A Brief History of the World (TTC) - use with Speilvogel?

[CynthiaOK]

Would this be a good combination for a world history study? Is there a better TTC course that would go well with Speilvogel?

[MIch elle]

Would this be a good combination for a world history study? Is there a better TTC course that would go well with Speilvogel?


Said they didn't like it, and it was the only TTC they sent back.

[Janice in NJ]

Maybe it was me. :001_smile:

I sent that course back because it wasn't meaty enough for what I wanted. All of World History within that number of lectures should have been a tip-off for me - plus the fact that it is titled A Brief History of the World. I discovered that I already knew most of what he was telling me. HOWEVER - the lecturer was fine. I have just used too many TC courses to need that one. It didn't offer me a new perspective on the events, so I returned it.

Since then I have returned another set: Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, & Late Middle Ages (Set of three courses). Seventy-two lectures on the middle ages was MORE than what I needed. :001_smile:

So both lecturers were fine for me. And both might suit your needs. But for me one was just too much info and one was just too little based on where I am in my journey. I have found too many courses that are just right to spend time with ones that are not.

Hope that helps,
Janice
aka Goldilocks :001_smile:

[CynthiaOK]

I'm wondering if it would be good for an introduction - something more interesting than just reading a textbook (Speilvogel). Maybe watch a lecture and then read more about that subject in the text? My goal is to make World History a bit more exciting without necessarily requiring more work.

[Janice in NJ]

It might be perfect for that, Cynthia. I believe that it's 36 lectures so you could easily do one a week and then just read from Spielvogel to match the topics covered in the lecture as you suggested. It would make it easy to pace the course.

Oh -just wanted to make sure that you are familiar with the website for the Western Civ text too.

http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0534646026&discipline_number=21

World History is here:
http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20bI&flag=instructor&product_isbn_issn=9780495569015&disciplinenumber=21

I wasn't sure which Spielvogel you were referencing. There are a bunch of 'em. Don't know about the other sites for his other books.

The GREAT thing about TTC is their money back guarantee. It really does work. I owned the middle ages set for almost nine months before taking the time to start watching it. I got about six lectures in before I decided that even though I liked it, it was never going to work for us. It was just too much detail. So I called up the customer service department and explained that I liked the set but it wasn't going to meet our needs. I mailed it off to them and saw a refund on my credit card right away. Easy-peasy. (Now it might help that I own at lot of their materials..... ;)) But their guarantee does make it painless for me to try new courses. And I have had so, so, so many positive experiences. I can not begin to express how much of an impact TTC has had on my education. So I would encourage you to give them a try. Watch a few lectures - you'll know by then if the course is what you are looking for. That's really the only way that you will know for sure.

Peace,
Janice

[CynthiaOK]

Thanks, Janice. I always forget about the money back guarantee. I might give this a try. I'm looking at the dvd set on Nutrition also. Seems like an easy way to put a little health education in the mix.

[Susan C.]

I asked about this set awhile back, most didn't like it, (but a few did). It seemed that people liked TTC World Civ. set better. My library has them, so I don't need to order.

[Dana in OR]

I thought about using this as well but we decided not to since it didn't get very good reviews on TTC site. We went with "Foundations of Western Civilization" instead.

[Janice in NJ]

We have really enjoyed the Foundations sets as well - parts 1 & 2. Both profs are top notch. But that would be 96 lectures instead of 36 if you wanted to cover ancients - modern. The Brief History @ 18 hours would probably make more sense if you wanted to use it over one school year. It would leave more time for reading and writing within the limits of a one credit course.