Cognition 101: How We Acquire Knowledge, Gain Understanding, and Make Decisions

Groundbreaking new scientific research illuminates surprising ways in which you can live a more healthy, happy, and flourishing life. Until now, psychology has focused on resolving people's problems. But the relatively new field of positive psychology instead examines the things that make your life worth living. Positive Psychology: How to Sustain Happiness in Your Life gives you practical steps for leading a flourishing life. Your guide is Professor Catherine A. Sanderson of Amherst College, named one of America's Best 300 Professors by the Princeton Review. The author of "The Positive Shift," she introduces you to cutting-edge scientific research on happiness from a range of disciplines. You'll cover psychology, economics, biology, neuroscience, and more. In 15 lectures filled with practical examples, you'll explore fascinating questions about how various aspects of your life influence happiness: •How are gender, age, culture, and even political orientation linked with happiness? •Is happiness rooted in our genes, wealth, or relationships? •How can we find happiness while struggling with daily stressors or major life crises? You will understand how various factors in your day-to-day routine - like nature, technology, and religion - influence your state of mind. Armed with this new knowledge, you can immediately start reaping the benefits of happiness every day.

Free speech lies at the heart of our American identity. The Founding Fathers enshrined this right in the first 45 words of the Bill of Rights. But what does the First Amendment really mean? How have views of its provisions evolved since 1791? The First Amendment grants us freedom of religion and the press, as well as the rights to petition and peaceful assembly. But perhaps no doctrine is as important to liberty as the freedom of speech. In this 12-lecture audio course, First Amendment expert Professor David L. Hudson, Jr., leads you on a gripping tour of free speech law in the United States. Holding it up as a blueprint for personal liberty, you will examine the history of the First Amendment as well as the terminology and theories that undergird it. Freedom of speech encompasses all manner of expression, both verbal and non-verbal. Through a close reading of the Free Speech Clause and a recap of the Founding Fathers' historical moment, you'll see why it was and continues to be a cornerstone of American culture. In five hours, this succinct and brilliantly-taught course gives you the opportunity to comprehend the historical, legal, and philosophical basis for one of your most vital rights. You will better understand current free speech debates and gain valuable insight into the First Amendment's future.

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.

Join one of the world's leading psychologists in exploring the scientific basis for sustaining great relationships.  You couldn't ask for a better professor. Prof. DeWall and coauthor, David Myers, publish the world's best-selling psychology textbooks, reaching millions worldwide. Combining captivating case studies, cutting-edge scientific research, and practical advice, Prof. DeWall gives you the knowledge and tools to be successful in love and relational life. He will help you understand not only why humans desire close relationships but also why some close relationships flourish while others fail. The course will bust relationship myths ("never have an argument") and replace them with practical advice guided by scientific evidence ("use strategies to argue effectively"). First, you will learn about how humans evolved to have a fundamental motivation for positive and lasting relationships. The second section emphasizes the hidden benefits of close relationships. You will learn how relationships literally get under the skin—affecting your hormones, brain functioning, immune system, and gene expression. The third and final section explores the recent and growing phenomenon of online relationships. Prof. DeWall winds down by addressing the power of social networks in shaping your health and behavior. The lessons you'll take away from this course are precious. Learn how you can begin building more connected relationships, companies, and societies today.

No civilization is so intertwined with the history of Christianity, and the greater Western world, as Rome. Now, you are invited to explore ancient Rome's legacy with award-winning professor and prolific author Christopher M. Bellitto. In this fascinating audio course on the Roman monarchy, republic, and empire, you will explore the essentials of Roman civilization: the creation of a city at the center of world history, its political legacy, its architectural and cultural achievements, its treatment of women and slaves, and its tragic flaws. You will begin by placing ancient Rome in world history by looking at its origins and contexts in terms of geography and chronology. You will then explore the overlooked monarchy that ran for over two centuries until it was replaced by a republic that slowly took over the Mediterranean for 500 years. You will follow Rome as it defeated Carthage in three Punic Wars, facing challengers like Hannibal. As you travel from the Republic to the Empire to Rome's eventual ""fall,"" you will encounter such infamous figures as Julius Caesar, Octavian, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, Caligula, and Nero. You will see how paganism, Judaism, and Christianity interacted, often violently, and how Christianity transformed a stumbling empire. Finally, you will ask whether Rome truly fell at all.

Get science-based answers to your most pressing questions about your kids and the media in this pioneering audio series. Douglas A. Gentile—a parent, preeminent child psychologist, and award-winning professor—teaches you practical strategies for wiser media habits. In 23 engaging lectures, Dr. Gentile gives you the knowledge you need to foster healthy brain and social development, helping your children become calmer, happier, and more sociable. As you look at cutting-edge scientific discoveries, you will understand how your child's brain is wired, how it matures, and how the media molds it.   You'll discover the truth about media violence, the link between screen time and school performance, the surprising ways advertisers influence your child, and much more. With Dr. Gentile's advice, you'll learn to harness the positive effects of media and prevent harmful effects like video game addiction. Taught by one of America's leading experts, this course is the definitive parent's guide to children and the media. We live in a world flooded with multimedia influences. Now more than ever, good parenting requires science-based knowledge to enable you and your children to make good choices. As Prof. Gentile says, ""It's like knowing how a magic trick is performed."" You will leave the course understanding not only the "whats" of media psychology but also the "hows" and "whys" behind it.