What Is Human Nature? Surprising Insights into Free Will, Personal Identity, and Existence

What is it about King Arthur that still holds our attention 1,500 years after he first materialized from the murky depths of history and legend? Named one of America's best professors by the Princeton Review, Christopher R. Fee transports you through space and time in search of answers. In his insightful audio course, you will trace Arthur's path across Britain. You'll visit such iconic sites as Tintagel, Glastonbury, and Stonehenge in search of physical reminders of this legendary king, his court, and a mighty stronghold remembered through the mists of time as "Camelot." Traveling across literary and literal landscapes, you'll search for evidence for Arthur in ancient manuscripts and modern-day archaeological excavations. Through 24 energetic lectures, you will see how much Arthur has been refashioned for succeeding generations of audiences—first in Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and England, and later across the globe. Like the Knights of the Round Table on their epic quest for the Holy Grail, you will scour recorded history for the true face of the "Once and Future King." Last, you'll consider the most popular of the countless books and movies dedicated to King Arthur, his court, and their adventures. As you explore the unwavering interest in Arthur across centuries of popular culture, you will learn to look behind the façade of all things Arthurian—discerning the factual basis for the man, the myths, and the legends.

Join one of the Civil War's greatest living historians in exploring this monumental event through the eyes of those who lived it.   Imagine yourself living amid the bloodiest conflict on American soil. An infantry soldier marching into the Gettysburg battlefield in the front lines. A Minnesotan mother whose son responds to Lincoln's call for volunteers. A slave working the fields of a Mississippi plantation when rumors of Emancipation arrive. Drawing on the letters and records of individual soldiers, this compelling audio course invites you to explore the relationship between events on the battlefield and life on the home front. With more than 600,000 casualties, the Civil War cannot be understood by looking exclusively at famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant. As you'll see, ordinary people—volunteer soldiers, runaway slaves, civilians in both the North and South—shaped the course of history. Hearing their stories illuminates the causes, consequences, and course of the war.  Your guide is Peter S. Carmichael, Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College and author of "The War for the Common Soldier" (2018). Throughout, you'll pay special attention to the men who served in the ranks on both sides. You'll conclude by looking at the diverse ways that Americans continue to find political relevance in their Civil War past.

Join celebrated UNC history professor Matthew Andrews to discover how sports have reflected various facets of American identity—both laudatory and troubling—throughout our nation’s history. Whether you love sports or find the American sports obsession confounding, this course will help you answer the fascinating question of why sports have mattered so much to this country. Although today’s sporting events bear little resemblance to the bloodsports of the early colonies, the passion with which Americans play and watch sports remains alive and well. Delve into the history of American sports to better understand the larger themes and controversies in this nation’s past in these 30 captivating lectures. As you explore stories of races won, touchdowns scored, and players rounding the bases, you’ll also learn about sports’ class and ethnic origins; racial prejudice, exclusion, and integration in sport and society; athleticism and the evolving ideas about masculinity and womanhood; the role of sport in the promotion of a vigorous national identity; and the use of sporting arenas as spaces to both legitimize and protest the political order. By the end of the course, you will know more about the role of sports in American history, have a keen grasp on the general narrative and major figures in US sport history, and view contemporary sports in a new way. As you will see, sports are not mere games—they are significant cultural events in which Americans express and contest ideas about race, class, gender, and other important markers of identity.

Named one of America's best professors by the Princeton Review, Christopher R. Fee invites you to explore your heritage from an unconventional angle: through the origin and development of the English language. Professor Fee is an award-winning professor and medievalist whose expertise spans Old English, Old Norse, and historical linguistics. With flair and gusto, he draws from this well of knowledge to help you trace the evolution of English across a fascinating range of cultures. In liberal arts fashion, this series of 24 lectures mixes the study of technical subjects (like phonetics, linguistics, and historical grammar) with cultural and historic topics, such as the impact of the Norman Invasion on Old English, the advent of the printing press, the place of Ebonics in the modern public-school curriculum, how English became a world language, and how close the Vikings came to ensuring that this course might have been about Danish instead of English. Prof. Fee has a knack for combining scholarly insight with great storytelling. Expect to enjoy his account of the characters "worthy of a seamy soap opera" tasked with writing a dictionary. Language is the foundation of human culture. It is a vital part of who we are and a subject invaluable to anyone interested in the humanities.

Known as “Mr. Civil Rights” for his advocacy on behalf of racial justice, Thurgood Marshall argued before the US Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, arguably the most important Supreme Court decision in history. He later became the first African American to serve as US solicitor and as a Supreme Court justice. Justice William Brennan wrote that his friend and colleague was “the central figure in this nation’s struggle to eliminate institutional racism.” In this powerful 15-lecture audio series from award-winning law professor David L. Hudson Jr., you’ll follow the trajectory that led Marshall to become a transformational counsel for the NAACP and in 1967 the first African American Supreme Court justice. He sat on the court for 24 years, leaving an indelible impact in many areas of law. You’ll understand why Justice Elena Kagan has called him “the most important lawyer of the 20th century." The author or editor of more than 40 books, Hudson is a leading expert on the US Constitution and landmark Supreme Court cases. He presents on Marshall’s groundbreaking accomplishments with authority and awe. This series will leave you with a deeper appreciation of one of America’s racial pioneers and true heroes of American life.

Stuart Vyse, Ph.D., is the author of "Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition," which received the William James Book Award of the American Psychological Association. A celebrated psychologist and professor as well as a recognized author, he is the perfect guide for this audio series on the power of superstition. This wide-ranging course reveals the method to our madness in everything from finances to Friday the 13th. An expert on irrational behavior, Prof. Vyse discusses what it means to be rational before delving into the many reasoning errors and psychological challenges that lead us astray. In 15 lectures, you will learn to identify the logical fallacies and quirks of our psychology that tempt us to make unwise decisions. While the course is based in theory, it's also teeming with practical advice. You'll examine several popular conspiracy theories before exploring the remarkable staying power of common "bad luck" superstitions: How did these superstitions come to be? Is it always bad to be irrational? At what point do our beliefs veer into the territory of wishful thinking or willful ignorance? Packed with fun examples and everyday pointers, this course leaves you thinking long and hard about how you think. With Prof. Vyse's guidance, you'll learn to better understand your beliefs and make better decisions.