
Anthropology and the Study of Humanity
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Narrated by:
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Scott M. Lacey
About this listen
What does it mean to be human? Where did we come from? And what unites us in our diversity today? Anthropology and the Study of Humanity is your chance to tackle these big questions as you survey one of the world's most engaging - and human - sciences. Taught by acclaimed professor and field researcher Scott M. Lacy of Fairfield University, these 24 wide-ranging lectures are the ideal guide through the world of anthropology, or the study of humanity across time and space.
Professor Lacy gives you an elegant blend of theory and application to help you understand this extraordinarily interdisciplinary field as a whole. You will examine how humans evolved and built civilizations, review humanity's changing attitudes about our relationship to the cosmos, and consider the many ways we express ourselves. In the end, what you'll discover is that while our species is rich with diversity, we are all one human race.
To anchor this course, Professor Lacy gives you a historical overview of Homo sapiens, starting at the very root of our family tree, when proto-humans split away from other primates in the animal kingdom. As he wends his way across time and around the world, he also introduces the field's four major academic sub-disciplines: biological, archaeological, linguistic, and cultural anthropology.
One of the joys of this course is that it is truly global in the way Professor Lacy introduces you to the boots-on-the-ground practice of the field. When you complete this course, you will have a new appreciation for our world and its many cultures, but you will also have a new appreciation for the cultural connections and similarities we share as one race of Homo sapiens. With a passionate and knowledgeable professor as your guide, this course gives you a broad understanding of academic anthropology, as well as a deeper appreciation for humanity as a whole.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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Story
The story of our world and the different living things that have populated it is an amazing epic with millions of species, exotic settings, planet-wide cataclysms, and surprising plot twists. These 36 lectures tell the all-embracing story of life on Earth - its origins, extinctions, and evolutions - in a manner that assumes no background in science. At half an hour per lecture, you’ll cover the entire 4.54-billion-year history of Earth in 18 hours, averaging 70,000 years per second!
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Get the video version
- By B. Bartosh on 06-17-19
By: Stuart Sutherland, and others
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Black Holes, Tides, and Curved Spacetime
- By: Benjamin Schumacher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Benjamin Schumacher
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
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Gravity controls everything from the falling of an apple to the rising of ocean’s tides to the motions of the heavens above. If you’ve ever wondered how this most puzzling force works across our entire universe, you will be delighted by this 24-part course that is accessible to any curious person, regardless of your science education. No other product on the market presents the subject of gravity in as much detail as this course, which will follow the past 400 years of research and experimentation in the field.
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Good freshman high school lecture
- By Ron A. Parsons on 01-29-19
By: Benjamin Schumacher, and others
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Social and Cultural Anthropology
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Peter Just, John Monaghan
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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"If you want to know what anthropology is, look at what anthropologists do," write the authors of Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction. This engaging overview of the field combines an accessible account of some of the discipline's guiding principles and methodology with abundant examples and illustrations of anthropologists at work.
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Good introduction with a dead voice
- By Jo on 10-22-24
By: Peter Just, and others
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Plant Science: An Introduction to Botany
- By: Catherine Kleier, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Catherine Kleier
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
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Dr. Catherine Kleier invites us to open our eyes to the phenomenal world of plant life and to the process she calls “Natura Revelata”, the joy of celebrating and learning from the secrets of nature. As Dr. Kleier shares her knowledge with contagious excitement for her subject, she emphasizes the middle ground: Instead of focusing on cell microbiology or the study of ecosystems and habitats, she stresses the basic biology, function, and the amazing adaptations of the plants we see all around us.
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Needs accompanying documentation and visual aides
- By Ryan on 04-04-19
By: Catherine Kleier, and others
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The Dead Sea Scrolls
- By: Gary A. Rendsburg, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary A. Rendsburg
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
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Whether complete or only fragmentary, the 930 extant Dead Sea Scrolls irrevocably altered how we look at and understand the foundations of faith and religious practice. Now you can get a comprehensive introduction to this unique series of archaeological documents, and to scholars' evolving understanding of their authorship and significance, with these 24 lectures. Learn what the scrolls are, what they contain, and how the insights they offered into religious and ancient history came into focus.
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A comprehensive overview of the Qumran Scrolls
- By Jacobus on 09-25-13
By: Gary A. Rendsburg, and others
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Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature
- By: Pamela Bedore, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Pamela Bedore
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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Can literature change our real world society? At its foundation, utopian and dystopian fiction asks a few seemingly simple questions aimed at doing just that. Who are we as a society? Who do we want to be? Who are we afraid we might become? When these questions are framed in the speculative versions of Heaven and Hell on earth, you won't find easy answers, but you will find tremendously insightful and often entertaining perspectives.
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A very enjoyable and educational audiobook
- By NH on 04-06-17
By: Pamela Bedore, and others
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Understanding Disorders of the Brain
- By: Sandy Neargarder, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Sandy Neargarder
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
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Science has come a long way in solving the mysteries of the human brain, but we still have a long way to go. Understanding Disorders of the Brain is a powerful introduction to the journey of brain science in the 21st century and an excellent addition to your lifelong learning library.
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Alzheimer's and Dementia
- By Chani on 08-15-22
By: Sandy Neargarder, and others
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Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition
- By: Richard Wolfson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Richard Wolfson
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
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"It doesn't take an Einstein to understand modern physics," says Professor Wolfson at the outset of these 24 lectures on what may be the most important subjects in the universe: relativity and quantum physics. Both have reputations for complexity. But the basic ideas behind them are, in fact, simple and comprehensible by anyone. These dynamic and illuminating lectures begin with a brief overview of theories of physical reality starting with Aristotle and culminating in Newtonian or "classical" physics.
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Great primer for hard SF fans and physics laymen
- By David on 01-05-15
By: Richard Wolfson, and others
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1066: The Year That Changed Everything
- By: Jennifer Paxton, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jennifer Paxton
- Length: 3 hrs
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With this exciting and historically rich six-lecture course, experience for yourself the drama of this dynamic year in medieval history, centered on the landmark Norman Conquest. Taking you from the shores of Scandinavia and France to the battlefields of the English countryside, these lectures will plunge you into a world of fierce Viking warriors, powerful noble families, politically charged marriages, tense succession crises, epic military invasions, and much more.
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History brought to life
- By Joshua on 07-10-13
By: Jennifer Paxton, and others
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The Big Mysteries of Human Evolution
- By: Dr. Elen Feuerriegel, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Dr. Elen Feurriegel
- Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
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In 10 riveting episodes, paleoanthropologist Elen Feuerriegel takes you on an unrivaled tour of the human fossil record in search of the biological and behavioral underpinnings of our very “humanness”.
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Fascinating lecture
- By M Hester on 04-15-22
By: Dr. Elen Feuerriegel, and others
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Understanding Complexity
- By: Scott E. Page, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Scott E. Page
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
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Recent years have seen the introduction of concepts from the new and exciting field of complexity science that have captivated the attention of economists, sociologists, engineers, businesspeople, and many others. These include tipping points, the wisdom of crowds, six degrees of separation (or Kevin Bacon), and emergence. Complexity science can shed light on why businesses or economies succeed and fail, how epidemics spread and can be stopped, and what causes ecological systems to rebalance themselves after a disaster.
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Good but basic
- By Spencer on 08-24-19
By: Scott E. Page, and others
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The American Civil War
- By: Gary W. Gallagher, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gary W. Gallagher
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
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Between 1861 and 1865, the clash of the greatest armies the Western hemisphere had ever seen turned small towns, little-known streams, and obscure meadows in the American countryside into names we will always remember. In those great battles, those streams ran red with blood-and the United States was truly born.
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Excellent Series
- By Rodney on 07-09-13
By: Gary W. Gallagher, and others
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Absolutely Fantastic..
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very informative and mind opening
the great courses are surely that! GREAT!
the GREAT courses
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I don't understand where some of these reviewers got their heads at but it sounds like a dark place. There was no "agenda" being shared within this course but an empirical one, which stated cold hard facts and made a serious presentation. In no way did it ever make it seem like he said one group of geographic humans was better than the other, I feel like the person who wrote that must have some serious laundry to do. The human experience shared within made me feel more in touch with my fellow human beings, it was a wonderful way to be reminded of our closeness as one.
if you're looking for a breeze of a course this isn't it, it will make you think and it will allow you to have a different perspective of the world and how it works. I honestly feel more whole after the lecture of "we're all one human race," the science is there!
I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about our fellow humans, empirically, and without the clout of socially corrupt ideas that are white washed and meant to glorify one geographic group over another.
keep it up prof, this was awesome 👍😎
Better than some of the triggered reviewers say.
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Great overall
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Well-rounded intro course
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First Time I’ve Felt Compelled to Leave a Review
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An A+ for The Great Courses
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Narration is everything with audio..
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Great overview of anthropology
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