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Sign up todayHistory's Great Plagues: How Germs Shaped Civilization
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Weโre taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn morePlague has terrified and fascinated humanity for all of recorded history. Now, in the current moment of COVID-19, people around the globe are again struggling to learn how to navigate life during a pandemic. As in times of uncertainty throughout history, we seek the insights of the great minds who have lived through and reflected on similar historical times.
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Your guide for this fascinating 12-lecture audio course is medieval literature expert Chris Fee, a presenter beloved for his evocative delivery by Learn25 listeners and his own students at Gettysburg College.ย
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Youโll begin by examining literary attempts to understand and to interpret pestilence and plagues, starting with the Bible and Ancient poets, playwrights, and historians. Youโll then move on to some of the greatest works of the Middle Ages and Renaissance that were inspired by or reflect aspects of the infamous Black Death.
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Entering the Modern Age, youโll explore works by authors that employ plague as a metaphor. Along the way, you will also delve into popular books and movies, such as 12 Monkeys, that take plague as their subject or subtext. Youโll conclude by discovering that the literature of plague has much to teach us, not just about the current moment, but about the very nature of being human.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Christopher R. Fee is an expert on medieval literature. He is currently Professor of English and the Chair of the English department at Gettysburg College, where he served as the Johnson Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities from 2008 to 2011. Named one of the 300 best professors in America by the Princeton Review, Dr. Fee has received a variety of honors, grants, and fellowships for his teaching and research.
Dr. Fee has written numerous articles and given presentations and lectures around the world. His books includeย Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain; Mythology in the Middle Ages: Heroic Tales of Monsters, Magic,ย andย Might; The Goddess: Myths of the Great Mother; andย Arthur: God & Hero in Avalon. Fee is also editor of theย Encyclopedia of American Myth, Legend, andย Folklore and the Encyclopedia of Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories in American History. Prof. Fee earned his Ph.D. in English Language at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, where he was a postgraduate tutor in topics including Old English, Old Norse, and historical linguistics. He is alsoย a frequent visiting faculty member at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen.
Christopher R. Fee is an expert on medieval literature. He is currently Professor of English and the Chair of the English department at Gettysburg College, where he served as the Johnson Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities from 2008 to 2011. Named one of the 300 best professors in America by the Princeton Review, Dr. Fee has received a variety of honors, grants, and fellowships for his teaching and research.
Dr. Fee has written numerous articles and given presentations and lectures around the world. His books includeย Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain; Mythology in the Middle Ages: Heroic Tales of Monsters, Magic,ย andย Might; The Goddess: Myths of the Great Mother; andย Arthur: God & Hero in Avalon. Fee is also editor of theย Encyclopedia of American Myth, Legend, andย Folklore and the Encyclopedia of Conspiracies & Conspiracy Theories in American History. Prof. Fee earned his Ph.D. in English Language at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, where he was a postgraduate tutor in topics including Old English, Old Norse, and historical linguistics. He is alsoย a frequent visiting faculty member at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen.