Course: 3850.

Course guidebook includes professor biography, course scope, lecture outlines, timeline, glossary, biographical notes, and bibliography.

DISC 1
LECTURE 1: Cities, Civilizations, and Sources
LECTURE 2: From Out of the Mesopotamian Mud
LECTURE 3: Cultures of the Ancient Near East
LECTURE 4: Ancient Egypt : the Gift of the Nile
LECTURE 5: Pharaohs, Tombs, and Gods
LECTURE 6: Lost Civilization of the Indus Valley

DISC 2
LECTURE 7: Vedic Age of Ancient India
LECTURE 8: Mystery Cultures of Early Greece
LECTURE 9: Homer and Indian Poetry
LECTURE 10: Athens and Experiments in Democracy
LECTURE 11: Hoplite Warfare and Sparta
LECTURE 12: Civilization Dawns in China : Shang and Zhou

DISC 3
LECTURE 13: Confucius and the Greek Philosophers
LECTURE 14: Mystics, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians
LECTURE 15: Persians and Greeks
LECTURE 16: Greek Art and Architecture
LECTURE 17: Greek Tragedy and the Sophists
LECTURE 18: Peloponnesian War and the Trial of Socrates

DISC 4
LECTURE 19: Philip of Macedon - Architect of Empire
LECTURE 20: Alexander the Great Goes East
LECTURE 21: Unifiers of India : Chandragupta and Asoka
LECTURE 22: Shi Huangdi : First Emperor of China
LECTURE 23: Earliest Historians of Greece and China
LECTURE 24: Hellenistic World

DISC 5
LECTURE 25: Great Empire of the Han Dynasty
LECTURE 26: People of the Toga : Etruscans, Early Rome
LECTURE 27: Crucible - Punic Wars, Roman imperialism
LECTURE 28: Death of the Roman Republic
LECTURE 29: Augustus - Creator of the Roman Empire
LECTURE 30: Roman Emperors - Good, Bad, and Crazy

DISC 6
LECTURE 31: Han and Roman Empires Compared - Geography
LECTURE 32: Han and Roman Empires Compared - Government
LECTURE 33: Han and Roman Empires Compared - Problems
LECTURE 34: Early Americas - Resources and Olmecs
LECTURE 35: Pots and Pyramids - Moche and Teotihuacán
LECTURE 36: Blood and Corn - Mayan civilization

DISC 7
LECTURE 37: Hunter-Gatherers and Polynesians
LECTURE 38: The Art and Architecture of Power
LECTURE 39: Comparative Armies - Rome, China, Maya
LECTURE 40: Later Roman Empire - Crisis and Christianity
LECTURE 41: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire?
LECTURE 42: Byzantine Empire and the Legacy of Rome

DISC 8
LECTURE 43: China from Chaos to Order Under the Tang
LECTURE 44: Golden Age of Tang Culture
LECTURE 45: Rise and Flourishing of Islam
LECTURE 46: Holy Men and Women : Monasticism and Saints
LECTURE 47: Charlemagne : Father of Europe
LECTURE 48: Endings, Beginnings, What Does It All Mean?

Producer/editor, Laura Walz ; directors, Jonathan Leven, Jim M. Allen ; editor Tom Krzywicki.

"This course traces the development of civilizations around the world, from the appearance of the first cities in various places around 3500-3000 B.C. until the establishment of the first true European empire under Charlemagne and the golden ages of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad and the Tang dynasty in China, all during the 9th century A.D. The lectures are chronologically organized, but they interweave history with the examination of key aspects of culture, including art, literature, philosophy, religion, and architecture. We begin by looking at the earliest urban civilizations, which arose independently in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China, with an emphasis on how each unique physical environment indelibly and dramatically shaped the civilization that developed in each location. In Mesopotamia, we follow a sequence of cultures: the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Hittites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, and Sassanians. In India, we follow the growth of the Indus Valley, Vedic, and Aryan civilizations and the achievements of the Mauryan and Gupta dynasties. In China, we observe the successive Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties, while in the eastern Mediterranean, the pre-Greek Minoans and Mycenaeans are described, as is the subsequent path of classical Greek civilization, including the famed cities of Athens and Sparta and the Hellenistic world created by Alexander of Macedon. In the western Mediterranean, the fortunes of the Etruscans, Carthaginians, Romans, and various barbarian nations are all outlined. Turning to North and South America, we survey the Olmec, Chavin, Moche, Teotihuacàn, and Mayan civilizations. In Africa, the establishment of kingdoms such as Meroe, Ghana, and Axum are traced, and in Oceania, we chart the explorations of the Polynesian seafarers. Even some long-lasting hunter-gatherer societies, such as the Australian Aborigines, are examined. The course comes to a close chronologically with the rise of Islam and the establishment of the Islamic Caliphates and the effect of this on Europe and the Near East. This course combines a sweeping survey of all of world history, from the beginnings of civilization up until the origins of the modern world were established, with targeted in-depth analysis of key figures, moments, and inventions. Its goal is to provide a solid foundational knowledge of the ancient world and deeper insight into the present." (Scope, p. 1-2)

Not rated.

DVD.

In English.