The conference fee is $1,675 and includes all 26 60- to 90-minute seminars below.
HISTORY: Dr. Mark A. Stoler
ANTHROPOLOGY: Dr. John R. Hale
MILITARY STRATEGY: Dr. Andrew Wilson
LITERATURE: Dr. Grant L. Voth
BIG HISTORY: Dr. Craig Benjamin
MINDFULNESS: Dr. Ronald K. Siegel
History, Henry Ford once remarked, is bunk. That comment tells us much more about Henry Ford than it does about history, which I’ll argue is one of the most important fields of human study. But history is not what you may think it is. It is not the rote memorization of facts, nor an objective study, and it is not concerned only with the past. Rather, history is a highly complex and subjective study of the relationship between past events that is heavily influenced by, and tells us a great deal about, the present. This session will explore the process of historical study and illustrate it with examples from a few controversial episodes in American history.
The Vietnam War was the longest and one of the most divisive conflicts in United States history. Indeed, it continues to divide Americans today, and to shape our often-conflicting perceptions of the world and America’s proper role in it. It is also a history filled with myths — on both sides of the political spectrum. In light of where we are traveling on this cruise, as well as these facts, we’ll explore the historical realities of the Vietnam war, focusing on when and why the United States became involved in it (this happened far earlier than 1965), why we were so unsuccessful, and why the experience still haunts Americans and influences our policies elsewhere.
Biography is one of the most popular forms of historical study. Understand the reason in this session, where we’ll explore the life of one of the most important and respected, yet today relatively unknown, figures in 20th century American history: George Catlett Marshall. Marshall wore many hats, including head of the U.S. Army of Allied Victory during World War II, rebuilder of Europe, and creator of the basic U.S. strategy in the Cold War, when he was Secretary of State. He’s also credited with creating the most successful aid program in U.S. history, and was a key figure in the Korean War as Secretary of Defense. We’ll discuss what made Marshall so important and unique, as well as his numerous accomplishments. Through this investigation of Marshall, you’ll come to understand America’s rise to global superpower status between 1900 and 1951 — and thus the ways in which biography can illuminate history.
For nearly 70 years, Americans have maintained a strong set of beliefs regarding the causes, consequences, and historical lessons of World War II — lessons they have consistently cited to justify postwar U.S. policies. Scholars have called into question many of these beliefs, however, labeling them ethnocentric perceptions and myths that distort the history of the war and ignore the contributions and perspectives of other powers and peoples. This lecture compares our standard perceptions of the war with what historians now maintain. It also analyzes the alternative vision of American participation in the war that has arisen in the last three decades.
Southeast Asia is nature’s bridge between the great landmass of Eurasia and the island world that spans the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Here you will find the oldest rainforests on Earth, inhabited by many unique species of plants and animals, as well as spectacular coral reefs along the coasts. Learn how rice, chicken and pigs were all first domesticated in Southeast Asia. From volcanic ranges to vast river deltas, the landscapes of Southeast Asia represent an unrivaled treasure house of geology, biology, and natural history.
In the 19th century, scientists believed that Southeast Asia, and not Africa, was the point of origin for the human species. This view was based on an examination of orangutans brought back to Europe by explorers. The discovery of the Homo erectus skull dubbed “Java Man,” followed by the bones of “Peking Man” from China, encouraged the “Out of Asia” school of evolutionary theory. Learn about the unique set of fossils, from Gigantopithecus (the largest of all hominids) to “Flores Man” (the smallest, sometimes called “Hobbit-like”) that continues to keep Southeast Asia near the forefront of evolutionary research.
From the Khmer rulers who built Angkor Wat to the Siamese kings who defied the European colonial powers (best known to the English-speaking world through the musical “The King and I”), Southeast Asia has a rich history of kingdoms and empires that have left behind gigantic monuments of their wealth and artistry. Though always living under the threat of cultural and political takeover by the Chinese, these early powers nonetheless created unique cultures and artistic traditions in their forest capitals, and rivaled the emperors of China in their ambitious building programs and vast public works.
Three of the world’s major religions — Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam — gained firm footholds in Southeast Asia, eventually overcoming the region’s native animistic religious cults. Indonesia is in fact the most populous Islamic nation on earth, and is home to a brand of Islamic culture quite distinct from the more familiar Arab world. Buddhism, too, struck off on its own path in Southeast Asia, becoming a tremendous force of political resistance right down to the 21st century. We’ll discuss the remarkable architecture — temples, monasteries, and mosques — of these religions, as well as the ways their beliefs continue to permeate everyday life.
Starting at the time of the Roman Empire, the people of Europe became increasingly addicted to the spices of Southeast Asia: pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, and many others. Tea was also much sought after in the West. The desire to gain access to the sources of these precious substances drove Europeans — led by the Portuguese and the Dutch — to forge sea-routes to the lands they called “the East Indies.” It was in search of a shortcut to these spice-producing regions of Southeast Asia that Columbus stumbled on America. Learn how the global trade that we take for granted today in all sectors of our economy had its origins in the spice trade.
Beneath the seas and coastal waters of Southeast Asia lies an underwater museum of historic ships that were lured to this corner of the world by commerce or war. Arab dhows, Chinese junks, European trading ships, World War II warships — all these and others can be found on the coral reefs or sandy sea floor. Many of the greatest discoveries have been made in the area of Chinese art. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of Chinese porcelain, including both blue-and-white ware and celadon, bear witness to the popularity of these treasures in Europe for more than a millennium. We’ll discuss the chests of Chinese and Korean coins, rare woodcarvings and bronzes, as well as the wooden hulls of the ships themselves, that have helped nautical archaeologists reconstruct the trade routes that linked East and West. You’ll also learn about a current search for the lost Mongol invasion fleet sent by Kublai Khan to conquer Vietnam.
It goes without saying that high-ranking military officers and senior Pentagon civilians should be conversant with the vocabulary, the theory and the practice of strategy, but this course makes an impassioned plea for all citizens to increase their strategic literacy. Given the financial and human costs of war, it is incumbent on all of us to know more about how the great strategic theorists — from Thucydides and Sun Tzu to Mao and Machiavelli — treated the causes, conduct and conclusion of war. Thoughtful citizens must be able to evaluate the political purposes of their nation’s wars, the complex balancing of political and military considerations, the varied types of wars, the many ways in which wars can be waged, and the immense difficulties involved in bringing war to an end and establishing a better state of peace. Fortunately, the classics of strategic thought are a ready resource for cultivating exactly this kind of strategic literacy.
The Chinese have been thinking about war and strategy for thousands of years. China is also unique among the great civilizations in its remarkable political continuity: the People’s Republic of China of today can trace its lineage all the way back to the Qin Dynasty of the 3rd century BCE. These facts should encourage us to ask whether the Chinese possess some unique and potentially superior approaches to strategy, diplomacy and warfare. Moreover, given the contemporary rise of China, we need to understand the cultural and historical factors that inform Beijing’s strategic inclinations and great power aspirations.
In this course we will deconstruct several of the most commonly cited attributes of the Chinese way of war based on what Chinese strategic thinkers actually wrote and what strategies Chinese states have actually pursued. By taking a skeptic’s view of the historical accuracy and explanatory power of common assumptions, we not only demolish the myths, but also gain a better understanding of the actual strategic inclinations of Chinese states, past and present.
The Chinese have had a long history of interaction with their Southeast Asian neighbors. From the sprawling regional trade networks of the 8th century, to the massive outflow of Chinese ŽmigrŽs in the 19th century, to the 20th century insurgencies in Malaya, Vietnam and the Philippines that were inspired and abetted by communist China, the history of Southeast Asia is inextricable from the ebb and flow of Chinese power. As we contemplate the waxing of Chinese economic and military clout in the 21st century, this course places Chinese-Southeast Asian relations in historical context, examines the most intense resource and territorial frictions today, especially those in the South China Sea, and looks forward to the most likely future approaches that Beijing might take in the region and the reactions that these approaches will engender among China’s neighbors to the south.
Our Great Courses voyage cruises the same waters as the epic voyages of Zheng He, and it presents a wonderful opportunity to revisit those enigmatic argosies. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven voyages into the South China Sea and across the Indian Ocean. His fleets traveled as far as the Horn of Africa and included up to 250 ships and 27,000 personnel. Within the vast armada were several dozen “treasure ships,” the largest wooden ships ever constructed, stocked with all manner of gifts for foreign leaders willing to accept Ming hegemony. In this class we first explore the factors that motivated the Ming Dynasty to go to sea so aggressively and so ostentatiously. Second, we’ll look at the ways in which Chinese emissaries interacted with foreign powers, and what these interactions reveal about how the Ming saw their place in the world. Finally we look at the abrupt end of the voyages and the implications of China’s retreat from the sea. Along the way, we’ll address some of the biggest controversies surrounding Zheng He, including the theory that a contingent of the Ming fleet circumnavigated the globe in 1421.
Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote created the novel as a genre that attempts to reflect the real world in which we live. The contrasting genre in Cervantes’s time was the romance, which could include the fabulous and was typically about knights-errant. Don Quixote himself in this book represents that romantic perspective on events, while his squire, Sancho Panza, represents the novelistic perspective. The contrasting points of view raise questions about the way we read books, and the way we read reality. The framing techniques of the novel reinforce this theme, which is sometimes called perspectivism, the idea that all perception is conditioned by our past experiences.
We will also look at some of Cervantes’s other themes: the nature of insanity, the romantic and the prosaic, and the ways that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, who begin as completely disparate sensibilities, grow more and more like each other as they spend time together, occasionally actually changing places in their ongoing debates. We will end by discussing how seminal this novel has been, inspiring and modeling every future invention of the genre in the Western world.
Gustave Flaubert, with other writers, created realism as a novelistic mode, which insisted on defined standards of truth, avoidance of authorial intrusion, and a focus on contemporary life and manners. Madame Bovary is a story about ordinary people told with detachment and objectivity, which also manages to convey Flaubert’s critical attitude toward the bourgeoisie in provincial France — including some passages of brilliant satire. It likewise conveys the realist idea that character and circumstance are destiny.
Flaubert is also a superb artist who manages to turn characters, things and events in the book into symbols that haunt the mind long after the book is read. Final judgment about Emma is left to the reader, but she has had an impressive progeny in later literature. We will also take up Flaubert’s insistence that the Quixote of Cervantes was in his blood before he knew how to read, so that, as happens over and over in the history of the novel, every reinvention of the genre retells the story of the Spanish knight and his squire for a different time, place, and readership.
When Joseph Conrad, among others, created the psychological realist (or impressionist) novel, he used a plot whose pattern is very much that of Madame Bovary, which in its turn is very much that of Don Quixote, so it was back to the fountainhead one more time. Like the Spanish hidalgo and the French farmer’s daughter before him, Jim derives his dreams from books (akin to the medieval romances of Quixote and the romantic novels of Emma), in his case romantic adventure stories of heroism and courage. Then, like his predecessors, he takes those dreams out into the real world to try them out — and experiences a catastrophic failure of nerve.
At the inquiry into his behavior, he attracts the attention of Marlow, an older ship captain, who helps Jim try to put his life and dreams back together while simultaneously trying to figure out what went wrong with the beautiful young man in the first place. Like the first two novels on the Quixote theme in this course, Marlow manages to raise a raft of interesting, stimulating and provocative questions without finding definitive answers for any of them. Don Quixote lives again!
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a great admirer of Conrad, and when he wrote his masterpiece, he had Lord Jim in mind. Set this time in America, Jimmy Gatz is the Midwestern boy who becomes The Great Gatsby in West Egg, as Jim from his country English parsonage had become Tuan Jim in Patusan, and the elderly hidalgo had become the Knight of the Mournful Countenance. Likewise, Nick Carraway becomes Marlow for Gatsby, telling his story and raising questions about him just as his predecessor had done in Conrad’s novel, and as Cervantes and Flaubert had done for their protagonists. Jimmy Gatz’s dreams are inspired by reading, too, and they come to focus on the Golden Girl, the inevitable and necessary reward for the Horatio Alger-type heroes of his books.
Like all of his avatars, Gatsby comes to a bad end, which seems a necessary element in this story. Fitzgerald uses his version to raise questions about the Great American Dream, which turns out to be an adaptation of all the dreams of all the dreamers in the four books. We will conclude by asking why this particular combination of plot and characters has been so important to so many great writers (and great readers) across the centuries, and what it might still have to say to us in its most recent iterations.
Understand the universe, our planet, and the history of humankind in a whole new way by taking a broader view and focusing on the big picture. Traditional academic disciplines look at subjects in detail, honing in on the minutiae. While that approach has value, a more inclusive understanding requires broadening and deepening our inquiry. This means not only examining the relationships between a wide range of elements — individuals, cultures, technologies, political structures, population growth, and the environment — but also considering these relationships over larger geographical and time scales. The reward for expanding our spatial and temporal perspective is a much better understanding of where we have been, and where we are going as a species.
Big history, which emerged as a developed field in the 1980s, considers the whole of the past on the largest possible timescale: it begins with the origins of the universe, and goes on to consider the modern scientific accounts of the origins of stars and planets, of life on Earth, the emergence of human beings, and the various types of human societies that have existed up to the present day. Ultimately the big history approach encourages us to consider our own particular place and time in the globalized world, and to think of how we might contribute to the future of that world.
Introduction to the exciting interdisciplinary world of the big historian.
The cosmological, geological, and biological environment in which human history has unfolded.
The key revolutionary changes in human history, from 200,000 years ago to around the year 1800.
The modern revolution, the present, and the near and distant future.
Mindfulness is a deceptively simple way of relating to our experience that’s been practiced for thousands of years to alleviate suffering and enrich people’s lives. Researchers and mental health professionals are discovering that mindfulness techniques hold great promise for alleviating virtually every kind of psychological difficulty — from everyday sadness, worry, and bothersome habits to more serious problems such as anxiety, depression, stress-related physical conditions, and addictions. Mindfulness is even proving useful for enhancing romantic, parenting, and other relationships and for fostering overall happiness. Lucky for us, mindfulness practices can be learned by almost everyone. This workshop will draw upon ancient wisdom traditions and the discoveries of modern science to help you cultivate mindfulness — both to deal with everyday difficulties and to live a richer, happier, more fulfilling life.
If you are planning to participate in my other courses on the cruise, please be sure to attend this one first, as we will be using it as the foundation for the others. In this session, you’ll learn how to cultivate mindfulness to:
Human beings have always wanted to be happy. Even the U.S. Declaration of Independence lists “the pursuit of happiness” as among our inalienable rights. Unfortunately, our forefathers provided no guidance about how to actually find happiness — and we still often don’t know where to look.
While mental health clinicians have traditionally focused on helping troubled people feel less distressed — moving from -5 to 0 on the happiness scale — more recently they’ve branched out to investigate what actually leads to enhanced wellbeing. Some research findings point in surprising new directions, while others echo advice heard from wise elders and religious teachers across cultures and centuries.
This workshop will explore both time-tested and modern pathways to happiness. We’ll focus particularly on parallels between recent discoveries and insights from ancient Buddhist traditions that suggest the possibility of psychological freedom surpassing the expectations of most Western psychological models.
Topics will include:
Mindfulness practices can certainly help us get along better with ourselves, but what about with other people? Modern psychotherapists are finding that ancient Eastern meditative techniques, originally solitary practices refined by hermits, monks, and nuns, are proving to be remarkably useful for facing interpersonal challenges. This workshop will explore how mindfulness meditation can help us develop the emotional intelligence, self-regulation, and capacity to be with and understand others — abilities that are critical for successful relationships. You’ll leave this workshop knowing how to use mindfulness to react less defensively to the inevitable ups and downs of interpersonal life, and how interpersonal mindfulness techniques can enhance romantic, parent-child, and friendship interactions.
Topics will include:
Mindfulness-based psychotherapy is the most popular new treatment approach in the last decade — and for good reason. Mental health professionals are enthusiastically discovering that mindfulness practices hold great promise not only for their own personal development, but as remarkably powerful tools to augment virtually every form of psychotherapy.
As clinicians adapt ancient contemplative practices to the challenges of treating modern psychopathology, researchers are using FMRI, high-resolution EEG, and other brain imaging techniques to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms by which mindfulness practices work. This presentation will explore the implications of these new investigations for understanding our own hearts and minds, and for learning how to change our brains.
Topics will include:
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