Summary: Could Ethiopia have been founded by the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba? In this program art historian Gus Casely-Hayford searches for the facts behind the legend by traveling to several important religious sites: Gondar, with its stunning icons; Lalibela, a cluster of 11 churches carved from single blocks of stone; remote Debre Damo monastery; Axum, allegedly home to the Ark of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Victorian explorer who discovered the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, with its high, sweeping walls and complex passageways, had no idea who could have built it. The vast stone city remained at the center of debate for decades. In this program art historian Gus Casely-Hayford pieces together the story of the African empire and how it was linked to surrounding kingdoms as part of a medieval gold...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Once rivals and even rulers of Ancient Egypt, Nubian kingdoms dominated the eastern Sahara for millennia. In this program art historian Gus Casely-Hayford tours the ruins of Kerma and Meroe, two of Nubia's great capitals, to examine some of the cultural treasures these complex civilizations left behind: the remains of a vast worship center built 4,000 years ago, a temple to the god Amun,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: A collection of extraordinary plaques, seized as loot during the colonial aggression that ended the powerful Benin Empire in 1897, depict life in the African kingdom's royal court at its height. In this program art historian Gus Casely-Hayford travels to legendary Timbuktu, the Great Mosque of Djenn, the Oba Royal Palace, and Dogon country to learn more about how the plaques were made and what...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: When a baby is hospitalized with a life-or-death illness, parents place their trust in the doctors, nurses, and other specialists of the neonatal intensive care unit. This program blends the intimate and the informative to examine both the technological and the human aspects of infant critical care. Case studies featuring footage of the birth of the Faul twins, one of whom was diagnosed in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Born too soon and too small, premature newborns present doctors with some of the toughest medical and ethical challenges today. This program takes a deeply personal look at the emotional odysseys of two families, as specialized medical teams do all they can to save their babies. The emergency C-section to deliver Baby Jada, born twelve weeks early, and an operation to close a hole in Baby...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The use of fiber optic technology continues to change the way we live today. This video demonstrates the various ways it has been incorporated into our everyday surroundings, and how it may be used in the future. Beginning with a history of fiber optics development, the video then goes on to describe the basic principles of light and how it interacts with matter. Building on this understanding,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: This hard-hitting documentary uses interviews with several girls, their boyfriends, parents, counselors, teachers, and other professionals to examine one of the most critical issues facing young Americans today. Exploring the reasons why so many teenagers get pregnant, the video looks at the facts on adolescent sexual behavior and attitudes toward birth control. Although the emphasis is focused...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Young mothers need to be aware of the benefits and problems associated with the options of marriage or single parenting. This program stresses the importance of developing a positive and responsible attitude in order to make the best of the situation. The video provides information on finding a doctor, prenatal care, and the benefits of a practical diet, exercise, and childbirth classes, as...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program profiles the warriors of the White Nile, a tribe that others call Dinka but that calls itself Moinjang: Man of the Men. Wedding negotiations, which involve a bride price usually paid in cattle, are highlighted, along with a traditional high-stakes contest to be the fattest man in the land. The impacts of Sudan's civil war and of a thriving slave trade, intensified by famine and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: This is the second of two programs featuring a performance of Christopher Marlowe's classic The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus. The play's last scenes including the magical appearance of Helen of Troy, Faustus' failed attempt to repent, and his final, tormented soliloquy are presented. We catch glimpses of Marlowe's classic larger-than-life characters-all "over-reachers," who seek to dominate...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This lively performance excerpt from The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus provides the means to understand and enjoy the classic play as living literature. As with most of Marlowe's plays, Faust represents a pivotal change from the medieval outlook of humans at the whim of an unseen hand, to the Renaissance view of humans in control of their own destiny. This program clearly shows how, in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Patterned on Greek and Roman classics, yet achieving a voice of its own by defying the strict dictates of classical subject matter, Milton's epic poem is a masterpiece of monumental proportions. His diverse and often awesome use of language creates an effect as surreal and powerful as Dante's Inferno. This program features probing analysis by Professors Thomas Winnifrith, University of Warwick,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Groomed for power by the Dowager Empress, three-year-old Aisin-Gioro Puyi ascended China's imperial throne in 1908. This program illustrates the early years of his sporadic reign, his education under Scottish tutor Reginald Johnston, and the shifting of his political fortunes at the mercy of international events. Puyi's eviction from the Forbidden City during his teenage years, his Westernized...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Japan in the modern age: a people existing between the protection of the kami and the geological dangers of earthquake. This program covers the cataclysmic events of the 20th century-the devastating earthquake of 1923, the rise of militarism, the accession of Emperor Hirohito, the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, the Pacific War, Hiroshima, and the American occupation of Japan-but its...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Divided into five targeted ten-minute segments, this engaging program uses microscopic imaging, time-lapse photography, cut-aways and dissections, laboratory experimentation and fieldwork, computer modeling, and graphing to shed light on the intricate lifecycles of anthophytes. Segments include "Photosynthesis and Respiration," "The Role of Flowers," "From Pollination to Fertilization,"...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: While acknowledging the achievements of the pharmaceutical industry, this program offers an alternative perspective on the production of medicines, emphasizing the use of plants and herbs instead of synthetic compounds. Beginning with a historical overview of plant remedies-including evidence of sophisticated herbalism in ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Arab cultures-the video describes how...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Surveying the vast biodiversity of the medicinal plant world, this program examines the challenges facing countries rich in such natural resources. The video presents interviews with numerous alternative health experts-including Dr. Jean-Pierre Willem, renowned surgeon, ethnologist, and the last field assistant of Dr. Albert Schweitzer-and documents their knowledge in a wide range of herbal and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The history of Japan past and present is the story of the kami, the supernatural, not quite godlike spirits who underlie the Japanese-ness of Japan-who created the Japanese islands at the beginning of time and remain today the ones responsible for health and luck, for success in childbirth and business, for the proper functioning of silicon chips and the uniqueness and unity of the Japanese....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The fine loess soil of the Yellow River basin quickly established that region as the home of China's earliest recorded dynasty. This program focuses primarily on Bronze Age China and the contributions of the Yin (or Shang) dynasty, with a tangential emphasis on the reign of the Qins. Commentary by Tang Jigen, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and other experts; archival film of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: August 16, 1945: the end of World War II and the capture of Aisin-Gioro Puyi, Manchukuo's Japanese-controlled regent, by the Soviet Army. This program depicts what befell the former Chinese emperor during his captivity in Russia, his eventual extradition to Communist China, and his troubled life under Mao's regime. Through archival footage, detailed interviews, and excerpts from Puyi's...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Were Egypt's pyramids really built by slaves to be the tombs of the pharaohs? Most scholars believed so-until the excavation of a workers' village and the tomb of High Priest Kai led to some startling conclusions. In this program, Zahi Hawass, of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, and renowned anthropologist Azza Saary el-Din provide support for the "public works" theory of the late...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: This was the age of the Tokugawa family, the era of Edo, a period of over two-and-a-half centuries during which Japan was hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world and only a few Dutch and Chinese-constantly watched and treated like pariahs-were allowed to live on Japanese soil and to trade with the Japanese. This program treats the history of Japan during this period: the established...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: In 1540, Portuguese navigators and Jesuit priests landed in a Japan of shoguns and samurai, where the arts of warfare had been refined to hitherto unknown heights of cruelty. Although Westernisms quickly became the rage in Japan, the Japanese soon recognized the long arm of colonialism. Christian priests and converts were persecuted and martyred and, in 1650, Japan shut tight its doors to the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005