Another big digital archive went live this week. Backed by the United Nations, the World Digital Library wants to centralize cultural treasures from around the world. Manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings — they will all be absorbed into this growing online collection, and users will be able to navigate through these materials in seven different languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian). The collection (to which Google contributed $3 million in 2005) now hosts about 1,250 artifacts, a fraction of what it will eventually include. The initial collection features some gems. Take for example the Tale of the Genji, a Japanese text from the early 11th century that’s often considered “the first great novel in world literature.” You can also take a close look at some Oracle Bones from China circa 1200 BC. Or how about these iconic photos from The Great Depression or these shots of the great Jackie Robinson. To learn more about this new digital archive, read this piece in The Washington Post.
World Digital Library
What Did Shakespeare Really Look Like?
“Over the centuries a number of images have been put forward as life portraits of our greatest writer, but at present none of them is generally accepted as such. Up until now… With the emergence of the Cobbe portrait, we are presented with a contemporary portrait that has strong claims to represent the dramatist as he appeared to his contemporaries.”
These lines from shakespearefound.org.uk (associated with the University of Warwick) set the stage for a 20 minute video/film that features Prof. Stanley Wells talking about the Cobbe portrait, and why it’s believed to present the real Shakespeare, the towering author we still know little about today. You can watch the video above, or find it on iTunesU, where it’s among the most downloaded videos.
Related Content:
Goethe and Shakespeare on Google
Shakespeare and the Uses of Political Power
John Hope Franklin on Obama
John Hope Franklin, a prolific historian who shaped our understanding of the African-American experience and influenced the Civil Rights movement, died last week at 94. He was the grandson of a slave, and knew the Jim Crow South firsthand. Above, we see him talking just last summer about the nomination of Barack Obama, and whether he ever thought he’d live to see this day.
Ancient Rome in 3D on Google Earth
In November, Google launched a 3D tour of Ancient Rome, circa 320 AD. The tour, produced with the help of the Rome Reborn project at the University of Virginia, features over 6,000 buildings, some rendered in fine detail, and it includes some interiors as well. The Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Basilica Julia, the Temple of Vesta — they’re all there. The video above introduces you to the tour, and shows you how to access it on Google Earth. (The software can be downloaded here). I should note that Google just held a competition that let educators develop history lessons (aimed at high school students) using elements of the 3D Tour. The winners and their lessons can be found here.
Colonial and Revolutionary America: A Free Course
Although the flow of open educational resources has been slowing down lately (another casualty of the recession), the stream has not yet run dry.
Stanford has recently added another free course to its iTunes collection. Taught by Jack Rakove, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Colonial and Revolutionary America (iTunesU — Feed) covers the early phase of the traditional American history survey course. The major themes addressed here include “the character of colonial society; the origins and consequences of the American Revolution, from the Stamp Act controversy to the adoption of the Federal Constitution; the impact of the Revolution on the general population and culture; and (implicitly) the long-term significance of the social and political history of this era for our conceptions of American nationhood, society and citizenship.” This course is being rolled out in weekly installments. You’ll currently find seven lectures, but there will eventually be 30.
I’ve added the course to our big collection of Free University Courses, and it will be permanently housed there. This page is loaded with links to thousands of hours of free lectures and courses from major universities. A great resource in general, and particularly for these lean times. Check it out, and please forward it to a friend (or mention it on your web site) if you have a chance. Thanks.
The Tolstoy Bailout, Or Why The Humanities Matter
Writing in The New Republic, Leon Wieseltier offers a response to the Feb 25 piece in the NYTimes: In Tough Times, the Humanities Must Justify Their Worth. His argument is worth a read, and here is one lengthy money quote:
The complaint against the humanities is that they are impractical. This is true. They will not change the world. They will change only the experience, and the understanding, and the evaluation, of the world. .… It is worth remembering, then, that the crisis in which we find ourselves was the work of practical men. The securitization of mortgages was not conceived by a head in the clouds. No poet cost anybody their house. No historian cost anybody their job. Not even the most pampered of professors ever squandered $87,000 of someone else’s money on a little rug. The creativity of bankers is a luxury that we can no longer afford. But now I read about “defending the virtues of the liberal arts in a money-driven world,” as the Times says. I would have thought that in these times the perspective of money would be ashamed to show itself. What authority, really, should the standpoint of finance any longer have for American society? Who gives a damn what Kenneth D. Lewis thinks about anything? … The study of religion, defending itself to capitalists? …
In tough times, of all times, the worth of the humanities needs no justifying. The reason is that it will take many kinds of sustenance to help people through these troubles. Many people will now have to fall back more on inner resources than on outer ones. They are in need of loans, but they are also in need of meanings.… We are in need of fiscal policy and spiritual policy. And spiritually speaking, literature is a bailout, and so is art, and philosophy, and history, and the rest. … Regression analysis will not get us through the long night. We need to know more about the human heart than the study of consumer behavior can teach. These are the hours when the old Penguin paperbacks must stand us in good stead. It was for now that we read them then.
Very well said, and the logic outlined here could be one reason why the continuing education program that I help lead — which is heavy on meat & potato humanities courses — is so far faring quite well.
via the TNR Twitter Feed (ours here)
Pulitzer Prize Winner Picks Essential US History Books
The Wall Street Journal asked Gordon Wood, one of America’s leading historians, to pick his favorite works of US history, and here is what he had to say.
1) The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It — Richard Hofstadter
2) The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution — Bernard Bailyn
3) White Over Black — Winthrop D. Jordan
4) Mothers of Invention — Drew Gilpin Faust
5) Grand Expectations — James T. Patterson
As a quick side note, if you live in the SF Bay Area, you can catch Gordon Wood teaching at Stanford this spring along with two other Pulitzer Prize Winning historians. The course, The American Founders and Their World, comes out of the Continuing Studies program and is open to the public. Get details here.
via Harvard University Press Twitter Feed (also see Open Culture’s Twitter Feed here)
What We Can Learn from Past Presidents
Appearing at the TED Conference in 2008, Pulitzer-Prize Winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin talks about what we can all learn from American presidents, including particularly Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson. This is not another talk about what makes presidents great. It’s more about the balance between work, love, and play, and how we can generally be productive, shiny, happy people.
Support Us
We're hoping to rely on loyal readers, rather than erratic ads. Please click the Donate button and support Open Culture. You can use Paypal, Venmo, Patreon, even Crypto! We thank you!
Receive our Daily Email
About Us
Open Culture scours the web for the best educational media. We find the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & educational videos you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.
Advertise With Us
