Current Series:
“Foundations of Economic Prosperity” by Daniel W. Drezner, Ph.D., Tufts University
Prosperity has transformed the world. Defined as the ability to afford goods and services beyond basic necessities, prosperity is now a way of life for most residents of developed countries—so commonplace that few people realize what a rare and recent phenomenon it is.
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A mere two centuries ago, most people lived at a subsistence level, in or near the edge of poverty, as the overwhelming majority had since prehistoric times. Then the Industrial Revolution began and per capita income shot up. It is still rising today.
But the story of prosperity is far from simple—or complete. Many people in the developed world fear that their children will be less prosperous than they are. Meanwhile, new economic titans such as China and Brazil enjoy year after year of rapid growth and an ever-rising standard of living. Elsewhere in the world, millions are still trapped in poverty, despite the best efforts of organizations such as the World Bank to help lift them out of it. For More …. See:
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/foundations-of-economic-prosperity.html
Come join us each Thursday evening for the next 12 weeks when we will be watching this series at the home of Hilton Brown in Mountain View. Please call Hilton at 650-941-3146 for the address and directions, and to let us know you are coming. We watch two half hour segments, then spend the rest of the time discussing what we just saw.
Previous Series
Jan 2017 “Effective Communication Skills” by Professor Dalton Kehoe, Ph.D.
York University
Oct 2016 “Art of Public Speaking: Lessons from the Greatest Speeches in History” by John R. Hale, Ph.D., University of Louisville
2016 May “Games People Play: Game Theory in Life, Business, and Beyond”, Professor Scott P. Stevens, Ph.D., James Madison University
2015 November “The Higgs Boson and Beyond”, Professor Sean Carroll, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology DVD
| Timespan | Series title | Lecturer or host | Medium | |
| 2016 Feb / 2015 Dec | Robotics | Professor John Long, Ph.D. University of Oklahoma | DVD | |
| 2015 Aug / Sept | The World Was Never the Same: Events That Changed History | University of Oklahoma, Washington University in St. Louis | DVD | |
| 2013 Jul – Oct 31 | The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins | Anne Curzan | 36 DVD | |
| 2013 Jun – 2013 Jul | Mr. Lincoln: Life of Abraham Lincoln | Allen C. Guelzo | 12 DVD | |
| 2013 Feb – 2013 Jun | The World of Byzantium | Kenneth W. Harl | 24 DVD | |
| 2012 Dec – 2013 Jan | Tocqueville and the American Experiment | William R Cook | 24 DVD | |
| 2012 July – 2012 Nov | Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations | Brian M. Fagan | 36 DVD | |
| 2012 APR – 2012 July | Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage | John McWhorter | 12 DVD | |
| 2012 Mar – 2012 Apr | Experiencing Hubble: Great Images of the Universe | David M Meyer | 12 DVD | |
| 2012 Feb – 2012 Mar | Thinking like an Economist: Rational Decision Making | Randall Bartlett | 12 DVD | |
| 2011 Oct – 2012 Jan | Argumentation | David Zarefsky | 24 DVD | |
| 2011 Aug – 2011 Oct | Great Thinkers, Great Theorems | William Dunham | 24 DVD | |
| 2011 May – 2011 Aug | No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life | Robert Solomon | 24 DVD | |
| 2011 Feb – 2011 May | The Will to Power: The Philosophy of Frederich Nietzsche | Robert Solomon & Kathleen Higgins | 24 DVD | |
| 2010 Dec – 2011 Feb | Origins of Life | Robert M Hazen | 24 DVD | |
| 2010 Sep – 2010 Nov | Buddhism | Malcolm David Eckel | 24 DVD | |
| 2010 Apr – 2010 Aug | Mathematics, Philosophy, and the “Real World” | Judith V Grabiner | 36 DVD | |
| 2010 Mar – 2010 Apr | Science and Religion | Lawrence M Principe | 12 DVD | |
| 2010 Feb – 2010 Mar | Consciousness and its Implications | Daniel N Robinson | 12 DVD | |
| 2009 Oct – 2010 Jan | Understanding Genetics: DNA,Genes, and their Real-World Apps | David Sadava | 24 DVD | |
| 2009 Jun – 2009 Oct | The History of the Supreme Court | Peter Irons | 36 DVD | |
| 2009 Apr – 2009 Jun | Understanding the Fundamentals of Music | Robert Greenberg | 16 DVD, 45 min | |
| 2008 Nov – 2009 May | Understanding Linguistics: The Science of Language | John McWhorter | 36 DVD | |
| 2008 May – 2008 Nov | The Great Ideas of Philosophy | Daniel N Robinson | 50 tape | |
| 2008 Jan – 2008 May | Psychology of Human Behavior | David W Martin | 36 DVD | |
| 2007 Sep – 2008 Jan | Great Scientific Ideas that Changed the World | Steven L Goldman | 36 DVD | |
| 2007 August (3 wks) | A Brief History of Disbelief | Jonathan Miller | 3 tape | |
| 2007 May – 2007 Aug | Passions: Philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotions | Robert C Solomon | 24 DVD | |
| 2007 Jan – 2007 May | The Story of Human Language | John McWhorter | 36 DVD | |
| 2006 Sep – 2006 Nov | Science Wars: What Scientists Know and How They Know It | Steven L Goldman | 24 DVD |