Early Greek Archaeology Art History 206 Rate My Professor Duke

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I stumbled upon The Great Courses several years ago when I noticed that a professor from my alma mater offered a form on the platform.

Although I'd never taken a course from this professor, several of my friends had raved nigh her lectures and had even traveled on study abroad trips with her. Out of curiosity, I decided to watch a few lectures—and I'yard glad I did.

The Great Courses is one of many online educational platforms out at that place, though it'south been around longer than well-nigh—since the 1990s.

It markets itself primarily to "lifelong learners," oft professionals (or retired professionals) who enjoy learning about new subjects and disciplines and cultivating new skills in their gratis time.

In my The Bully Courses review, I'll outline how the platform works, review 3 Slap-up Courses I've taken, and assist you decide whether The Great Courses is right for you.

Let'due south get started.

What is Great Courses?

Founded by Thomas Rollins in 1990, The Great Courses started out offering videotaped lectures, focusing on subjects that were institute to be most in-demand.

As of 2020, y'all can choose your preferred format (instant video, DVD, or in some cases instant audio), and the platform offers hundreds of classes in a broad range of categories. These categories include:

• Better Living
• Economics & Finance
• Fine Arts
• History
• Literature & Language
• Mathematics
• Professional
• Faith
• Science.

As you can see, there's a great range that encompasses many of the disciplines you'd wait at a university (History, Mathematics, etc.), too as subject areas such every bit Better Living, which are more tailored to helping students build habits and cultivate hobbies.

In improver, there are classes that act as in-depth travel guides, such as this form designed to acquaint you with the history, culture, and architecture of Italia.

The Nifty Courses is one of the few online learning platform's that appeal to people's love of learning, rather than learning concrete skills for your career.

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Who is The Great Courses for?

Overall, I'd say that The Keen Courses platform is perfect for people who are:

• Curious nearly life, and especially want to dive deeper into subjects such as History, Literature & Linguistic communication, and the Natural Sciences.
• Planning a vacation and hoping to acquire more about the history and architecture of their destination before traveling.
• Feeling stuck or adrift, and want to improve their quality of life, build healthier habits, understand interpersonal relationships and negotiations better, or develop new skills for studying and learning.
• Instructors at a high school or university level, and want to choice up ideas and tips for making their own lectures and presentations more engaging, organizing grade material, and incorporating visuals.
• Driven primarily past innate love of learning, and merely aspire to continue learning new ideas and skills throughout life.

How much does The Great Courses cost?

That depends. There are three principal means of accessing The Great Courses:

1. Purchase individual courses on The Great Courses website.
2. Subscribe to The Great Courses Plus.
3. Subscribe to The Groovy Courses Signature Collection on Amazon Prime number.

On The Smashing Courses website, you can purchase courses individually, and the prices vary quite widely. Some courses are available at more than affordable prices (around $25 to $fifty), some have a moderate price tag ($75 to $100), while others are on the more expensive end ($200+).

The format you choose often affects cost: Instant video is less expensive than DVD.

The Great Courses runs regular sales and promotions, and you can ofttimes detect great deals of up to 70% off.

The about popular option though is to subscribe to The Great Courses Plus, which lets you scout hundreds of different courses with just ane subscription fee. As of June 2020, The Smashing Courses Plus offered a free fourteen-day trial, after which yous can choose to pay on either a monthly (billed $xx per calendar month) or quarterly basis (billed $45 per three months).

Another fashion of accessing The Great Courses is through Amazon Prime. If you lot have Prime, you tin can purchase individual lessons or an entire course, or you can get a monthly subscription for access to multiple courses.

If yous already have Prime, and so the best option if yous desire to take multiple courses is to subscribe to The Great Courses Signature Drove on Amazon.

At time of writing in July 2020, you tin get a costless 7-solar day trial, which grants you access to numerous Keen Courses. Afterward this trial period, the subscription costs $7.99/month. This is a fantastic style to proceeds access to tons of Bang-up Courses at a much lower price than buying each course individually.

As you lot can see in the screenshot beneath, this Bang-up Grade on fiction writing is bachelor on Amazon Prime Video: $two.99 per individual video lesson, $59.99 for the entire course, or $7.99 per month for a Slap-up Courses subscription.

Then to sum up:

• If you only really want i or two Dandy Courses, y'all can buy them individually. Keep an eye out for sales and deals.
• If you want admission to multiple Great Courses and do Non already pay for Amazon Prime number, consider a Great Courses Plus subscription.
• If yous desire access to multiple Great Courses and already have Prime, then consider subscribing to The Great Courses Signature Drove via Amazon.

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How The Great Courses works

As mentioned above, y'all can purchase The Great Courses either directly from the website, via a Great Courses Plus subscription, or via Amazon Prime. In one case yous have paid for your course(s), accessing and watching them is straightforward.

If you brand your purchase on The Great Courses site, you tin choose your format (e.g., instant video or DVD).

DVDs will be shipped to your accost.

Digital versions of courses don't crave any waiting around—you'll have immediate access and tin can stream videos on your computer or device. I mostly opt to stream videos, but you can also download them. This is very useful if you'll be watching them later in a place with no internet access.

Check out the The Nifty Courses FAQ if you come across any issues.

With an Amazon subscription to The Cracking Courses Signature Collection, you'll exist streaming the videos straight on Amazon Prime number Video.

My experience taking 3 Dandy Courses

Now that I've covered the basics, it'due south time to become down to my review: How effective and enjoyable are Great Courses? What is it actually like to take a course? What should y'all wait?

Here are the three Great Courses I took in full:

1. "The Learning Encephalon" past Prof. Thad Polk
2. "The Holy Land Revealed" by Prof. Jodi Magness
3. "Learning Castilian II" by Prof. Bill Worden

"The Learning Brain" by Thad A. Polk

"The Learning Encephalon" is great if you lot've ever wondered how humans acquire or sought to develop more than effective study skills and learning strategies for yourself.

Professor Polk teaches Psychology at the Academy of Michigan, where he too conducts enquiry at the Computational & Cerebral Neuroscience Lab. He brings his expertise in the homo listen and encephalon to this Great Form, which is all nigh processes of learning and remembering.

I decided to take this grade because I dear learning in general and am ofttimes trying to teach myself new things, whether languages, creative techniques, or vast bodies of knowledge.

Not to mention that all of us are constantly learning new skills and facts over the form of our lives—for our jobs, in our interpersonal relationships, through trial-and-fault, as nosotros encounter new technology, and and then on.

Information technology makes sense to take a break and consider more securely how nosotros learn. And in particular, how nosotros tin can learn more effectively and efficiently.

Polk does a great task in this class of balancing general theory and concepts with applied communication.

For instance, he has several lectures roofing topics such equally "Witting, Explicit Learning" and "The Neural Footing of Explicit Learning," which give a clear overview of this form of learning. He then lectures on "Strategies for Effective Explicit Learning," showing you how to put all of this noesis into practise.

The side by side segment of the grade turns to "implicit learning". In other words, learning that nosotros practise unconsciously and often find hard to put into words.

For example, can you explain precisely how yous learned to walk, tie your shoes, or ignore the sound of your Air-conditioning unit?

The 2d half of "The Learning Brain" is mostly centered on applied applications and communication. I found this to be a adept balance. While I enjoyed learning nigh the human encephalon and memory part in general, I think that the more applied side of things probably has the widest appeal to a general audience.

We tin can all benefit from studying and learning more than successfully.

Polk is an engaging lecturer overall, and he mixes upwards his lectures with visuals, demonstrations, and interactive exercises for students to try at home.

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Here are some highlights of the topics covered:

• Understanding the different types of learning and memory (for instance, explicit vs. implicit learning, or episodic vs. semantic memory): This gives you a basic conceptual framework for the balance of the course and introduces useful terms for distinguishing amidst the various skills, mechanisms, and abilities used in learning.
• How to tailor your learning strategies for unlike situations: Learning how to ride a wheel is different from learning organic chemistry, for instance, and you'll desire to adapt your strategy accordingly to optimize learning.
• Exercises that lend insight into your ain mind and retentiveness: Occasionally, Polk will ask you, the student, to remember something (such every bit a serial of sentences) or effort your hand at a unproblematic challenge. These exercises are well-chosen to illustrate the concept at hand. I found this to be an effective pedagogical strategy since it broke upwards the lecture (a grade of passive learning) and fabricated me an agile participant in the class.
• The effects of sleep, aging, emotion, and other factors on how we learn: These lectures tackle issues that affect us all and that tin either enhance or detract from our learning. Polk connects the dots between scientific research in these areas and the concrete steps nosotros can take in our lives to go our brains set up to larn.
• "Strategies for Effective Skill Learning": In this half-hour lecture, Polk really focuses on the applied applications of psychology and neuroscience. He supplies tips for improving at virtually any skill, whether golf or embroidery, validating his advice with bear witness from studies and real-world examples.

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"The Holy State Revealed" by Jodi Magness

In this intriguing class, "The Holy Land Revealed," University of North Carolina archaeologist Prof. Jodi Magness peels back all the historical layers of the aboriginal urban center of Jerusalem and its surrounding region.

Magness has personally worked at multiple sites and brings a wealth of first-hand feel.

She has a personable speaking manner, and the lectures are well-paced and run near thirty minutes each. I find this to exist a skillful length, long plenty to convey complex ideas but succinct plenty to keep me engaged.

As the lectures unfold, Magness uses photos, maps, and other visual elements to illustrate archaeological sites. These images—buildings and ruins, caves and stone-cut tombs, artefacts, documents and scrolls, murals, and more—illustrate fundamental concepts and show you examples of the raw evidence with which archaeologists work.

In her final lecture, Magness tells you about a day in the life of an archaeologist. The job may seem glamorous, though in reality it'south annihilation merely!

As Magness makes clear, archaeological work is meticulous, often boring, and involves early on mornings and long hot days in the field. I especially enjoyed her explanations of how archaeologists decide where to dig and what the digging process actually looks like.

Overall, "The Holy Land Revealed" is a lot like auditing a college lecture class—All that's missing is a midterm and concluding examination.

Here'south what you lot can expect to acquire near:

• An introduction to the archæology, history, and topography of the region known as "the holy land": Where is the "holy land" and who were its offset known inhabitants? Magness explains what nosotros know about the Canaanites, early inhabitants of the region, and and then discusses the inflow of the Israelites.
• The interplay between the Hebrew Bible and archaeology: Magness deftly connects biblical passages with the available archaeological show.
• Jerusalem as information technology was under Kings David and Solomon: You'll learn virtually the aboriginal city's h2o systems, topography, layout, and the development of biblical Hebrew script nether the leadership of famous biblical king David and Solomon.
• The influence of Alexander the Keen: Alexander's conquests ushered in a new age of Hellenistic influence on the holy land. Some examples of Hellenistic architecture survive in the region, such equally the stunning Iraq el-Amir palace with its carved lions.
• Qumran and the Dead Body of water scrolls: You may have heard of these mysterious scrolls and wondered how they were constitute and what we know about them—Magness devotes several lectures to this fascinating subject.
• Jerusalem at the time of Jesus: What did the metropolis await like, and what was society like during the lifetime of Jesus, when the area was under the control of the Roman Empire? Magness too discusses the impressive edifice projects of Herod the Neat and Jewish burying practices during this fourth dimension.
• The Dome of the Rock: This striking aureate-domed building is an iconic symbol of Jerusalem and is a result of the arrival of Islam to the holy land in the seventh century. What do we know nigh the Dome of the Rock and the nearby Al-Aqsa mosque?

"Learning Spanish II" by Neb Worden

Finally, I'll briefly review my experience taking Prof. Worden'south "Learning Spanish Ii."

There are seemingly endless options and resources bachelor for people wanting to larn Spanish, and it'southward like shooting fish in a barrel to become overwhelmed, unsure which one to cull.

Of class, the best language-learning plan is the one that yous do regularly—only that still leaves yous with the dilemma of which to cull in the first place!

Overall, I call back that this Great Course is engaging, well-organized, and very constructive. I highly recommend it to other intermediate speakers of Spanish.

In this Level Two course, you'll learn almost prepositions, reciprocal verbs, directly and indirect object pronouns, and more.

For me, the systematic lessons on Spanish verb forms was the most helpful function. I'm hopeless at coming upwards with the correct verb conjugation, just I definitely improved after working daily through these lessons.

Prof. Worden has a friendly and energetic persona and helped continue my enthusiasm up even when covering dry grammatical concepts.

Here's what y'all can look to learn from Spanish II:

• Essential grammar: You'll review the present tense and prepositions in early on lessons, then motility on to the future tense, making commands, and using the subjunctive. Everything is very clearly explained and laid out. If you want a quick review of a specific topic (such every bit "para" vs. "por"), it'south easy to click on that lesson for a refresher. Otherwise, I recommend working steadily through the lessons in club. Even though some early lessons were a review for me, I filled in some gaps in my knowledge.
• Expanded vocabulary: I definitely expanded my vocabulary in this class, equally numerous new words appeared in context over the course of each lesson. Worden likewise gives useful tips on moving more Spanish words into the agile role of your vocabulary.
• Listening comprehension: For me, listening comprehension is probably the most stressful role of conversing in another language; I detest asking my interlocutors to repeat themselves all the fourth dimension! This form has increased my confidence in my listening skills, and I feel more prepared for Spanish-linguistic communication encounters.
• Tips for studying languages: Prof. Worden begins this form with a lesson on "the primal principles of constructive linguistic communication learning." He ends the course with ideas for your next steps forward as a Spanish speaker. I appreciated these segments, which apply to learning virtually any language or new skill.

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Alternatives to The Corking Courses

The Peachy Courses is a well-known classic for a reason, simply what well-nigh some of its newer competitors?

Hither's a quick rundown of alternatives to The Not bad Courses:

Coursera

Coursera is probably the most like culling to The Great Courses. It offers college-level education online in a multifariousness of subject areas, from the Social Sciences to the Humanities to the Natural Sciences.

What sets Coursera apart? For 1 matter, Coursera does offer certificates of completion (for a fee) and has partnered with several universities to offer entire online degrees. So, if you're interested in an online caste in Informatics, for example, Coursera is better-suited for you.

What about if you lot're learning to fulfill your curiosity, expand your mind, and simply accept fun? Both The Dandy Courses and Coursera perform well, though I think the overall production value of The Cracking Courses is probably a bit higher.

The Great Courses don't just film a given lecture course; they also collaborate with the instructor to ensure that each lecture is as engaging and cohesive as possible. And then, the overall quality of The Smashing Courses lectures is very high, while Coursera videos are, in my feel, more than uneven.

That said, many Coursera classes are extremely high-quality. And many of them are 100% free, so long as you don't desire or demand a certificate. So, if yous're on a tighter budget, I  recommend checking out Coursera's offerings.

You can besides compare specific courses inside your field(s) of interest, whether that's Astronomy or Ancient History. Compare the formats (lecture length, additional activities, etc.) on Coursera vs. The Nifty Courses and make your conclusion based on the private class at hand.

MasterClass

A relative newcomer to the online educational space, MasterClass combines polished production values with glory instructors such equally Neil Gaiman, Simone Biles, and Gordon Ramsay.

Y'all can read our full MasterClass review here.

MasterClass is focused on areas such equally creative writing, the culinary arts, sports and games, and lifestyle. Then, this isn't the place to go for traditional lecture classes in academic fields such as History, Literature, or Philosophy.

Rather, MasterClass is in role virtually engaging with new skills and ideas, and in part about being inspired by people at the highest echelons of their fields.

I believe that both The Bully Courses and MasterClass are worthwhile, and if y'all have to cull i, the right option depends on your personal goals and priorities.

If you lot desire traditional academic disciplines, or if yous want a greater multifariousness of classes, get for The Swell Courses. If you're passionate most creative writing or cooking, you'll notice multiple excellent MasterClasses on the topic.

MasterClass is your identify if yous're curious about other creative fields such every bit acting, photography, and pattern. Information technology has some truly unique offerings (such as a class on negotiation by Chris Voss), and it offers several first-class cooking classes by superlative chefs such as Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, and Gabriela Cámara.

The Great Courses also has some compelling courses on lifestyle, still. If you're more interested in the health and nutrition side of cooking, for example, y'all may exist ameliorate served by Great Courses.

Skillshare

Finally, Skillshare is another online learning platform that may be worth a await! Equally the name suggests, this website is all nearly pedagogy and learning specific skills, whether painting, coding, making a website, quilting, or more than.

You can read our Skillshare review here.

Skillshare offers tons of lessons on various skills, especially in creative and creative fields, but as well in entrepreneurship, freelancing, and lifestyle.

The classes are by and large shorter and quicker to piece of work through than Bully Courses. An entire class, for instance, might comprise v or six short lessons calculation upwardly to one hour of total content.

And so I'd propose trying Skillshare if y'all want to cultivate your creative hobbies, learn basic tech skills like edifice a WordPress weblog, or explore the possibility of starting your own business. But head for The Great Courses if you want to explore a topic in greater depth or if your interests are more academic.

Determination: Is The Great Courses worth it?

When I graduated from higher, I felt a pang of regret for all the courses I'll never accept: that awesome class on medieval Nihon that never fit my schedule, that philosophy seminar I never got around to, that introductory astronomy course I'd been curious about but never enrolled in.

The Great Courses is a fantastic solution for those kinds of regrets—No matter where we are in life, we never have to stop learning.

Which Peachy Course looks most interesting to you?

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Source: https://ideapod.com/the-great-courses-review/

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