This introduction to the life and literature of Oscar Wilde from the Famous Authors series begins by introducing Wilde's passionately political, literary, and flamboyant parents and nineteenth century Dublin, the earliest and strongest influences on the writer. Wilde went on to study classics at Oxford and develop his talents. The film discusses Walter Pater's large influence on Wilde's philosophy, most importantly his idea that everything beautiful...

The history and social structures of Latin America's native peoples were neither simple nor peaceful before the arrival of Europeans. Wars were fought, empires were created and destroyed, and-as this program illustrates-narrative tapestries of fact and fiction were woven in the process. Underscoring the linguistic sophistication that flourished for thousands of years in the region, the program addresses the proliferation of Nahuatl and Quechua literature,...

The years between the World Wars generated self-doubt and ideological crisis as Britain contemplated the devastation of World War I and the decline of empire that would transform the British novel. "The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins," wrote D. H. Lawrence in Lady Chatterley's Lover. This program examines the evolution of the British novel during the period 1919-39, spotlighting E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, Barbara Cartland, P. G....

Promoting growth and protecting the environment is a contradiction, says Chinese ambassador Chen Mingming, insisting that the opulent lifestyle of "people overseas" should figure into any assessment of his country's environmental policies. "Isn't it legitimate for the Chinese to seek the same quality of life? That means economic development." Others who support the government's approach to ecological problems also appear in this film, such as political...

University of Michigan professor, Eric S. Rabkin discusses the fantastic in its many varieties.

An author who defies classification, Doris Lessing has plowed both wide and deep, combining acute observation of everyday life with a concern for broad issues such as how society should be organized, the value of politics, the role of women, and the nature of individuality. In this vintage program, biographer and critic Claire Tomalin and science fiction author Brian Aldiss talk with Lessing about her life and her work, with a special focus on her...

This awesome game is great for TEACHING latitude and longitude and world geography. In Coordinates, students learn latitude and longitude while learning the locations and names of the world's nations. First, students are prompted to find the latitude coordinate. Once the latitude coordinate is found, the game locks the latitude position and the longitude lines animate into the map. Finally, students are prompted to find a point of longitude. If the...