https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-to-make-stress-work-for-you

 

Life is stressful. There’s just no getting around it. But while everyday stressors are a fact of life, that doesn’t mean they have to control you. Rather, with the right scientific understanding, you can actually make stress work for you instead of against you.  According to fitness and wellness consultant Dr. Kimberlee Bethany Bonura, trying to live a completely stress-free life is a zero-sum game. Life without stress is an apathetic life in which nothing matters. The true goal of your relationship with stress is to figure out how to manage it effectively; how to use it to build and support a meaningful, resilient life.  Recent years have seen a wealth of new insights into the science of stress and its effects on our physiological and psychological health. These insights, the product of fascinating research and studies, are more than simply interesting to learn about. They’re vital, powerful tools you can use to transform how you think about (and react to) stress, whether everyday stressors like traffic jams or unexpected traumas like a death in the family.

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/written-communications-being-heard-and-understood

 

We’ve all encountered bad writing at some point in our lives. We’ve possibly even authored some ourselves. And it’s pretty clear when writing is bad. Whether you’re writing business letters, memos, emails, reports, announcements, or some other professional communication, the pragmatic communicator can be far more effective than the multiloquent one.  Because we are judged by our ability to communicate with direction, focus, and confidence—along with inspiration and empathy, no matter who you are and what your goal is—getting the right message across is absolutely essential to achieving your objectives.  In the 12 rewarding lectures of Written Communications: Being Heard and Understood, Professor Allison Friederichs, Associate Teaching Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Denver, University College, will share the secrets to sharpening your written, oral, and interpersonal communications skills. She will show you how impactful communication isn’t really about you: It’s about your reader. Once you understand your audience, she’ll show you how to target the message, make appropriate word choices, incorporate sound logic, and untangle complex syntax using a combination of examples and activities.

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-memory-works-and-why-your-brain-remembers-wrong

“Who are you?” Chances are you’d answer this question by describing the highlights of your personality, interests, and life experiences. But if you’d been asked this same question yesterday, you might have responded with a slightly different description. Does that mean you are a particular person today but were a different person yesterday? And what about tomorrow?  Welcome to the slippery, shape-shifting nature of memory. As Professor Gabrielle Principe reveals in How Memory Works and Why Your Brain Remembers Wrong, “you” are the conglomeration of the often-unreliable information your brain decides to feed you at any given moment.  Over the course of these 12 fascinating lectures, you’ll come to understand why everything you experience in this life is an illusion—nothing more and nothing less than an interpretation of signals received, assembled, and reassembled over and over, and over again, by your brain. This might sound like the plot of a sci-fi thriller or a terrifying novel. But the pliability—and even unreliability—of your memory is no accident. Six hundred million years of evolution have brought you what you have today: the best memory for Homo sapiens. Yes, you hate it when you can’t remember where you put your car keys. But through this course, you’ll come to realize that each of the obvious negatives of your memory has a flip side that supports your ability to survive and thrive.

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/great-american-short-stories-a-guide-for-readers-and-writers

Short stories offer readers the unique opportunity to experience a powerful piece of literature in a deceptively small package. The constraints of a few thousand words can give the best works an economy of storytelling that distills the power of the written word in astonishing ways. The brevity of short fiction belies its emotional and intellectual complexity.

While short stories exist in traditions all over the world, American short stories are a genre all their own. Emerging from the clash of cultures—and the collision of oral and print traditions—that began during the arrival of European settlers in the 16th and 17th centuries, the short works that emerged have served many functions. They have entertained, certainly, but they have also helped foster identity, shape morality, and build the foundations of the American mythos for nearly four centuries.

Whether you want to write short stories, simply want better insight as a reader, or even if you are looking for a new lens through which to view American history, the 24 rich and informative lectures of Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Writers and Readers will show you the ins and outs of this infinitely adaptable—and intrinsically American—literary form. Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black of St. Mary's College of Maryland guides you through the technical aspects of the short story, while also digging deep into the history of the form in the United States. Along the way, you will discover why the short story became so deeply connected to American identity and how it continues to evolve alongside the nation itself.

Modern physics is filled with ideas that defy common sense, but, nonetheless, have a strong claim to be true. A prime example is Einstein’s twin paradox, about identical twins who age at markedly different rates if one takes a trip at near-light speed. Another is Erwin Schrödinger’s thought experiment involving a cat that is arguably both dead and alive due to a fundamental feature of quantum mechanics.

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/the-power-of-mathematical-visualization

Many people believe they simply aren’t good at math—that their brains aren’t wired to think mathematically. But just as there are multiple paths to mastering the arts and humanities, there are also alternate approaches to understanding mathematics. One of the most effective methods by far is visualization. If a picture speaks a thousand words, then in mathematics a picture can spawn a thousand ideas.

The Power of Mathematical Visualization teaches you these vital problem-solving skills in a math course unlike any you’ve ever taken. Taught by award-winning Professor James S. Tanton of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), these 24 half-hour lectures cover topics in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, number theory, probability, statistics, topology, and other fields—all united by fascinating connections that you literally see in graphics and projects designed by Professor Tanton. In demand worldwide for his teacher and student workshops, Dr. Tanton is MAA’s Mathematician-at-Large—a globe-trotting advocate for teaching math “with beauty and joy and wonder and humanness,” as he was recently quoted in The New Yorker magazine.