In The Pagan World: Ancient Religions Before Christianity, you will meet the fascinating, ancient polytheistic peoples of the Mediterranean and beyond, their many gods and goddesses, and their public and private worship practices, as you come to appreciate the foundational role religion played in their lives. Professor Hans-Friedrich Mueller, of Union College in Schenectady, New York, makes this ancient world come alive in 24 lectures with captivating stories of intrigue, artifacts, illustrations, and detailed descriptions from primary sources of intriguing personalities. In the ancient Mediterranean area, religion was not separate from daily life. To the contrary, religion was daily life. The many dozen gods of this ancient world were everywhere, with spirits inhabiting every crack and crevice of life. These polytheists believed they had a strict contract with their deities: If they took care of their gods, their gods would take care of them (or at least not harm them). Consequently, they built extraordinary temples to honor their deities, brought food and wine to them, sacrificed animals for them, and held sacred meals with their gods. In fact, they followed numerous rules and regulations that circumscribed almost all aspects of life both inside and outside the home - anything and everything to keep the gods happy. Consequently, the religious practices of the ancient Mediterranean make a wonderful lens through which to develop a deeper understanding of their world. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZA7LXDLJ9w

We live in a world of information. The sheer wealth of data available to us is exciting but also overwhelming. How do we separate truth from fiction? Where do we look for reliable sources? What products are best and what studies are accurate? Which headlines can be trusted? Sound, systematic research underlies much of what is best about our world. When we think of achievements in medicine, the sciences, engineering, architecture, product design and safety, and so much more, these are areas of endeavor that depend on careful and rigorous research for their effectiveness. We rely on the fact that these areas would have undergone effective research, because sometimes our well-being and our lives depend on it. Research, of course, is not only for scientists and scholars. Almost everyone does some kind of research from time to time. Whether you are going online to decide about an important purchase, considering a choice between schools and universities, solving a medical problem, making a career decision, or even to planning a vacation, effective research is indispensable to us in many aspects of daily life. But what makes research effective and what allows it to give us valid and useable results? Any good research rests upon, above all else, method. Having a systematic, reliable approach to answering a question or investigating something important lies at the heart of valid research and the knowledge it produces. Methodology is what makes the study of research methods both highly useful and deeply fascinating—it helps us see the inner workings of how knowledge is created. In the 24 engaging and detailed lectures of Effective Research Methods for Any Project, you’ll discover the remarkable methods and techniques that make research such a powerful tool in so many areas of life. Taught by political scientist and research methods expert Professor Amanda M. Rosen of Webster University, this course gives you a deep, detailed, and practical guide to proper research methods, ones that are broadly applicable to all kinds of research. And, once you understand how sound research is conducted, you will also have an invaluable tool for determining which sources, methods, and studies are to be trusted as you encounter them in both your personal and professional life. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg1Lmba-Ni8

In The Pagan World: Ancient Religions Before Christianity, you will meet the fascinating, ancient polytheistic peoples of the Mediterranean and beyond, their many gods and goddesses, and their public and private worship practices, as you come to appreciate the foundational role religion played in their lives. Professor Hans-Friedrich Mueller, of Union College in Schenectady, New York, makes this ancient world come alive in 24 lectures with captivating stories of intrigue, artifacts, illustrations, and detailed descriptions from primary sources of intriguing personalities. In the ancient Mediterranean area, religion was not separate from daily life. To the contrary, religion was daily life. The many dozen gods of this ancient world were everywhere, with spirits inhabiting every crack and crevice of life. These polytheists believed they had a strict contract with their deities: If they took care of their gods, their gods would take care of them (or at least not harm them). Consequently, they built extraordinary temples to honor their deities, brought food and wine to them, sacrificed animals for them, and held sacred meals with their gods. In fact, they followed numerous rules and regulations that circumscribed almost all aspects of life both inside and outside the home - anything and everything to keep the gods happy. Consequently, the religious practices of the ancient Mediterranean make a wonderful lens through which to develop a deeper understanding of their world. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXM4hdWDOuE

In the 1970s, female East German athletes came from nowhere to dominate international sport. But behind their success lay a horrifying secret. Doping for Gold reveals the truth behind the biggest state-sponsored doping program the world has ever known, creating a timely perspective on today’s many sports drug scandals. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGofDNPift8