Churchill was an improbable hero for what was to be called "the century of the common man", not only because he was personally so very uncommon, but because he was from an elite British family and was never closely in touch with "ordinary people" in Britain, let alone the rest of the world. Yet to pigeonhole Churchill that way is misleading. Winston Churchill was seen even in his own lifetime as a historic figure, one of the great men of world history.

Renowned professor Thomas F. Madden turns his scholarly eye on the intrigue and politics swirling about the Medieval Church. Professor Madden explores the compelling events that shaped the culture and forever altered history, from the Monophysite Controversy to reform movements to the Inquisition, Black Death, and Great Schism.

One of the most dramatic periods in world history is the age of Europe's discovery of the world from Columbus and da Gama in the late 15th century to the voyages of James Cook in the 18th century. The extent of the changes can be seen by comparing the pre-Columbian maps, which showed no knowledge of either the Americas or the Pacific, with those of 1800, which in terms of projection, scale, and content approximate today's maps.

"My goal in this series, in addition to illuminating the patterns of women's and men's uses of language, is to enhance understanding of how language works in everyday life. I am told by students who have taken my courses that this understanding helps them in their everyday lives, as every aspect of our lives involves talking to people of the other sex - in our personal relationships, our families, at work, and in trying to get just about anything done."

The four main themes of this course are answers to the question, "What makes Europe distinctive compared with other parts of the world?"

Mark R. Polelle of the University of Findlay examines the origins, major events, and consequences of the Second World War. Taking into account the First World War’s effect on politics, economics, culture, and the international system as a whole, the course illustrates the ideologies at play as communism, fascism, and democratic capitalism came into direct conflict.

In this course we'll explore how Walt Whitman broke with the tyranny of European literary forms to establish a broad, new voice for American poetry. By throwing aside the stolid conventions and clichéd meters of old Europe, Walt Whitman produced a vital, compelling form of verse, one expressive of the nature of his new world and its undiscovered countries, both physical and spiritual, intimate and gloriously public.

In this series of lectures, Professor Katherine Elkins details the lives and works of the premier French writers of the last two centuries. With keen insight into her subject material, Professor Elkins discusses the attributes that made classics of such works as Balzac's Human Comedy, Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Proust's In Search of Lost Time, and Camus' The Stranger.

Esteemed professor Michael D. C. Drout brings his expertise in literary studies to the subject of rhetoric. From history-altering political speeches to friendly debates at cocktail parties, rhetoric holds the power to change opinions, spark new thoughts, and ultimately change the world.

Kenyon College professor Dr. Timothy B. Shutt examines Dante's greatest work, The Divine Comedy, both in terms of its autobiographical elements and its allegorical meaning for the human race.

In the first century of its existence, Christianity was both welcomed and vilified throughout the Roman Empire. Many of Christianity's original adherents were martyred. Christians themselves practiced their religion with great diversity, linked as much to local influences as theology. Political intrigue, theological beliefs, and simple misunderstandings created a need for dialogue between the many practitioners of the growing faith.

From the time of Homer himself in about 750 BCE - the epic has been the most highly regarded of literary genres. It is rivaled only by tragedy, which arose a bit more than two centuries later, as the most respected, the most influential, and, from a slightly different vantage point, the most prestigious mode of addressing the human condition in literary terms. The major epics are the big boys, the works that, from the very outset, everyone had heard of and everyone knew, at least by reputation.

Shakespeare's seven great tragedies contain unmistakable elements that set them apart from any other plays ever written. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare embodied in the character of Juliet the world's most impressive representation ever of a woman in love. With Julius Caesar, the great playwright produced a drama of astonishing and perpetual relevance.

Professor Fred E. Baumann looks at what some philosophers have had to say on this subject, mostly in the form of stories about utopias. Five are written by great philosophers and the last by a challenging, nearly contemporary American scholar. All have exerted great influence on the history of thought or have expressed influential currents of thought. Professor Baumann's lectures not only examine these texts, but also address the results of attempting to put these utopias into practice.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a key turning point in the history of modern Europe and the world. For much of the 20th century, politics were defined by attitudes to what had taken place in Russia in 1917. To understand the Russian Revolution, then, is to understand a key building block of modern history and the contemporary world.