Prehistory
The Last Ice Age: Thawing Ice and New Human Opportunities
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All Videos in Prehistory
- 1. The Last Ice Age: Thawing Ice and New Human Opportunities
- 2. Neolithic Agricultural Revolution: Causes and Implications
- 3. Development of Hierarchical Structures: Chiefs to Emperors in History
- 4. Mystery Cults and the Early Mother Goddess
- 5. The Great Flood and Population Migrations
- 6. Villages to Cities: How Cities Were Invented
- 7. Walls, Roads & Bronze: Tools of Empire Creation
- 8. The Horse and Chariot: Tools of Empire Creation
- 9. Horse People and Nomadic Pastoralism: What is Civilization?
History of the Ancient Near East
The Invention of Writing
All Videos in History of the Ancient Near East
- 1. The Invention of Writing
- 2. The History of Money and Rise of Complex Economies
- 3. How Religion Developed in the Stone Age and Bronze Age
- 4. The Fertile Crescent: Cradle of Civilization
- 5. Sumerian Art and Architecture
- 6. The Epic of Gilgamesh
- 7. Heirs of the Sumerians: Babylonians, Hittites, Hurrians and Assyrians
- 8. Assyrian Art and Architecture
- 9. Hammurabi's Code: The Advent of Law, Prerequisites and Implications
- 10. What's the Difference Between Polytheism and Monotheism?
- 11. Ancient Egypt in the Bronze Age
- 12. Ancient Egyptian Art: History and Style
- 13. Ancient Egyptian Architecture: History, Characteristics & Influences
- 14. Iron vs. Bronze: History of Metallurgy
- 15. Iron Age Empires: Neo-Babylonian, Neo-Assyrian and Persian Empires
- 16. Ancient Persian Art and Architecture: History & Style
- 17. Zoroastrianism: Definition, Beliefs & History
- 18. Cult of Mithras: Myth & History
- 19. Mesopotamian Kings: History, Politics & Religion
History of Ancient Greece
The Minoans
All Videos in History of Ancient Greece
- 1. The Minoans
- 2. History of the Alphabet: From Cuneiform to Greek Writing
- 3. The Iliad: Greek Epic
- 4. The Odyssey: Greek Epic
- 5. Bronze Age Greece: Schliemann's Quest for Troy
- 6. Greek Myth and Religion
- 7. Greek City-States and Governments
- 8. Women of Greece
- 9. Ancient Greek Art, Pottery and Sculpture
- 10. Ancient Greek Architecture: Dorian, Ionic & Corinthian
- 11. The Birth of Philosophy: The Presocratics
- 12. Phalanx Warfare in Ancient Greece
- 13. History of Sparta
- 14. Birth of History: Herodotus' Persian War
Hellenism and the Athenian Achievement
Athenian Democracy: Solon and Cleisthenes
All Videos in Hellenism and the Athenian Achievement
- 1. Athenian Democracy: Solon and Cleisthenes
- 2. Pericles, the Delian League, and the Athenian Golden Age
- 3. Greek Theatre: Tragedy and Comedy
- 4. Peloponnesian War and Thucydides
- 5. Socrates: Life, Death and Philosophy
- 6. Platonic Idealism: Plato and His Influence
- 7. Alexander the Great and the Birth of Hellenism
- 8. The Library of Alexandria & The Benefits of Hellenization
- 9. Euclid, Archimedes & Ptolemy: Alexandrian Hellenistic Philosophers
- 10. The Argonautica Plot Synopsis: The Myth of Jason and the Argonauts
Roman Myths and Religion
The Fall of the Roman Empire
Christianity's Roots: Paganism, Judaism, Neoplatonism & Roman Mystery Cults
All Videos in The Fall of the Roman Empire
- 1. Christianity's Roots: Paganism, Judaism, Neoplatonism & Roman Mystery Cults
- 2. The Early Roman Empire and the Reign of Augustus Caesar
- 3. Augustus' Propagandists: Virgil, Horace and Ovid
- 4. Judaism and Christianity in the Roman Empire
- 5. Early Christian Art: History, Characteristics & Symbolism
- 6. Early Christian Architecture: Examples, History & Characteristics
The Dark Ages: Loss of Classical Culture
The Early Middle Ages
Carolingian Art: History, Style & Characteristics
All Videos in The Early Middle Ages
The Medieval Warm Period
Romanesque Art: History, Characteristics & Style
All Videos in The Medieval Warm Period
The High Middle Ages
Mendicants: St. Francis and Church Reforms
All Videos in The High Middle Ages
- 1. Mendicants: St. Francis and Church Reforms
- 2. The Spread of Ancient Knowledge and Its Impact on the Church
- 3. Gothic Architecture: Style, Characteristics & History
- 4. Gothic Sculpture and Stained Glass Windows: Characteristics & Style
- 5. Gothic Painting: Style & Characteristics
- 6. How Thomas Aquinas Saved the Faith from Reason
- 7. Mongolians and Their Contributions to Western Civilization
The Late Middle Ages
The Longbow in the Hundred Years' War
All Videos in The Late Middle Ages
The Renaissance
The Renaissance Timeline: Events Overview
All Videos in The Renaissance
- 1. The Renaissance Timeline: Events Overview
- 2. The Italian Renaissance and Italy's Transformation
- 3. Humanism in the Renaissance: Recognizing the Beauty of the Individual
- 4. Renaissance Art: Artists, Paintings, Sculptures & Architecture
- 5. The House of Medici: Rise and Fall of a Banking Family
- 6. The Birth of Parliament: Monarchs vs. the Aristocracy
- 7. The Renaissance Economy: The Rise of Banking
- 8. The Formation of Modern Nation States
- 9. The Renaissance Heresies of Wycliffe and Hus
- 10. The Northern Renaissance
- 11. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
- 12. France and the Valois at the End of the 100 Years War
- 13. England's Wars of the Roses
- 14. England and the Tudors at the End of the Wars of the Roses
- 15. Leonardo Da Vinci: Biography
- 16. How the Compass Helped Columbus
- 17. How the Printing Press Changed the World
The Age of Exploration
The Old World and New World: Why Europeans Sailed to the Americas
All Videos in The Age of Exploration
- 1. The Old World and New World: Why Europeans Sailed to the Americas
- 2. History of Gunpowder and its Effects on the New World
- 3. Great Explorers of Spain and Portugal: Aims & Discoveries
- 4. Michelangelo: Biography and Works
- 5. Conquistadors and Encomienda System: Definition & Savaging of the New World
- 6. Suleiman and the Ottoman Empire: History, Culture & Exploits
The Reformation
The Rise of the Vernacular and the Decline of Latin
All Videos in The Reformation
- 1. The Rise of the Vernacular and the Decline of Latin
- 2. The Catholic Church Before the Reformation: Beliefs and Practices
- 3. Martin Luther, the 95 Theses and the Birth of the Protestant Reformation
- 4. Art in the Protestant Reformation: Albrecht Durer & Northern European Artists
- 5. The Spread of the Protestant Reformation Across Europe
- 6. The Six Wives of Henry VIII: Facts and History
- 7. Henry VIII: The Anglican Church
- 8. Mercenaries and the Sack of Rome
- 9. Tycho Brahe and Copernicus Take On the Known Universe
- 10. Ivan the Terrible and the Making of Russia
- 11. The Council of Trent: The Catholic Church Survives the Reformation
- 12. Life After the Reformation & Protestant Influence on Society
- 13. The Reformers & the Catholic Church: How Religious Beliefs Transformed During the Reformation
The Elizabethan Era
Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth: Catholic vs. Anglican
All Videos in The Elizabethan Era
Francis Bacon: History, Ideas and Legacy
About this Course
History 101 is the most fun you will ever have learning about ancient history and Western Civilization. Max Pfingsten has taught history in the United States and Greece, and he will keep you laughing from the Stone Age to the Bronze.
Learn the origin of the term Achilles Heel and find out why the invention of writing changed civilization forever, then test your knowledge with our free quizzes!
Watch a History 101 lesson today and learn why one user is calling this course 'big history at its best.'
How to Earn Real College Credit You Can Transfer
History 101: Western Civilization I prepares you to earn real college credit by taking the College Board's Western Civilization I CLEP exam. For more details about earning credit, click here.
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Education Portal Instructors
Education Portal's 53 instructors bring a diverse array of experience and expertise to each course. From teaching philosophy in Athens, Greece, to exploring the mystery of genetics, each instructor is uniquely qualified to bring students the best online learning experience possible. Meet them now!
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Jessica Bayliss, M.S.
Jessica is our Director of Education and leads the development of Education Portal's free courses. She has 10 years of experience in education and online teaching. Her work with students of all age levels drives
her belief in the power of free online resources to make higher education more affordable and efficient. Jessica's favorite part of the day is
reading feedback from Education Portal's students. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in
instructional technology from Texas A&M - Kingsville.
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Greg Chin, Ph.D.
Greg has taught genetics, molecular biology, and general biology to
high school, collegiate, and post-graduate students at Stanford University, the University of California, Los Angeles, Santa Clara
University and the Dolan DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He has also taught science workshops for the general
public and led biology teacher enrichment workshops throughout the U.S. He received a B.S. in Genetics from the University of
California, Davis, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Find out how your genes work in Greg's introduction to genetics video lesson!
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Max Pfingsten, M.Ed.
Max has taught classics, history and philosophy
at a variety of levels at the Dikemes Academy in Athens, the Boulder Valley School District, University of Colorado at Boulder and
the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA). His work is noteworthy for its synthesis of technology and simulation with more
traditional teaching approaches. He received a B.A. in Classics from Depauw University, a M.A. in Classics from University of
Colorado at Boulder, and a M.Ed. from Jones International University. See Socrates come to life in Max's lesson on the life, death,
and philosophy of the great Socrates.
- Meet all 53 of our instructors
Contact Information
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The videos were a great study tool. I aced the CLEP exam and earned 3 college credits!
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