Review of The Teaching Company

By Heather Campbell

What, another book review from Heather, you say? Not really -- this time I review an entire publishing company!

The Teaching Company produces noncredit college courses given by professors who are not only experts in their fields but also talented and effective teachers. Most of these courses are available on the customer's choice of audio tape, audio CD, video, or DVD. Course subjects range from the latest findings in astronomy to the archaeology of Europe to appreciating opera. Although the Teaching Company is not specifically atheist in orientation, it seems to be dedicated to scholarly rigor and rational inquiry, so most of the offerings should be worthy of the freethinker's respect.

The Teaching Company groups its course subjects into the following areas:

• Science and Mathematics
• Modern History
• Ancient and Medieval History
• Art and Music
• Literature and English Language
• Religion
• Philosophy and Intellectual History
• Economics

The selection of courses in Religion as well as Philosophy and Intellectual History is quite varied. Among these are standards familiar to every college student, such as "Introduction to Greek Philosophy" and "Great World Religions", but one can also find less common topics such as "The Birth of the Modern Mind" and "Lost Christianities".

Titles in Science and Mathematics include "The Joy of Thinking: The Beauty and Power of Classical Mathematical Ideas" and "Biological Anthropology: an Evolutionary Perspective". Of interest to atheists might be "The Theory of Evolution: a History of Controversy" which examines "the continuing story of discovery and dissent in the quest to understand our origins".

Titles in Modern History include, among others, "Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century"; "The Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics and Witches in the Western Tradition"; and "Europe and the Wars of Religion".

The courses are divided into 30-minute lectures (a few are 45 minutes). They come bundled as a set or series of lectures, ranging from 12 to 48 lectures total per course. The average seems to be about 24 to 32 lectures. Most material is presented verbally, but each course is accompanied by a printed course outline. Recently, TC has started to offer full transcripts of all lectures as an optional add-on. The format is basically the same as conventional college courses, but without the final exam!

I turned to the Teaching Company as a way to give my eyes a rest in the evening after a long day in front of a computer. I have rented several courses from the San Diego Public Library's audiovisual section, but I have also bought several.

Robert Sapolsky, who gave a memorable speech at the Freedom From Religion Foundation's convention last year, has a course entitled "Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality". This 6-hour course (8 lectures at 45 minutes each) seemed a steal at $16 for audiotape, so I ordered it and was not disappointed. The atheist in me appreciated the de-mystification of human consciousness, which for too long has seemed to be the product of a divine creator. Sapolsky explains how networks of neurons organize to provide us with memories and emotions. He even mentions temporal lobe epilepsy, the seizures of which cause victims to have religious visions, and raises the unsettling question of what this might mean for the external validity of religion.

I also ordered "Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles Over Authentication" by Prof. Bart Ehrman of UNC Chapel Hill. I was intrigued by the description:

"...Christians held beliefs that today would be considered bizarre: some believed that there were two, 12, or as many as 30 gods; some held that a malicious deity, rather than one true God, created the world...others insisted that Christ never really died at all...If such beliefs were once common, why do they no longer exist?"

Rather than one true faith handed down intact from on high, early Christianity showed every sign of being a product of human culture -- that is, diversity and conflict. Eventually orthodox Christianity more or less as we know it was able to rub out the competition. Although the videos I bought are rather dry, the explanation of Gnostic thought is the best I've ever seen.

From the library I rented Professor Bob Brier's 48-lecture course on the history of ancient Egypt. This professor made the news several years ago when he mummified a human cadaver in the traditional style. One lecture explores the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage; although Brier is not apparently an atheist he does mention that there is no evidence at all for the Exodus described in the Bible.

The only problem that I have with the TC's course selection is the Eurocentrism. Not even one course is devoted to East Asian or African history (other than prehistory). I realize that TC has to provide what the market wants, but I hope in the future it can broaden the horizon a bit.

You can find the Teaching Company on the internet at www.teach12.com, or call 1-800-646-3128. With a catalog in hand, it's possible to search the SD Public Library web site to see if your interest is available for rental. If you yearn for that college feeling again (or if college passed you by in a blur) here's your second chance.