All Courses
History

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) explores the Third Crusade (1189-92). We start by thinking about the origins of the Third Crusade, focusing in particular on the annihilation of the Crusader forces at the Battle of...
4 lectures
0:38:16
Dr Nicholas Morton
Nottingham Trent University
English Literature

In this course, Dr Nicholas Lawrence (University of Warwick) explores Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel, The Scarlett Letter (1850). In the first module, we think about the tension in the novel between the traditional and the modern, focusing...
6 lectures
0:55:58
Dr Nick Lawrence
Warwick University
Classics & Ancient History

In this course, Professor Paul Cartledge (University of Cambridge) explores the Greco-Persian Wars of 490-79 BC. We begin by exploring the concept of Greekness before turning in the second module to think about the extent to which the Greeks...
5 lectures
0:47:58
Prof. Paul Cartledge
Cambridge University
Classics & Ancient History

In this course, Professor Richard Seaford (University of Exeter) explores the ancient Greek institution of the hero cult. In the first module, we describe what a hero cult actually is, thinking in particular about the different meanings of the...
5 lectures
0:37:28
Prof. Richard Seaford
Exeter University
History

In this course, Dr Arfon Rees (University of Birmingham) thinks about Stalinist Russia in the period 1917-41. We begin by providing an overview of Russian history from the late 19th century up to the end of the Russian Civil War...
6 lectures
1:14:51
Dr Arfon Rees
Birmingham University
English Literature

In this course, Dr Sarah Robertson (University of West England) explores John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath. We begin by providing some historical context to the novel, focusing in particular on the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl...
4 lectures
0:36:52
Dr Sarah Robertson
UWE Bristol
Classics & Ancient History

In this course, Professor Richard Jenkyns (University of Oxford) explores Homer's Odyssey. We begin by thinking about the nature of the poem, focusing in particular on the nature of oral poetry and the Odyssey's relationship (if any) with the...
5 lectures
0:43:41
Prof. Richard Jenkyns
Oxford University
English Literature

In this course, Dr Richard Robinson (Swansea University) explores Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel, Never Let Me Go. We begin by introducing Ishiguro's previous works, before focusing on the idea on the unreliable first-person narrator. After that, we...
6 lectures
0:40:58
Dr Richard Robinson
Swansea University
Philosophy & Religious Studies
Classics & Ancient History

In this course, Professor Catharine Edwards (Birkbeck, University of London) provides an introduction to Seneca the Younger and his Epistulae Morales. We begin by providing a broad introduction to Seneca's life, career, and literary output, before...
5 lectures
0:42:44
Prof. Catharine Edwards
Birkbeck College, London
History

In this course, Dr Simon Potter (University of Bristol) explores the final decades of the British Empire, from the end of the Second World War in 1945 to Britain’s withdrawal of troops “East of Suez”, announced by Harold Wilson in...
6 lectures
1:01:22
Dr Simon Potter
Bristol University
Classics & Ancient History

In this course, Professor Edith Hall (King's College, London) explores the poetry of Sappho. In the first module, we think about some of the myths surrounding Sappho before focusing on what we actually know about when and where she lived,...
4 lectures
0:20:35
Prof. Edith Hall
King's College London
English Literature

In this course, Professor John Bowen (University of York) explores Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, first published in Dickens' weekly periodical All the Year Round from December 1860 to August 1861. We begin by thinking about the complex...
5 lectures
0:47:33
Prof. John Bowen
York University