34. Introduction to Relativity
This lecture introduces the viewer to relativity, giving a historical overview of problems in aiming to describe a single event as seen by two independent observers. The lecture covers Maxwell’s theory and the Galilean and Lorentz transformations. Class materials are available here.
Course description: This course provides a thorough introduction to the principles and methods of physics for students who have good preparation in physics and mathematics. Emphasis is placed on problem solving and quantitative reasoning. This course covers Newtonian mechanics, special relativity, gravitation, thermodynamics, and waves.
- Views:142,893
- Posted: 6 Years Ago
- Course: Fundamentals of Physics
33. Introduction: Why Study the New Testament?
This course focuses on the New Testament as a historical document, instead of as scripture or an authoritative holy writing. The course attempts to expose to students to what an ancient bystander would have understood when looking at the text of the New Testament, and to reintegrate historical context into a discussion of the Bible. Course materials can be found here.
Course description: This course examines the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as an expression of the religious life and thought of ancient Israel, and a foundational document of Western civilization. A wide range of methodologies, including source criticism and the historical-critical school, tradition criticism, redaction criticism, and literary and canonical approaches are applied to the study and interpretation of the Bible. Special emphasis is placed on the Bible against the backdrop of its historical and cultural setting in the Ancient Near East.
- Views: 146,083
- Posted: 5 Years Ago
- Course: Introduction to New Testament
32. Course Introduction: Rome’s Greatness and First Crises
This introductory lecture sets the stage for further lectures on the transitional period where an overextended and fragmented Rome begins to falter. Major themes involve an empire governed by a local elite who shared language and custom trying to control a massive and unbalanced empire. Divides such as the east-west, urban-rural, and the fact that the army had realized they could depose and instate emperors as they wished led to a time when Rome would fall, Christianity would rise, barbarians would storm through Europe, and the Byzantine Empire would live on. Course materials are available here.
Course description: Major developments in the political, social, and religious history of Western Europe from the accession of Diocletian to the feudal transformation. Topics include the conversion of Europe to Christianity, the fall of the Roman Empire, the rise of Islam and the Arabs, the “Dark Ages,” Charlemagne and the Carolingian renaissance, and the Viking and Hungarian invasions.
- Views: 147,440
- Posted: 3 Years Ago
- Course: The Early Middle Ages, 284-1000
31. Evolution, Emotion, and Reason: Love
This guest lecture in Introduction to Psychology stars Peter Salovey, Professor of Psychology and Dean of Yale College. The lecture centers on the dominant psychological theories of love and attraction, with discussions on how to predict attraction, and mistaken attribution of arousal as love. Course materials are available here.
Course description: What do your dreams mean? Do men and women differ in the nature and intensity of their sexual desires? Can apes learn sign language? Why can’t we tickle ourselves? This course tries to answer these questions and many others, providing a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior. It explores topics such as perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, religion, persuasion, love, lust, hunger, art, fiction, and dreams. We will look at how these aspects of the mind develop in children, how they differ across people, how they are wired-up in the brain, and how they break down due to illness and injury.
- Views: 148,567
- Posted: 6 Years Ago
- Course: Introduction to Psychology
30. Jacques Lacan in Theory
This lecture focuses on famed psychoanalytic critic Jacques Lacan outlining his general position at odds with post-Freudian “ego psychologists.” The major Lacanian themes outline in this talk center around the relationship between metaphor and metonymy, the connection between language and the unconscious, and the distinction between desire and need. Course materials are available here.
Course description: This is a survey of the main trends in twentieth-century literary theory. Lectures will provide background for the readings and explicate them where appropriate, while attempting to develop a coherent overall context that incorporates philosophical and social perspectives on the recurrent questions: what is literature, how is it produced, how can it be understood, and what is its purpose?
- Views: 148,690
- Posted: 5 Years Ago
- Course: Introduction to the Theory of Literature