The Foundations of Western Civilization
The Foundations of Western Civilization
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Jon23 from
Excellent lectures
These lectures are excellent and the teacher even injects some humor. I may even watch a second time around.
Date published: 2021-02-27
Rated 5 out of
5
by
DElaine from
No renaissance, No Nonsense
Professor Noble’s guide to history emphasizes geographical evolution not as discrete periods of rule, but as continuities of boundaries. He cautions against using a word, such as renaissance, to define a particular period of rule, or to explain a broken continuity of historical facts as some type of unearthly phenomenon. Sometimes history cannot fully explain why a certain phenomenon occurred principally in one location and not another, yet Professor Noble does not pompously rename historical time periods according to his doctrinal associations. His role as an historical interpreter is to provide a general overview of how boundaries defined the rulers and the people, and not the other way round, which often gives too much credit to the rulers or the people. In my own readings for the course, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that boundaries often define the historian as well. From the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica entry for Charlemagne, “Charles was not a great warrior. His victories were won rather by the power of organization…” Although organization has been key to many victories, Professor Noble’s assessment relies on thoughtfully drawn maps and discussion of how groups could have the same name, such as the Burgundians, but refer to different groups and time periods. The converse is that a name, such as Rome, which explicitly refers to one group and time period, may also imply vast intertextual metaphor among various groups and time periods.
Date published: 2021-02-27
Rated 2 out of
5
by
Possum from
Foundations of Western Civilization - Soporific!
I have just completed the 48th and final lecture by Dr. Nobel. In my first year at University of Waterloo I I took a course entitled "Classical Civilisation". We started with the Sumerians and Dr Porter brought a lively excitement that was such that I still remember the names of some of the Mesopotamian king and lawmakers. Then it was on to the Babylonians, then the Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans. All exciting and full of value and challenge. That was more than forty years ago. The facts and insights gained have been of great value in my teaching and my life. I wish I could say the same of Dr. Noble's series. That learned man could, if he were doing the commentary make the last two minutes of a tie Super Bowl boring! Skipping over the Minoans and the Mycenaeans he gives short shrift to the political experiments of the Greeks, their art and drama. It is only when the Romans adopt Christianity that he shows any life, In fact it becomes clear that the entire western tradition only has value as it brings forth "The Church". The Church is and always has been progressive and faultless. There was no reason for the reformation! The Church was and is Western Civilization Poor, boring Dr. Noble. His middle initials give us a hint of his bias. Frances Xavier,
Date published: 2021-02-25
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Rl harrison from
Content and delivery are just exceptional. Enjoyed Professor Noble’s knowledge and inclusion of art and literature in this course.
Date published: 2021-02-25
Rated 3 out of
5
by
patty 440 from
pompous teacher
Instructor speaks as if he were an actor in Shakespeare or giving a sermon.
Date published: 2021-02-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
DiaLa from
so, so interesting and enlightening
I bought this course at the beginning of February. I am up to Lecture 14. I can honestly say that Professor Noble is teaching me things I never learned in school. If you want to learn about the ancient world from the very start of civilization this course is a must. The course starts with Mesopotamia. Right now I have just finished learning about Macedon and the Alexander's empire. I can't wait for each new lecture.
Date published: 2021-02-19
Rated 2 out of
5
by
nother John from
Delivery Distracts, Obfuscates Subject Matter
To whom is Prof Noble speaking? The professor spends equal parts of his lectures with closed eyes and open eyes wondering around the room - never looking at the camera - the student. This is highly distracting and gives an impression the professor cares little about connecting with the student. Professor Noble delivers with an irregular verbal cadence that amplifies his visual distraction from connecting with students. I looked forward to this, my 5th Great Course, but was too distracted to complete it. Perhaps I'll return to it someday, but in the meantime will search for another Western Civ course. I've a doctorate and perhaps a higher expectation.
Date published: 2021-02-16
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Lothe from
A Superb Foundation
All that has been feeds into all that is. Behind our modern states and institutions, behind our languages, our philosophies, and our values lies a cultural heritage informed by thousands of years of human history. If you live in Europe or much of North America, then there’s a good chance that your cultural milieu is at least partially shaped by what might broadly be called “Western civilization,” a product of human actions and interactions in times and places as diverse as ancient Greece and Rome and Renaissance Europe.
Prof. Thomas Noble’s course "Foundations of Western Civilization" begins with some reflections on what it might mean to talk about the “foundations of Western civilization,” but in practice, here, it includes a historical and especially cultural overview of the prominent peoples, individuals, and events in the (approximately) Western Hemisphere, beginning at Sumer and Egypt, and encompassing Greece, Rome, and the greater European continent, among others. The course begins with the earliest recorded history and ends with the Reformation and age of exploration in about the 1500s.
Even though, by necessity, it takes place at a fairly broad level, there’s a tremendous amount of information in this course, and Prof. Noble presents it with aplomb. Almost every sentence could be unpacked and mined for its implications, yet each thought flows neatly into the next, the professor never appearing hurried or like he’s trying too hard to fit too much in. Noble himself is a pleasure to watch and listen to, a genial-looking man who appears to be genuinely enjoying himself as he delivers meandering but incisive lectures seemingly without so much as a set of notes.
Although, again, the lectures can only go so far into the details of any given subject, they do a fantastic job of providing (if you will) a foundation for further learning. If your interest is piqued by, say, Roman history, or perhaps medieval Europe, or the Reformation, The Great Courses has much more detailed offerings on each subject, and you’ll discover that Prof. Noble has given you the basic orientation and broad perspective you need to begin a closer study.
If history is the indelible backdrop for what comes after, then we benefit from knowing what stage we play upon. I found it fascinating to see empires spread and recede, to be replaced by their successors; to learn exactly who the “barbarians” were who brought low the eternal city of Rome, and what became of them (for they didn’t simply disappear); to watch what amounts to the modern map of Europe and the modern system of nation-states slowly coalesce through the Middle Ages and beyond; to see the rationalism and scientific thinking we now take for granted gradually come to the fore from the medieval period to the Renaissance and Reformation.
In my mind, this is an essential course: an enlightening survey, larded with enough information to last you a very long time, presented by a truly pleasant teacher. This is what a Great Course should be.
Date published: 2021-01-22
Rated 5 out of
5
by
joeylondon from
Extemporaneous
A jaunt through the history of the West. Good selection of material. The lecturer spoke from his thoughts, not a teleprompter. Very impressive. This fellow must have been teaching this material for decades.
Date published: 2021-01-14
Rated 3 out of
5
by
Frank59 from
Informative, interesting, but difficult to follow
Professor Noble is a master of the subject. You can see in his lectures that he is enthusiastic, wanting to share his knowledge with the rest of us. Unlike some of the other professors, he lectures mostly unscripted. Listening to him is easier than reading his transcripts--some of his sentences are fragments. If you have patience, you will learn a lot.
Date published: 2020-12-20
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Maine Mountain Man from
Outstanding!
This course really filled in a lot of gaps in my personal knowledge. Professor Noble is very entertaining, and I would love to take another course from him.
Date published: 2020-12-08
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Santi from
Excellent course
I bought this course a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I’m now listening to it for the second time... and thoroughly enjoying it again. The professor has a very engaging and clear delivery. He makes it fun to listen to.
Date published: 2020-11-30
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Lin and Linda from
Thought-provoking, informative, and fun
My wife (a history major) and I (a math/physics student) have shared this over the past several weeks, and have not had a lesson that didn't teach us something, often challenging the basic premises of what we thought we'd learned in our various schools along the way. We're very glad we took it, and look forward to our next course on the Founding Fathers.
Date published: 2020-11-29
Rated 1 out of
5
by
Brent61 from
Western Civilization is Much More than Catholicism
This is is not a survey course on the development of Western Civilization. It is a course on the development of Roman Catholic doctrine. It ignores or trivializes events that did not contribute to that.
The professor sees the Catholic Church as the continuation of the Western Roman Empire and has overwhelmingly positive comments on it and the Greek and Hebrew civilizations that preceded it. Other civilizations contributions are underrated.
I have difficulty considering it a history course as the bulk of the material is theology and philosophy. There is about as much literary criticism as there is history.
The professor, in spite of his obvious knowledge and skill, failed to overcome his biases to produce the course that one would expect from the course and lecture titles. I found it particularly disturbing that the only criticism of the Catholic Church as an institution is the rampant papal corruption that lead to the Protestant Reformation.
Date published: 2020-11-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
someguy from
Very well thought through
Professor Noble gives a interesting commentary in this course. including a very large time frame in 48 lectures is no mean feat! but professor Noble passes that bar with flying colors. many critical reviews I have looked at look down on his voice fluctuations. while this is true, this is something that can be, (and should be) ignored, and I find it sad that many people have looked at this as an excuse to dislike the course, in fact, the great Winston Churchill, the great British speaker, had a noticeable stutter in his voice, yet he is still revered as one of the most influential speakers during World War Two.
the other item that pops up a lot in the critical reviews I have seen, is the fact that he somewhat biased in that he talks about the Christian church in a rather favorable light. this is also true, but seeing as how he is probably Christian, I can understand why he would talk about it in a more favorable way. Regardless of this, I think he did a pretty good job trying to keep his opinions in check. i would highly recommend this course to anyone who wants a thorough grounding in a history of western civilization.
Date published: 2020-11-17
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Ecclesiastes from
Crystalization
Although I've attended a lot of school, I've always felt that my knowledge of history was spotty and imprecise. Foundations of Western Civilization by Thomas F.X. Noble has done much to clarify my understanding of the grand arc of western civilization. Noble takes us from the ancient civilization of Sumer (about 2500 BCE) all the way up to the age of exploration and conquest in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries CE, a span of four thousand years.
It's fascinating to watch the movement and development of what we now think of as western civilization. Noble spends time on a number of ancient civilizations and pays particular attention to the development of Greece and Rome. Additionally, he spends considerable time discussing the three great religious movements of the west: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
I was particularly interested in learning about the differences in governmental structures of the two great Greek city states, Athens and Sparta. I was also interested in the development of Rome from republic to empire to eventual collapse.
I watched this course on video and I think this is helpful. Noble uses a number of easy to understand maps to help communicate the movements of various peoples over time and I think one would lose this if one were only to listened to the course.
Thomas F.X. Noble is a great teacher and he says many insightful things as he leads us on this grand tour of western civilization. Here is one which I wrote down: "Many people have been tempted toward authoritarian kinds of regimes that seem to them to promise stability even if such regimes reduce dramatically the rights of individuals." It is a testament to his teaching excellence that I felt moved to record this.
Date published: 2020-10-28
Rated 1 out of
5
by
MikeB772 from
Unable to finish course!
As much as I was enjoying this course, after watching 40 lectures I am now unable to finish it because the course is now showing on the website as having 0 lectures, so the remaining 8 lectures are nowhere to be found. Considering ending my subscription now.
Date published: 2020-10-13
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Jan ML from
Good Overview of Early Western Civilization
This course was a great overview of early western civilization. It was both interesting and informative, touching on the high points of culture, history and life events.
Date published: 2020-10-02
Rated 5 out of
5
by
HistoryFinder from
Best Western Civ Course I've ever taken
This is the best history course that I've taken anywhere, including books that I have read. It is well organized and laid out so that one can get the big picture. There is a nice continuity. Lastly, I learned a number of things that, although important in my mind, I had never encountered elsewhere.
He has a unique talent for distilling key and disparate facts into a coherent story. Highest rating!
Date published: 2020-09-30
Rated 3 out of
5
by
Michael F from
Great lecturer, constrained by religious affilaiti
I got a lot out of this course. The lecturer is terrific and the course material interesting and concise.
The problem is that it is not made clear that anywhere that the material will not waiver from the views of the Catholic Church. This only becomes really obvious towards the end during the Renaissance and Reformation lectures but it's then that one starts to doubt the intellectual impartiality of the entire course. Yes I should have know...University of Notre Dame but higher education should be above the dogmas and constraints of religious conformity.
It should be stated like a warning on the side of a cigarette pack. "This Course will not under any circumstances criticise or question the teachings of the Catholic Church". But I guess then I would not have taken it.
Date published: 2020-09-16
Rated 2 out of
5
by
ivjones from
Too religiously conservative
There are parts of this series I liked as informative and easy to understand. However when it came to the section regarding the Hebrews all I got was a traditional Catholic teaching school version of Hebrew history. I was hoping for something more current and even handed.
Also the menu for Disc 1 not readily available to navigate around to other topics on this disc.
Date published: 2020-09-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
RobyP from
Great Course
Professor Noble is AWESOME! I am really enjoying this course and learning a lot. He is amazing with his presentation. Every word is perfectly understood and he never looks at any notes. I am 3 lectures from finishing and looking forward to the next course.
Date published: 2020-08-17
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Kim12 from
Good, concise information
I have completed the first 9 lectures. Dr. Noble focuses on the important aspects of ancient civilizations giving the learners the overview that a foundations class is intended to provide. As a teacher of ancient history, I am enjoying listening to him before the school year begins so I may condense information for my students more efficiently. I am learning some new information yet and I find Dr. Noble’s delivery interesting and engaging. Perhaps this is so because I am intending to learn and review and not not be idly entertained. Dr. Noble’s emphasis on etymology helps the learner understand how modern concepts flow out of ancient ideas and is necessary in following the development of civilization. Thank you for this course.
Date published: 2020-08-06
Rated 5 out of
5
by
beisenbp from
Western Civilization Comes Alive
We have only completed 5 lessons in Western Civilization but we love the course. The amount of detail is just right and the teacher is great. He is so interesting and animated without being overboard.
Date published: 2020-08-05
Rated 5 out of
5
by
sweetpea56 from
General view of history.
I have watched a few lectures, but have not looked at the book. The professor gives a nice general view of what life was like in the Middle ages. I am learning some history I have missed in my lifetime. Thank you.
Date published: 2020-08-03
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Ricaru from
Truly inspiring lecturer
We are starting our collection. Could not be happier.
Date published: 2020-06-19
Rated 5 out of
5
by
pgc1123 from
I bought this twice
I bought this in CD format fifteen or more years ago to listen to during my commute. I liked it well enough that I probably listened to it four or five times. I recently had the opportunity to purchase it in DVD format and am glad that I did. The visual aids in the course are a good addition.
Buy this course in either format, but BUY THIS COURSE!
Date published: 2020-05-25
Rated 5 out of
5
by
SantaSeattle from
So Informative
We have enjoyed this series very much. The Professor does a great job.
Date published: 2020-05-25
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Bev1 from
Foundations of Western Civilization
I signed up for this course about one month ago. My husband and I have been watching one lecture per evening and thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew that my lack of basic history knowledge was limiting my ability to understand so much of what I read in literature, and the news. This was exactly what I (we) were hoping for and so much more. Presented in a very straightforward format and by a very well-informed professor! Thank-you for so enriching our lives!
Date published: 2020-05-15
Rated 3 out of
5
by
Stu42 from
Looks OK. Took a while to get it to read in compu
I expected to be able to drop it into my PC and it would start. Instead, I had to load an application, which took me a couple of days.
There was a factual error in the first lesson, repeated. Earth has been here for more than 4 million years. Errors like this make me doubt the rest of the facts presented.
Otherwise, it looks like it will be a valuable purchase.
Date published: 2020-05-11
1: "Western," "Civilization," and "Foundations"
These three seemingly simple words demand reflection. Where is the West? Who is Western? If civilization means cities, where do those come from? And when we look at history, how do we tell what is truly foundational from what may be merely famous? What is the difference between celebrity and distinction?
33 min
3: Egypt-The Gift of the Nile
As Sumer was the gift of the Tigris and Euphrates, so Egypt-a ribbon of fertile floodplain 750 miles long but not much more than 15 miles wide-has been called "the gift of the Nile." But the differences between Egypt and Mesopotamia tell us as much as the similarities.
31 min
8: The Greek Polis-Sparta
Spartan society was harsh and peculiar, yet many observers at the time and since have found "the Spartan way" strangely compelling. After all, they won the war against Athens, and their victory moved Plato to re-imagine Athenian society in The Republic. What were the main features of this system, and why did the Spartans embrace it?...
30 min
11: The Birth of History
What does it mean to say that the Greeks, while certainly not the first people to reflect on the past, nonetheless "invented" history? How did Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon, each in his own unforgettable way, contribute to this basic turning of the Western mind?
31 min
12: From Greek Religion to Socratic Philosophy
How did the Greeks begin moving from religious to more philosophical views of the world, and why did these views first arise in a particular part of the Greek world called Ionia? Who were the Sophists, what did they teach, and why did Socrates oppose them?
31 min
25: Late Antiquity-Crisis and Response
For 100 years after the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180, the Romans put up almost no great public structures-a sign of severe trouble. What lay behind this crisis, and how did Diocletian (who became emperor in 284) and his successor Constantine successfully respond?
31 min
29: Muhammad and Islam
As with ancient Israel or 1st-century Palestine, no one could have predicted that 7th-century Arabia would become the cradle of a world-changing new religion. Yet new as it was in many ways, Islam had important ties to Greece and Rome as well as the scriptural traditions of the West.
30 min
46: Catholic Reforms and "Confessionalization"
Beginning around 1550, the Catholic Church undertook a reformation of its own, founding new institutions and launching new religious orders. At the same time, "confessional" lines were hardening on the religious map of a permanently divided Europe.
31 min
47: Exploration and Empire
In purely material terms (population, natural resources, etc.) the peninsular appendage of Asia that is Europe should not have been the one among all world civilizations to span the globe. But starting in the latter decades of the 15th century, that is what happened.
30 min
48: What Challenges Remain?
You leave the West in 1600, on the cusp of the Age of Empire, the Scientific Revolution, and the Baroque Period. It's a long way from those mud-walled villages in Mesopotamia to the threshold of its modern era, but certain patterns, problems, and possibilities endure to make the West what it is.
33 min
Thomas F. X. Noble
One great scholar said that history was a process of challenge and response. Surely we must ask what challenges remain.
ALMA MATER
Michigan State University
INSTITUTION
University of Notre Dame
About Thomas F. X. Noble
Dr. Thomas F. X. Noble is Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. He earned his B.A. in History from Ohio University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval History from Michigan State University. Professor Noble has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and research grants from the American Philosophical Society. In 2008 he received the Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in Teaching from Notre Dame. In 1999 he was awarded the Alumni Distinguished Professor Award and a David Harrison III Award for outstanding undergraduate advising, both from the University of Virginia. Professor Noble is the author, coauthor, or editor of 10 books and has published more than 40 articles, chapters, and essays. His coauthored textbook, Western Civilization: The Continuing Experiment, is in its 5th edition. His research has concentrated on late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, focusing on the history of the city of Rome, the history of the papacy, and the age of Charlemagne.
