What is Bloomsday? Why would thousands travel to Dublin on this day to visit sites depicted in a novel that is ridiculously hard to read? Why even bother with reading such a book? Find out by viewing a short video that suggests the...

How is it possible that an author can create sympathy in the minds of readers for characters who behave in ways that we disdain? Gustave Flaubert was able to accomplish such a goal with Madame Bovary. Introduce readers to this...

Is math real? Scholars first learn about the Goldbach conjecture and prime numbers as an introduction to the philosophical idea of whether numbers actually exist. The video continues on to use an example of a circle to consider math from...

Why was Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War so influential in his time, as well as in modern politics? Learn about the distinctive features of the text, including its lack of adherence to divine influence, and the details of...

This lesson will examine Realism. It is 2 of 3 in the series titled "Realism."

The BBC provides audio clips from an interview with "the Ingres of existentialism," painter Lucian Freud. Additional content includes a brief biography and a list of his key works.

Do you know about Realism and Naturalism in the theater? Learn about how the French Theater was remade by playwrights such as Eugene Scribe, Alexandre de Dumas Fils, and Emile Zola. [12:36]

Professor John Bowen explains how Charlotte Bronte combines fairytale, Gothic techniques, and realism to give Jane Eyre its unique power. [5:05]

In Oliver Twist, Dickens paints a vivid picture of London's criminal underworld, a subject he harnesses both to excite the reader and to explore the effects of social deprivation. [8:10]

In a piece for the Folkestone Triennial 2011, artist Cornelia Parker immortalized one local woman in a sculpture perched upon a seaside rock. Parker selected the 38-year-old mother of two Georgina Baker as the model of her version of...

This video spotlights Thomas Couture's "Romans of the Decadence". View the picture and listen as two renowned art professors discuss the painting. [5:45]

This video spotlights Gustave Courbet's "A Burial at Ornans". View the picture and listen as two renowned art professors discuss the painting. [5:45]

This video spotlights Gustave Courbet's "The Painter's Studio: A Real Allegory Summing Up Seven Years of My Life as an Artist". View the picture and listen as two renowned art professors discuss this historical painting.