A new theme for my blog to match my passion for history
History
Ecstatic to have started my post-graduate studies in ancient history, I’m collecting this rather eclectic list of resources. I’ve acquired a slow-growing passion for history (my Year 12 history teachers would not believe this), and still can’t bring my focus down to a particular period, person or place. Fantastic MOOC and iTunesU content on the web is wonderful.
I use a mixture of Downcast and iTunesU to download podcasts, a brilliant way of learning when you do as much driving as I do.
So, in no particular order:
Rome
MDS1TRW – The Roman World – Fantastic iTunesU modules, mostly with Dr Rhiannon Evans at La Trobe University. Supporting handouts and reading list as well as the podcasts.
History 106B: The Roman Empire. – Another great iTunesU module – Dr Isabelle Pafford, then at Berkeley – Particularly enjoyed one of the final lectures on the fall of the Roman Empire: a great description of the multiple causes
Classical Mythology – LaTrobe iTunesU module with Dr Rhiannon Evans, Prof Chris Mackie, Dr Gillian Shepherd, Annabel Orchard, Dr Djoymi Baker & Dr Heather Sebo. Covers both Greek & Roman Mythology
Greece
Ancient Greece: Myth, Art, War – Prof Chris Mackie & Dr Gillian Shepherd – Latrobe University – iTunesU
Classical Mythology – LaTrobe iTunesU module with Dr Rhiannon Evans, Prof Chris Mackie, Dr Gillian Shepherd, Annabel Orchard, Dr Djoymi Baker & Dr Heather Sebo. Covers both Greek & Roman Mythology
Hannibal
So wish I could join Stanford students! – Hannibal – Patrick Hunt
Latin
I completed a single unit of classical Latin at UNE. Now looking at medieval Latin, and exploring the wonderful tutorials at UK’s National Archives:
National Archives UK – Beginner’s Latin
National Archives UK – Advanced Latin
Learning Latin with Virgil – An enjoyable YouTube course on classical Latin by TuTubusLatinus, short easy-to-follow lessons.
Henry III Fine Rolls - Latin documents online:
Early Middle Ages
Wonderful series of lectures by Paul Freedman and made available on Yale’s open university site and via iTunesU. Can’t recommend this series enough. Has kept me company on long drives. Transcripts can be downloaded too.
HIST 210 284-1000 (Yale site)
Early Middle Ages (iTunesU)
Henry VIII
Some great podcasts, many by David Starkey, on this colossus:
Henry VIII – Man and Monarch – British Library exhibition podcasts
David Starkey on Henry VIII: Famous for 500 years – University of Cambridge Festival of ideas
Scotland
Love it! Have been there twice and can’t wait to return! So much of my ancestry is Scottish: Aberdeen, Glasgow, Perthshire, Clackmannanshire, Angus/Forfarshire. Bell Rock is off the coast of Angus, and I used to bore my students with my fascination with its lighthouse construction. I think the tale is gripping, and maybe this explains my lighthouse collection!
Adored Neil Oliver’s A History of Scotland. There are some great walks podcasts from the UK’s Open University site- one day I’ll do them in person, some of the places I visited in 2003. It’s great to listen to them in the car as I’m driving to work!
Links
A History of Scotland – BBC site of the series
Walks Podcasts from The Open University on iTunesU
Wallace’s letter back to Scotland: http://t.co/Btq7ioSN