empires before Alexander

    – Late Antiquity: Crisis and Transformation

    – Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire

    – 30 Masterpieces of the Ancient World

    – The World of Byzantium

    – Barbarian Empires of the Steppes

    – Rome and the Barbarians

    – The Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest

    – Native Peoples of North America

    – Lost Worlds of South America

    – Maya to Aztec: Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed

    16) Great Courses on more Recent history – More or less since the time of Jesus Christ

    – A Brief History of the World

    – World History

    – Power over People: Classical and Modern Political Theory

    – The Great Trials of World History and the Lessons, They Teach Us

    – The Vikings

    – The Wisdom of History

    – The Real History of Secret Societies

    – Turning Points in Middle Eastern History

    – The World Was Never the Same Events That Changed History

    – The Foundations of Eastern Civilization

    – The Foundations of Western Civilization

    – The Foundations of Western Civilization II: A History of the Modern Western World

    – African Experience: From Lucy to Mandela

    – The long Shadow of the Ancient Greek World

    – Irish Identity: Independence, History, and Literature

    – A History of India

    – A History of British India

    – The Ottoman Empire

    – The History and Achievements of the Islamic Golden Age

    – Era of the Crusades

    – Living History: Experiencing Great Events of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds

    – History’s Greatest Voyages of Exploration

    – The High Middle Ages

    – The Late Middle Ages

    – Ancient and Medieval History: The Italian Renaissance

    – The Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Rise of Nations

    – The Age of Henry VIII

    – A History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts

    – The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

    – Victorian Britain

    – The Real History of Pirates

    – European History and European Lives 1715 to 1914

    – Modern History the Long 19th Century

    – Europe and Western: Civilization in the Modern Age

    – The Modern Political Tradition: Hobbes to Habermas

    – Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century

    – Understanding Imperial China Dynasties, Life and Culture

    – Communism in Power: From Stalin to Mao

    – From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History

    – Turning Points in Modern History

    – Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History

    17) Great Courses on Hobbies or handy crafts

    – Veterinary School for Everyone: Caring for Cats and Dogs

    – Fundamentals of Home Maintenance: From Repairs to Renovations

    – Fundamentals of Photography

    – Fundamentals of Photography II

    – How to Grow Anything Food Gardening for Everyone

    – Do it yourself Engineering

    – Woodworking Tips, Tricks, & Secrets

    – The Art of Reading

    – Pioneering Skills for Everyone

    – The Everyday Gourmet: Making Health Food Taste Great

    – The Everyday Gourmet: Essential Secrets of Spices in Cooking

    – The Science of Gardening

    – Essential Techniques Every Knitter Should Know

    – Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation

    – National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America

    – The Everyday Guide to Wine

    18) Great Coursed on Books that Matter and great literature

    • The  Skeptic’s Guide to Great Books
    • Books That Matter: The City of God
    • Understanding Literature and Life: Drama, Poetry and Narrative
    • St. Augustine’s Confessions
    • The Odyssey of Homer
    • The Iliad of Homer
    • Masterworks of Early 30th Century Literature
    • Books That Matter: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
    • Great Authors of Western Literary Tradition, 2nd Edition
    • Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life
    • Machiavelli in Context
    • Literature and the English Language, Understanding Literature and Life: Drama< poetry and Narrative
    • William Shakespeare: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies
    • Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature
    • Classics of Russian Literature
    • Classics of British Literature
    • King Arthur: History and Legend
    • Classics of American Literature
    • Joyce’s Ulysses
    • Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature
    • How Great Science Fiction Works

    19) Miscellaneous courses concerning Religion that I did not have, did not remember I had or forgot to put in the first few blogs I had on religious subjects.

    – Exploring the Roots of Religion

    – Reading Biblical Literature: Genesis to Revelation

    – Biblical Hebrew: Learning a Sacred Language

    – Live of Christians

    – Philosophy and Religion in the West

    – Philosophy of Religion – Philosophy & Intellectual history

    – The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity

    – Reason and Faith: Philosophy in the Middle Ages

    – Religions of the Axial Age: An approach to the World’s Religions

    – Between Cross and Crescent: Jewish Civilization from Mohammed to Spinoza

    – The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History

    – Sacred Texts of the World

    – Mystical Tradition: Judaism, Christianity and Islam

    – Jewish Intellectual History: 16th to 20th Century

    – Introduction to the Study of Religion

    – Reading Biblical literature: Genesis to Revelation

    – Old Testament

    – Understanding the Old Testament

    – New Testament

    – Understanding the New Testament

    – The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History

    – The Apostle Paul

    – The Apocalypse: Controversies and Meaning in Western History

    20) Early Greek, and Roman Civilization, Thinkers and Leaders

    – Greek Tragedy

    – Herodotus: The Father of History

    – Famous Greeks

    – Emperors of Rome

    21) Great Courses supporting financial, market and investment literacy

    – Economics 3rd edition

    – The Economics of Uncertainty

    – Unexpected Economics

    – Money and Banking: What Everyone Should know

    – Understanding Investments

    – Thinking about Capitalism

    – The Art of Investing: Lessons from History’s Greatest Traders

    – How the Stock Market Works

    – Advanced Investments

    – Financial Literacy: Finding Your Way in the Financial Markets

    22) Great Courses with information for running businesses big and small

    – The Art of Negotiating the Big Deal

    – International Economic Institutions: Globalism vs. Nationalism

    – Entrepreneur’s Toolkit
    – Thinking about Capitalism

    – Critical Business Skills for Success

    – How to Build a Thriving Workplace: A Leader’s Guide

    – How to Turn Your Passion into Profit

    – Effective Communications Skills

    – Games People Play: Game Theory in Life Business and Beyond

    – Big Data: How Data Analytics is Transforming the World

    – Meaning from Data: Statistics Made Clear

    – Thinking like an Economist: A Guide to Rational Decision Making 

    – Understanding Complexity

    – Strategic Thinking Skills

    – Modern Economic Issues

    23) Great Courses on Law and Forensic Science

    – Law School for Everyone

    – Law School for Everyone: Legislation and Regulation

    – Law School for Everyone: Contracts

    – Law School for Everyone: Constitutional Law

    – Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works

    24) Great Courses on War

    – The Agency: A History of the CIA

    – Masters of War: History’s Greatest Strategic Thinkers

    – The Peloponnesian War

    – The Decisive Battles of World History

    – Histories Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach

    – War, Peace, and Power: Diplomatic History of Europe 1500-2000

    – Living the French Revolution and the age of Napoleon

    – The American Civil War (CD)

    – World War I: The “Great War”

    – Churchill

    – Unsung Heroes of World War II Europe

    – World War II: A Military and Social History

    – World War II: Battlefield Europe

    – World War II: The Pacific Theater

    – History’s Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach

    – War and World History

    25) Great Courses on philosophy:

    – Philosophy as a Guide to Living Part 1 & Part 2

    – The great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition

    – The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the world’s Great Intellectual Traditions

    – Exploring Metaphysics

    – Masters of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle

    – Philosophy & Intellectual History Plato’s Republic

    – Great Minds of Eastern Intellectual Tradition

    – Great Minds of the Medieval World

    – The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida

    – Great Philosophical Debates: Free Will and Determinism

    – No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life

    – The Will to Power: The Philosophy of Fredrich Nietzsche

    – Athenian Democracy: An Experiment for the Ages

    – Philosophy of Science

    – Redefining reality: The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

    – Philosophy of Mind, Brains, Consciousness, and Thinking Machines

    – The Big Questions of Philosophy

    26) Great Courses on Art      

    – Renaissance: The Transformation of the West

    – Great Artists of the Italian Renaissance

    – The Genius of Michelangelo

    – From Monet to Van Gogh: a History of Impressionism

    – Dutch Masters: The Age of Rembrandt

    – How to Draw

    – Sketching People, Places, and Landscapes

    – Realistic Watercolors Step by Step

    – Painting with Watercolors

    – Simple & Stunning Watercolor Techniques

    – Improve your Paintings with Luminous Watercolor Mixing

    – How to Look at and Understand Great Art

    27) Great Courses on Music

    – Understanding the Fundamentals of Music

    – How to Listen to and Understand Great Music

    – Music as a Mirror of History

    – The Symphony

    – Great Music of the 20th Century

    – Great Masters: Mozart – His Life and Music

    – Chamber Music of Mozart

    – Great Masters: Brahms – His Life and Music

    – Great Masters: Haydn – His Life and Music

    – Great Masters: Tchaikovsky – His Life and Music

    – Great Masters: Robert and Clara Schumann- Their Lives and Music

    – Great Masters: Liszt – His Life and Music

    – Great Masters: Beethoven – His Life and Music

    – The Music of Richard Wagner

    – The String Quartets of Beethoven

    – The Symphonies of Beethoven

    – Bach and the High Baroque

    28) Great Courses on Chemistry

    – Chemistry, 2nd Edition

    – Foundations of Organic Chemistry

    – Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

    29) Great Courses on fields of study Other than law, medicine, math, physics and chemistry

    – Introduction to Astrophysics

    – Introduction to Paleontology

    – Major Transitions in Evolution

    – Zoology: Understanding the Animal World

    – Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome

    – Electrical Engineering for Everyone

    – The Science of Extreme Weather

    – Oceanography: Exploring Earth’s Final Wilderness

    – Life in the World’s Oceans

    – Archaeology: An Introduction to the World’s Greatest Sites

    – Nature of Earth: An Introduction to Geology

    – Meteorology: An Introduction to the Wonders of the Weather

    – Plant Science: An Introduction to Botany

    – Understanding Linguistics: The Science of Language

    30) Great Courses concerning The Cyber world and Cyber Security:

    – Social Media 101

    – How Digital Technology Shapes Us

    – Thinking about Cybersecurity: From Cyber Crime to Cyber Warfare

    – The Surveillance State: Big Data, Freedom, and You

    Note: Since I don’t know when I’m going to talk about this again 2 books by Fr. Jean-Pierre Bouree, SSPX are worth looking at and they are Screen Man: Toward a virtual Humanity published by STAS 2015 and the other is Half-Life: The Decay of Reality published by Angelus Press 2018 both translated from the French by Ann Marie Temple

    31) Great Courses on Programming Languages plus Robotics Overview

    – Learning Java Programming

    — How to Program: Computer Science Concepts and Python Exercises

    – Introduction to C++: Programming Concepts and Applications

    – Robotics

    32) Great Courses on Human Communication

    – Brain Based Guide to Communicating Better

    – Understanding Nonverbal Communications

    – The Story of Human Language

    – American Sign Language for Everyone

    This is not an exhaustive list of all, once physical media, such as book, cassette, CD, VHS or DVD produced by the Great Courses, not even close, but it is most of what I either have or ordered recently off of Amazon, new or possibly used, to give you a taste of what is available now, on their streaming service. There is such a wide variety of titles I have because I hoped to either watch or have my grand children watch if they might have a question on any particular subject!  I know my archive is not complete but it has a lot of the famous places, things, concepts and people in many subjects.

  • Laudato Si, Climate agenda, Solar Cells and EVs like Tesla Cars

            Full disclosure, I have owned a Tesla car for a few years as well as Tesla stock for about 7 years.

            Pope Francis when he was Pope, was pushing, in my opinion, for the most part, a climate agenda that was hard to follow except for the middle- and upper-class citizens.  I say for the most part because, people can of course avoid littering, recycle, walk when they can and take a bus when possible and these things cost little to nothing, but less fortunate people, at least in the United States, already do this.

            Installing solar, though eventually gives you return on investment (ROI), I have heard takes at least 20 years and who can raise approximately $30K and, even with incentives, not recover it for 20 years?

           To insure you store power instead of just putting it back into the grid, to get a 3 module Tesla powerwall, with incentives, will run you about $27K.

            The case for Electric Vehicles (EVs) was similar. A high initial cost (With a base price of $42,490 for the Model 3 rear-Wheel Drive, arguably the cheapest Tesla) would take about 3-5 years, to reach a break-even point, considering fuel and maintenance. After that, charging at home, is advantageous, cost, especially if you have solar panels.  Now you may say you can buy a second hand vehicle but that still rums about $24K.

             Now Tesla cars have a lot of pluses to include no cost for oil changes or oil (which internal combustion engine or ICE cars can have with maintenance for life), an app which tracks the cost of your power usage (great for if you own a business and only use the car for business), notifies you on the app on your watch when your car is finished charging, an automatic app on your vehicle which automatically plots the path you need to follow to be able to get chargers along the way to at least everywhere I’ve needed to travel in the US from Sierra Vista Arizona the furthest I have traveled being Kansas City/Omaha Nebraska to visit my son. You simply put in the address or the name of the destination (like Safeway or Xerocraft and of course of the options offered pick the correct location/address) and if you need to recharge to get there it plots out the superchargers, the route and the amount of time needed to recharge at each supercharger stop.

            Now if you buy the Tesla X plaid, you have to deal with tires which wear out fast but the only maintenance I have had to deal with is a replacement of a malfunctioning computer for, if I remember correctly, about $2.8K and I have driven it about 130K miles. Never an oil change, or if you take advantage of the car re-absorbing energy if you take your foot off the accelerator, far enough away, when ready to stop, never a brake pad replacement up to at least 130k miles.  The range is about 310 miles on a full charge after about 130K miles.  This may sound like a Tesla ad but I give these specs for comparison if you do buy an EV. It should have this stuff as a minimum.  Someone I know has a model 3 he uses to commute to work, as a government employee, about 10 miles away, in Tucson, and though I have not had any in-depth discussions he has never complained about its performance or maintenance.          The encyclical by pope Francis pushing these types of things was Laudato Si. Now this is not to demonize him and say he was the only one pushing this agenda. Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus touched on it when stressing a culture of peace needs to promote development and provide the poor with realistic opportunities (#52).  This task may necessitate changes in lifestyle that reduce the waste of resource. Pope Benedict XIV also touched on it in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate.

  • The Holy Family and the Average Catholic Family (Part I Our Lady of Sorrows Book Review)

             This book was one of the more thought-provoking books on the sorrows of our lady by Charles Journet who was eventually elevated to the position of Cardinal in the Roman Catholic church.  The second of the 7 sorrows of our lady is covered in the following partial quote from the book and gives some sample of the quality of writing and thought in this book:

    “Second Sorrow. – The prophecy was the first sword. Its accomplishment began at once. ‘Behold and Angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the Child and His Mother and fly into Egypt:  and be there until I shall tell thee.  For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him.  Who arose took the Child and His mother by night and retired into Egypt ‘(Matt. ii, 13-14).  It was the second sorrow.  The virgin who had been given a foreshadowing of what was to be by the prophecies that had been uttered, now began to learn the same things by seeing the prophecies accomplished.  She had been told that her Son was to be a sign which should be contradicted, now she learns the first fruits of this in a hurried flight by night toward a land of exile of which she knew not the customs nor the language nor so much as where it might be.  On Christmas night, when she had found not room in the Inn, the Child at least, hidden within her, did not suffer physically.  All the troubles of the outer world could not reach Him.  But now, how could she spare Him the hardships of the road, the chances of the weather, the trials of hunger and thirst and weariness.  In the place they had left, the threat of death still remained, since Herod sought the Child to destroy Him. Unimaginable was her dereliction in those days and nights of desert journeying.  Surely God would work some miracle for the Child which was His!   Incredible that the Child, a tiny frail thing that suffered and said no word, should be His!             Incredible that if It were So, God should thus seem to abandon It, in the midst of enemies, to the pitifully inadequate protection of a poor man and his poor wife.

          So much mystery tested not only their courage, but their faith: not that their faith wavered under the trial: rather was it strengthened and purified.  This road they were on had seen many a marvel wrought by God long ago; to-day they trod the road in want and weakness.  From the land of Egypt God had once recalled His beloved Son, the people of Israel; to the land of Egypt these two were journeying back bearing a little Child, more precious in Himself than all the children of adoption, since He was the Only-Begotten of the Father, the Word made Flesh.  But a day was to com when the Word of Osee (xi, I), ‘I called my son out of Egypt’, would receive a new meaning.  Their poverty would continue, but their exile ended, Joseph was able to take the Child and His mother and return into the land of Isreal.

          In the long journeyings between the place of her exile and her own land, one joy at least the virgin never lost.  She had her Child with her.  She continued to wrap Him in swaddling clothes as in the stable.   She watched over Him unceasingly. . .”

          This should give the average Catholic family pause when they contemplate how little help they think they get from God as well as how inadequate God has made them to raise a family to him, based on size and deposition (financial, health etc.). Based on this story of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin one can come to one of 2 conclusions: 1) God did not really care that much about His Son or 2) (the more likely scenario) God gives every mother and father every grace they need to raise their child or children in the graces they receive from the sacrament of matrimony, even if it does not seem so while we are raising them!  Mothers and fathers should pray for help from God all the time, confident in the fact that He will give them the graces they will need to raise good children for Him and for our world.