January 29, 2026
September 2, 2025
Museum Masterpieces: The Metropolitan Museum of Art presented by Richard Brettell
A Great Courses presentation that walks you through several of the significant pieces of their collection discussing their places in history and their significance. It is enjoyable and very informative.
February 22, 2024
The Celtic World by Jennifer Paxton
This is an interesting and thorough history of the Celtic people as best understood by historians of the period. It starts by tracing the movement of people into Ireland and Scotland from Europe, discussing motivations and culture as best we know. Dr. Paxton is in the History Dept. at the Catholic University of America.
The presentation includes maps and images of artifacts of the Celtic peoples.
October 6, 2022
November 10, 2016
The Great Courses: The World of Byzantium by Kenneth W. Harl
This lecture series provides incredible detail into the world of Byzantium and its relationships to other civilizations over the millennium of its existence. This is a time period during the middle ages that I, and many I know, lack much knowledge.
The only complaint I have is that the information comes too fast. It really is designed as a lecture, where you can sit and take notes. Not having that opportunity, I suspect I will not retain much, but the lecture would be worth a second hearing.
May 16, 2016
The Art of Storytelling: From Parents to Professionals by Hannah B. Harvey
This lecture covers all aspects of storytelling, such as forming the story, connecting with the audience, the relationship between narrator-audience-storyteller, using the voice, using gestures, preparation, props, character development, and on and on. It seems almost too much, as few topics are covered in much depth, but it is a great introduction to all the material.
The material has a lot of examples. At times, Hannah references gestures or posture – or something in the video. She does acknowledge that this is the CD version and provides some additional information, there are not too many of these instances.
She is a good storyteller, the voice is clear and easily understood, the audio quality is good. There is a lot of information covering many aspects of storytelling and presentation.