
Civilization #37: The Golden Age of Islam
The Abbasid Caliphate was considered the Golden Age of Islam. Before the Mongolian conquest, the House of Wisdom in Baghdad was the global center of learning and literacy. Muslim scientists and mathem...
8 Apr 1h 18min

Civilization #36: Memory of the Norse
What was the Viking worldview? What was their value system? Why did they venture out into the world? Unfortunately, the Vikings maintained an oral tradition, most of which was lost after they convert...
8 Apr 1h 11min

Civilization #35: The Viking Legacy
We have understood Western civilization to be composed of four major traditions -- that of the Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians.In this talk to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin argue...
8 Apr 1h 11min

Civilization #34: The Useful Fiction of the Holy Roman Empire
Voltaire once wrote: "The Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”Historians often see this as a witticism. In this lecture to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin ar...
8 Apr 1h 4min

Civilization #33: The Rise and Fall of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine empire saw itself as the continuation of the Roman empire.In this lecture to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin argues that Constantinople and Rome had opposing cultural syst...
8 Apr 1h 5min

Civilization #32: Rome's Rise, Fall, and Legacy
How was Rome able to defeat all its powerful enemies in the Mediterranean world? Why did Rome decline and fall? What is Rome's influence on the world today? What lessons can we learn from it? In thi...
8 Apr 1h 6min

Civilization #31: The Oceanic Currents of History
Traditionally, we have understood historical movement as either a line or a circle. We are either progressing towards the truth, or trapped in an endless loop. In this talk to his Chinese high school ...
8 Apr 1h 10min

Civilization #30: Dante as the Second Coming of Homer
In this final talk of the semester to his Chinese high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains the enduring influence of Dante.Dante recognized that if he is to succeed in birthing a new European mind ...
8 Apr 1h



















