[August 10, 2016]

Summer Learning Is in Session at The Great Courses Plus

If the dog days of summer have you in search of something more intellectually stimulating than the next superhero movie, the new July top ten chart from The Great Courses Plus is here to inspire. This month it was the new releases which saw the most traffic.

For many people summer is "beach body" season, a fact not lost on The Great Courses who released the course "Changing Body Composition through Diet and Exercise." Not surprisingly these lectures occupied two of the top slots for the month of July. However, it was "The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague", also a new release, that has dominated the top ten board holding six of the top ten positions. The remaining top slots were introductions to Spanish and computer programming.

The polarity of the two most popular courses this month may well reflect the ever-broadening demographics of those who consider themselves "lifelong learners." A recent PEW Research Center survey stated, 79 percent of those polled between the ages of 18-29 said that the term "lifelong learners" describes them very well.

Here are the 10 chart-topping lectures from July:

1. Europe on the Brink of the Black Death (from The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague)
   A guide to the religious, economic, and political structures of mid-14th-century Europe just prior to the onset of the Black Plague, as taught by Professor Dorsey Armstrong.
2. The Epidemiology of Plague (from The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague)
   An exploration of how the Black Death operates as a disease and why it was so virulent, as taught by Professor Dorsey Armstrong.
3. Did Plague Really Cause the Black Death? (from The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague)
   A reassessment of the causes of the black death based on modern medical investigations, as taught by Professor Dorsey Armstrong.
4. Body Composition: Managing Our Expectations (from Changing Body Composition through Diet and Exercise)
   A discussion of what is, and what is not feasible with proper nutrition and exercise, as taught by Michael Ormsbee, Ph.D.
5. A Healthier Way to Measure Body Composition (from Changing Body Composition through Diet and Exercise)
   
   
   
   
   An introduction to how fat-muscle proportion is a better way to measure health than focusing on weight, as taught by Michael Ormsbee, Ph.D.
6. The Black Death's Ports of Entry (from The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague)
   An examination of how the Black Death started, entering from Asia via Crimea during a Mongol Siege, and spreading via escaping sailors to numerous European ports, as taught by Professor Dorsey Armstrong.
7. Introduction to the Spanish Language (from the course Learning Spanish)
   The basics of how to approach, study and speak Spanish, as well as an introduction to the basics of conversation, as taught by Professor Bill Worden, Ph. D.
8. The First Wave Sweeps across Europe (from The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague)
   An assessment of how the Plague made its way from European ports and spread into the heart of Europe, as taught by Professor Dorsey Armstrong.
9. The Black Death in Florence (from The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague)
   A portrait of the impact that the Black Death had upon the Italian city-state of Florence-the jewel of European civilization at the time, as taught by Professor Dorsey Armstrong.
10. What Is Programming? Why Python? (from How to Program: Computer Science Concepts and Python Exercises)
    An explanation and tutorial exercises for what is considered to be an ideal language for beginning programmers, as taught by Professor John Keyser.

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About The Great Courses Plus

Unlike streaming services that merely aggregate content, The Great Courses Plus content is all originally produced, and there are no plans to remove lecture series as long as they remain relevant. Members of The Great Courses Plus get unlimited access to more than 7,000 lectures online via connected television or mobile devices for a monthly subscription fee. New members can sample the service without risk for 30 days with a one-month free trial. Learn more at www.thegreatcoursesplus.com.

About The Great Courses

The Great Courses is the nation's leading developer and marketer of premium-quality media for lifelong learning and personal enrichment. Delivered in engaging, expertly produced video and audio (in convenient online, digital, video on demand and disc formats), these carefully crafted courses provide access to a world of knowledge from the most accomplished professors and experts. The content-rich, proprietary library spans more than 550 series with more than 14,000 lectures designed to expand horizons, deepen understanding, and foster epiphanies in the arts, science, literature, self-improvement, history, music, philosophy, theology, economics, mathematics, business, professional advancement, and personal development. Creating unique learning experiences since 1990, The Great Courses is the premier brand of The Teaching Company Sales, LLC of Chantilly, Virginia, which is owned by Los Angeles-based Brentwood Associates. More information can be found at www.thegreatcourses.com.

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