Summary: The aim of these lectures is to make viewers feel welcome and comfortable in the company of paintings. By focusing on 65 masterpieces of Western painting, Professor William Kloss offers a vivid, visceral encounter with genius, shining light on the unique technical, stylistic, and expressive achievements of each painting. From the 14th century to the 20th, the images are examined for their...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Teaching Company 2010
Copies Available at Woodmere
2 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 709 WORCall number: DVD 709 WOR
Copies Available at Interlochen
1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: Great DVD 759 World 2010Summary: The development of the arts in Europe from the Middle Ages to the modern era is an astonishing record of cultural achievement, from the breathtaking architecture of Gothic cathedrals to the daring visual experiments of the Cubist painters. We all have our favorite artists, periods, or styles from this immensely rich tradition, but how many of us truly know the full sweep of European art? How...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Teaching Co. 2005
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 709 HISSummary: This program explains how the transcontinental railroad was built, and then how it opened up the West to European settlers and brought on the extermination of the buffalo and the defeat of Southern Plains Indian tribes. Viewers will witness the transformation through first-person accounts from Native Americans, European immigrants, Chinese laborers, buffalo hunters, homesteaders from the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1996
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program from NOVA presents author and neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks and his exploration of the link between music and the brain. While working with patients who struggle to cope with a number of debilitating medical conditions, including autism and Tourrette syndrome, Dr. Sacks found that the therapeutic effects of music help many. Four remarkable case studies from Dr. Sacks’ book,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Charges of exploitation and a growing concern for head injury and brain trauma have put college football in the spotlight. Do college football programs-which rake in millions-take advantage of student athletes, or do they provide young men with educational and professional opportunities they might not otherwise have? Do football's inherent danger and violence have any place in institutions of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2012
View online at AVOD
Summary: "Learn about one of the greatest heroes of American literature: a dog named Buck. One of the greatest books of all time was written by a man named Jack London during the early twentieth century. The Call of the Wild has gone on to not only become a children's literary classic, but also one of the greatest stories ever told. Let's go back and take an in-depth look at the author, the story and...
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: 2020
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Documentary DVDs, Call number: DVD DOC JACSummary: Nick Bostrom, director of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, specializes in the big questions: What does it mean to be human? If we could live forever, would we choose to? Can we improve our human nature with technological enhancements? In this TEDTalk, the philosopher and transhumanist examines the future of humankind and asks whether we might alter our fundamental nature to deal with our...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: In 1851, word spread of California’s beautiful Yosemite Valley, attracting visitors who wished to exploit the land for commercial gain as well as those who wished to keep it pristine. This episode relates how a Scottish-born wanderer named John Muir made protecting this land a spiritual calling. In 1864, Congress passed an act that protects Yosemite from commercial development—the first time in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Choosing accommodations for a visit to a park in the American West? This video offers a captivating look at some of the region's historic lodges: The Stanley Hotel, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; Jackson Lake Lodge, in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming; Glacier Bay Lodge, in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska; and Camp Denali, in Denali National Park, Alaska. Spectacular...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2002
View online at AVOD
Summary: America’s magnificent storyteller Mark Twain has crafted an intriguing and classic tale of mistaken identity, deceit, and murder. At the center of it all is a slave woman who cradle-switches her master’s son with her own light-skinned baby…a child, though raised as white, who never fulfills her hopes and dreams for him as he becomes an arrogant and cruel man. Acclaimed actor Ken Howard...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1983
View online at AVOD
Summary: Hadleyburg has a reputation for unshakable honesty. The smug townspeople are proud of this virtue and keep themselves honest by simply avoiding temptation. That is until “the man that corrupted Hadleyburg” arrives in town. Robert Preston stars as the stranger who plots a revenge on the hypocritical residents by promising a fortune to the citizens who once showed him charity many years before....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1980
View online at AVOD
Summary: Seems like a simple enough storyline, considering it became one of the most significant, beloved, acclaimed, and studied novels ever written. This classic motion picture is the definitive adaptation of Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - splendidly filmed, lovingly produced for PBS’s American Playhouse, with an acclaimed all-star cast, and presented in an unedited, full-length version....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1985
View online at AVOD
Summary: Evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel has an intriguing theory about why humans developed such a complex system of language. In this TEDTalk, Pagel suggests that language functions as a kind of technology that allowed early tribes to share ideas in cooperative efforts. And with the help of language, Pagel further asserts, "social learning" led to "cumulative cultural adaptation" - which means that...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: Will the universe keep expanding forever or will it someday stop and start collapsing upon itself in a big crunch? This program ventures through the observational research of American astronomer Vera Rubin on the velocities of stars around galaxies and the massive amount of matter exerting a gravitational force that we simply cannot see. Yet, this “dark matter” makes up roughly 90 percent of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1997
View online at AVOD
Summary: The force of gravity rules the universe. It governs our everyday lives on Earth and it controls the motions of the heavens above. Yet it is one of the least understood of all the forces of nature. This course is designed to give you a basic understanding of the forces of gravity that rule the universe.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: The Teaching Company 2013
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 531.14 BLALidwell, William.
Summary: There's more to colors than just aesthetics. There's an actual science behind how colors work on your eyes and your brain. And the secrets that scientists are uncovering offer astounding revelations on how colors influence the way you think, feel, and behave.
Format: moving image
Publisher / Publication Date: Teaching Company 2013
Copies Available at Woodmere
1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 752 HOWSummary: A paradigm shift has occurred since the founding of the World Bank over half a century ago, representing a new awareness of how reduction-of-poverty programs impact the daily lives of the people they aim to help. The people themselves are making their voices heard. Global public opinion in the form of online activists, the findings of research groups such as Columbia University’s Earth...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The World Bank was founded in 1944 mainly as a way to help Europe rebuild after the Second World War, and it has since become the premiere agency for aiding developing countries. But critics began to say that the World Bank's rigid economic formulas failed to take into account the societal differences of those it served, that its projects were ecologically harmful, and that despite aid,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Dubbed "the woman who redefined man," Jane Goodall has changed our perceptions of primates, people, and the connections between them. But over the past 45 years, Goodall herself has "evolved" from steadfast scientist to passionate conservationist and humanitarian. In this TEDTalk, the legendary researcher talks about TACARE and her other community projects, which help people in booming African...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: The universe is a strange and violent place: full of regions spewing out energy on an unimaginable scale and objects so massive not even light can escape from them. With the discovery of quasars (extremely luminous, compact objects in the hearts of ancient galaxies), the picture of the universe has become even more complex. This program examines possible mechanisms responsible for such enormous...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1997
View online at AVOD
Summary: Former boxer, three-time World Heavyweight Champion, and cultural icon, Muhammad Ali represented the United States at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and won the gold medal under his original name, Cassius Clay. Upon returning to the U.S., Clay went to the Overtown section of Miami, a dynamic center of black business and entertainment. During this period, he developed professionally and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Although hatred of the Jewish people is often found at the margins of society, anti-Semitism appears to be approaching a groundswell in many parts of the world. This program examines the phenomenon at institutional and grassroots levels, focusing primarily on the Middle East and the complex history behind its conflicts. Viewers will encounter several provocative ideas about Islamic...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: As Bill Cosby did for African-Americans, comedian George Lopez has worked to "normalize" the image of Latinos through television. This documentary offers behind-the-scenes access to Lopez' life as he shares his struggles to represent his community-not in a way that knuckles under to marketers, but in a manner true to the realities of Latino culture while embracing the potential of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This emotionally charged program follows five participants of different ethnic and racial backgrounds through a three-day Unlearning Racism workshop. As the workshop begins, a European-American man offends his African-American workshop partner by making a joke during a one-on-one dialogue. The incident sparks anger among African-American participants, who openly confront the offender. White...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006