A new history of the world
Is there such a thing as a just war? Is terrorism ever morally acceptable? And can ancient art change the current view of history? This program investigates these and other questions with political philosopher Michael Walzer, who examines the origin...
Introduction to photography and visual literacy
Movies, magazines, TV, billboards, the Web - the world is filled with captivating photographic images competing for viewers' attention. Not surprisingly, citizens of the Global Village are experiencing a growing need for visual literacy: the ability...
Photography: making art and recording life
Once strictly considered a visual recording device, the camera has expanded beyond its documentational niche and made places for itself in the worlds of fine art, advertising, and news media as well. This program describes existing and emerging genr...
The magic mirror
Using only the words of some of the great photographers, this program seeks to trace "the life-line of the species" (in the words of John Szarkowski of the Museum of Modern Art, New York). Selecting their own favorite photos from contemporary works ...
Bauhaus: the face of the 20th century
This stunning program looks at the development of the Bauhaus and at the key figures involved in it - including the founder Walter Gropius, his successor Mies van der Rohe, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers. The program also sets the history of t...
The kiss
Loved by the public and spurned by its creator, Rodin's The Kiss remains controversial to this day. While telling the remarkably intricate story of how the sculpture came to be, this program illustrates the impact of Michelangelo's and Ghiberti's wo...
The business of film
In this program, Channel 4 commissioning editor John Richmond, producer Rachel Gesua, director Tim Supple, screenwriter Andrew Bannerman, and members of the cast and crew talk about the business of making a modest TV adaptation of Twelfth Night. Ste...
The great wave
Hokusai's The Great Wave is arguably the best-known image of Japanese art in the Western world today, and yet prints of it were sold in the 19th century for only the price of a large bowl of noodles. This program tells the story of an iconic image, ...
The art of film
This program studies the art that underlies the craft of filmmaking - a painstaking process that culminates in the take, that shared moment of concentration when everything comes together. Twelfth Night director Tim Supple and his first assistant di...
Greek Drama: From Ritual to Theater
Why do plays well over two millennia old still speak to audiences today? This program traces Greek theater from ancient harvest rites to the golden age of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. Key scenes from Antigone, Oedipus Tyrannus,...