The Wonder of Wondrium
The Great Courses streamed, and more
It’s resource Friday.
Back in the day when I was homeschooling, I made heavy use of the Great Courses produced by The Teaching Company. — Ah, what do you do with all those old VHS tapes and DVDs!? — The courses were taught by distinguished college professors on history, philosophy, science, and all matter of other subjects, for laypeople, adult learners. I used them with my kids, and (greedily) for myself. The kids and I watched together, I learned as much as they did, and we had lively discussions afterwards. The videos (which I prefer to audio versions) have high production value, come with guidebooks gathering bibliographies and source material — a syllabus of sorts — and many of them are still available from your local library in physical form to borrow. Audio versions are available on Audible.
Physical media has given way to streaming, of course, and The Teaching Company has accordingly given way to Wondrium, a subscription service. The best old courses have for the most part been ported over, and new content is being developed. (I’m not sure if the quality is the same — maybe it’s more popularized, to compete with similar sorts of YouTube channels.) A few weeks ago I broke down and subscribed to Wondrium, starting with the generous free trial, because I wanted to re-watch old favorite Great Courses (alas, I no longer have those VHS tapes or DVDs, or the means to play them), and there are so many other courses I want to watch anew. I currently have 41 programs (!!) in my Watchlist worth 100’s of hours of high-quality listening and learning.
Currently I’m almost done with Allen Guelzo’s Americas Founding Fathers. An expert on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, Guelzo offers this 36-lecture course (30 minutes each lecture) as a primary source driven oratorial feast covering the era of the Founding Fathers, starting with the period after the American Revolution (he doesn’t cover the war), transitioning from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitutional Convention, and working through to the immediate post-Constitutional period in the early 1800’s. This is not your K12 school version of the history of the founding of the United States (← among other things, you’ll learn exactly what it meant to try to unite the original set of fractious American states together). I’ve found it fascinating, and to be honest a bit frightening, to re-learn my country’s foundational history as if for the first time. — What a miraculous feat achieved by the most human of men; the whole endeavor could so easily have gone otherwise. — Here is the story of the origins of a whole new unique type of governmental system, told through the personalities, perspectives, and actual words of the characters involved: Washington, Franklin, Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, and many more. I can think of no more appropriate time than this pivotal election year of 2024 to take stock of this history — not a mythologized version — of the oldest still existing and still functioning (maybe functioning??) democracy in the world. Consider watching Guelzo’s course, or something equivalent, as doing your patriotic duty before July 4! 🧐 🇺🇸 😃
What a miraculous feat achieved by the most human of men;
the whole endeavor could so easily have gone otherwise.
Or, for something completely different, check out Wondrium’s newest release on World Heritage Sites II: 12 More of the World’s Greatest Places. I’ve added this to my Watchlist as well. Of the more than 1200 World Heritage sites around the world, I have personally visited only four of the featured twelve in this course. It’ll be interesting to see how Wondrium’s presentation stacks up against my real-life experience, and to scope out the other eight places. (This is only Part II; there are 24 more sites covered in Part I.)
Wondrium is $20 per month, or $15 per month if you pay quarterly. Recommended.
Which courses look the most interesting to you? Your top 3? How can you not be tempted by dozens of them?!
