The Great Courses

They SEEM to assume that we all have the abilities of a 5-8 year old. I am returning the programs. I do NOT recommend these courses.

Surprised at some of the negative views. Some complain about one course snd then expand the comment to imply it reflects all the courses. Even though we know they haven't watched more than a few. Either sloppy expression or sloppy thinking. I've been impressed with the presenters' skills, knowledge and support visuals where appropriate. I have 13 of their courses.

In February of 2023, I ordered a Course (DVD and book). It was my first time dealing with this company and one of the incentives for me was their 365-day money back guarantee. The purchase was practically risk-free. Because the course was not what I envisioned, I returned it (via USPS, with tracking) and it was delivered to them on May 22,2023. Initially, they told me the refund process would be about 3 weeks. Then, it was 4 to 6 weeks. The latest is that it's 6 to 8 weeks. The reason they gave is that they are migrating their database. But, suspiciously, the migration process isn't affecting their INcoming orders, only their OUTgoing refunds. So, 8 weeks after my return was delivered to them (as proven so by USPS tracking), I'm still waiting for a refund. And each time I call them (because emails do not get responded to for days - and I can prove that as well) to ask about the status, there is an excruciating long wait time (average is about 16-23 minutes on hold). As stated, this was my first purchase from The Great Courses - and probably my last. 365-Day Money Back Guarantee? Sounds good in theory but fails miserably in practice.

The great course I would like to discuss is the great course on understanding the quantum world, quantum mechanics is something that I have been researching for a good while now and a great deal of the information does align with that research, there's way too much personal opinion though, based not on scientific fact but opinion, especially in regards to consciousness and its relation to quantum affects. They have a physicist, explaining quantum mechanics from a physicists point of view, physicists have been trying to cut down quantum mechanics since it was discovered. I am disappointed to see that in general, that category of scientists have not learned to put down their own egos down in order to work with the facts that have been collected from repeated and peer reviewed experimentation. Now I have gotten quite a few other great courses, and I may leave better reviews for those as I move through them but so far understanding the Quantum World just strikes me as another salvo launched from the "all that matters is matter" crowd scientist still don't understand consciousness, where it comes from or how it affects the universe around us. I would give this a lower score. But other then the above mentioned issue the presenter has been engaging, the visuals appealing, and the books wording easy to digest. So that leaves me at a 3. Please scientists…. Stop acting like politicians.

With nearly no instructors of color and a hefty list of uninspired titles, this might have seemed academically rigorous 30 years ago. Today, it is an outdated vestige of the Eurocentric model of education, lacking in relevance or modern-day usefulness. I used to love these as a kid decades ago, and after trying it again a couple years ago, I cancelled well before the end of my free trial. When I wrote them as to why (the above, essentially), they essentially said there were no qualified teachers of color. Just wow.
This platform is worthless: just a tired regurgitation of the past with no connection to the present or future. I should also note many of the videos are the same from my long ago childhood, which is to say grainy and low quality.

I'm a pretty big fan of The Great Courses DVDs. They have courses on just about everything from science to philosophy to composers and artists. I think the biggest problem is that they're too expensive. I think they're going to have some problems as more and more of the material in The Great Courses will be available online for free. But until then, they have my business!

Learned much. Very distracting are arm, hand movements & walking of presenter with changing camera angles.

I am wasting my time with some jerk named Albert from Roku who doesn't understand the simple fact that we paid for a subscription and after the 2nd month, The Great Courses updated their Roku App, lost our account information, and took our money.

Update: Oh, after calling around, I did Roku's job for them. It's now called wondrium. Nice communication Roku.

I am slowly slogging through "Experiencing Shakespeare: From Page to Stage".
While some of the information is interesting ( certainly not profound) … I am amazed that the author ( Alissa Branch) is dressed in an outfit more appropriate for a teenager with low self esteem. Is Great Courses requiring a high libido to substitute for low content in their current curriculum?

I've bought a lot of history, philosophy and economics courses over the years; they've all provided pretty close to a full semester's worth of lectures. Wish they were a bit longer per class to get into a bit more detail. The subject matter is broken out well for each lecture.

The course guides are great; no need to not down the titles of books to delve deeper. Sets and editing are very good.

Never had a billing problem in year's of purchases.

Professors have a slight political tilt either right or left, but nowhere near the point of pontificating of forcing their outlook on you. They have a deep understanding of their topic.

I really like the courses, some of which I think are way over priced. The problem I have with this company is the constant mailings. I get a catalog at least once, sometimes twice a week. The more purchases I make, the more catalogs they send me. I called customer service where I spoke to a robot that lets you opt-out of the constant mailing, but that did not stop the mailings. It slowed down for about 3 weeks then it started again. I would love to stick with this company, but if they don't start acting in a civil manner I will have nothing to do with them.

I recommend this course to everyone who is interested in the nature of dictatorship and democracy. The lecturer has an in-depth knowledge of the subject-matter with great insights and crystal clear conclusions.
He lectures in an engaging, easy to understand style. I lived through the Nazi era and the Soviet dictatorship in Hungary before I came to the US -- and felt I learned a lot from this lecture. Wonderful lecture series.

SCAM. On 22 Jan 2021 I ordered courses on their All Courses $35 Sale Good through 4 Feb 2021. My Total came $185, however, my card was charged $1,759.60. Scam, Scam, Scam

Hire people who know HOW to teach/instruct! JUst standing and facing left and then right does not make for an interesting presentation. Add more visuals! Have more than one instructor per course.

I would probably 4.5 not five stars to the great courses, but I rounded up. I've been listening since I was in high school listening on cassette. I've listened to dozens of courses thanks to libraries and Audible. I just bought six more. LNoike any publishing house they have duds, but generally the quality is very high. If you like university style lectures they have the best catalog you're likely to find. I find unless I'm in a real classroom I'm more of an auditory learner, so I can't speak too much to their video material. Anyway I do recommend that you check out their material. If you're interested in any kind of vaguely academic subject they probably have something you'll find interesting.

All professors are knowledgeable and informative. I have dozens of courses on a wide spectrum of topics. Only a few professors are slightly biased giving their own twist on the subject matter. That's OK as I usually catch them as I go through the lectures. The quality of the DVDs are excellent so far. Very few verifiable errors that I catch now and then. I recommend the Great Courses for continued learning as I've learned a lot from them. I find the courses in science and math very enlightening.

Beware when you order sale merchandise. I placed the order which of course showed the price I was paying. When I received my credit card statement they billed me the full price. The customer service reps were nice and I was credited back the difference. But I think about those who do not check their bills closely. We are talking $500+ difference!

I recently watched the new course on Hannibal. It was presented well and was very informative. What a great way to feed your brain.

I love most of the Great Courses and do not expect them to always be graduate school in content. This one was disappointing. The presenter talk far too fast, far too fast… and the material was superficial. Not a buy

I have been buying courses from them for the past 15 years. Primarily, history, literature, and philosophy, political science. Most of the courses were pretty good. But, I have noticed that professors were starting to inject political views in their courses a while back. Nowadays, practically every course is heavily biased towards the political correctness/woke side of the spectrum. One of the courses is blatant/in your face propaganda from 3 professors who work for an NGO backed by Soros and Gates... The name of the course is "Fighting Disinformation". Oh, the irony! What were they thinking? So for me, the Great Courses are over. Will never buy from them again.

My uncle died and had 10 of these courses still packaged so I returned them - they promise a lifetime guarantee or 1 year return for any reason. They were still boxed! They refused to accept the returns saying that the guarantee was personal to my late uncle and the would not issue a refund. Disgraceful.

They make it impossible to cancel your subscription. Horrible lectures! Waste of money! Don't sign up.

Now called, "Wondrium". It's a scam.
Now called, "Wondrium". It's a scam.
Now called, "Wondrium". It's a scam.