Plague has terrified and fascinated humanity for all of recorded history. Now, in the current moment of COVID-19, people around the globe are again struggling to learn how to navigate life during a pandemic. As in times of uncertainty throughout history, we seek the insights of the great minds who have lived through and reflected on similar historical moments.
Your guide for this fascinating 12-lecture audio course is medieval literature expert Chris Fee, a presenter beloved for his evocative delivery by Learn25 listeners and his own students at Gettysburg College.
You’ll begin by examining literary attempts to understand and to interpret pestilence and plagues, starting with the Bible and Ancient poets, playwrights, and historians. You’ll then move on to some of the greatest works of the Middle Ages and Renaissance that were inspired by or reflect aspects of the infamous Black Death.
Plague has terrified and fascinated humanity for all of recorded history. Now, in the current moment of COVID-19, people around the globe are again struggling to learn how to navigate life during a pandemic. As in times of uncertainty throughout history, we seek the insights of the great minds who have lived through and reflected on similar historical moments.
Your guide for this fascinating 12-lecture audio course is medieval literature expert Chris Fee, a presenter beloved for his evocative delivery by Learn25 listeners and his own students at Gettysburg College.
You’ll begin by examining literary attempts to understand and to interpret pestilence and plagues, starting with the Bible and Ancient poets, playwrights, and historians. You’ll then move on to some of the greatest works of the Middle Ages and Renaissance that were inspired by or reflect aspects of the infamous Black Death.
Entering the Modern Age, you’ll explore works by authors that employ plague as a metaphor. Along the way, you will also delve into popular books and movies, such as 12 Monkeys, that take plague as their subject or subtext. You’ll conclude by discovering that the literature of plague has much to teach us, not just about the current moment, but about the very nature of being human.
*This course was previously titled From Black Death to Zombie Apocalypse: Great Plagues in History and Literature.
From Pestilence to Pandemic: the Many Faces of Plague
Great Plagues of the Bible
Plague and Homer
Plague and Sophocles
Plague and Thucydides
Enter the Black Death: Boccaccio, Art, and Love in an Age of Pestilence, Horror, and Death
Chaucer, the Black Death, and the Rise of the Middle Class in Late-Medieval England
Shakespeare and the Plague
Defoe and the Journal of the Plague Year and Catherine Anne Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider
Plague in Modern Fact, Fiction, and Fantasy
From Twelve Monkeys to the Zombie Apocalypse: Plagues in Contemporary Pop Culture
From Jack London to Albert Camus in the Age of Covid-19
1 review for History’s Great Plagues: How Germs Shaped Civilization
Rated 2 out of 5
Samuel ZALANGA (verified owner)–
This course is on a very important and relevant topic. The Professor is well-informed on the subject matter. But the major and serious limitation of the course as a learning tool which surprised me so much is that there is no any bibliography accompanying the course. Generally, after listening to the lecture, in spite of the lecture being very commanding, the Professor cannot talk about everything and so providing just a list of references or sources that the listener can follow up would be a phenomenal contribution to effective learning. I will encourage Learn25 to insist that all those who produce their courses should provide a bibliography that can help someone learn more and deeper after listening to the lecture, at least if the genuine vision of Learn25 is to encourage people to learn. I believe this will be useful even if it will mean charging a little bit more for the courses. Courses that have bibliography are very useful as tools of learning because one can decide to order the books or check them out of the library. The Professor highlighted many great ideas and connections but there is no way one can pursue further learning of the subject matter of the course based on his inspiration because it is just talk but there is no list of references to help further learning. Thank you very much.
Samuel ZALANGA (verified owner) –
This course is on a very important and relevant topic. The Professor is well-informed on the subject matter. But the major and serious limitation of the course as a learning tool which surprised me so much is that there is no any bibliography accompanying the course. Generally, after listening to the lecture, in spite of the lecture being very commanding, the Professor cannot talk about everything and so providing just a list of references or sources that the listener can follow up would be a phenomenal contribution to effective learning. I will encourage Learn25 to insist that all those who produce their courses should provide a bibliography that can help someone learn more and deeper after listening to the lecture, at least if the genuine vision of Learn25 is to encourage people to learn. I believe this will be useful even if it will mean charging a little bit more for the courses. Courses that have bibliography are very useful as tools of learning because one can decide to order the books or check them out of the library. The Professor highlighted many great ideas and connections but there is no way one can pursue further learning of the subject matter of the course based on his inspiration because it is just talk but there is no list of references to help further learning. Thank you very much.