The Great Courses
“Jennifer Cognard-Black is truly an inspiring teacher. ”
The Great Courses is an educational organization with a mission to support lifelong learning—meaning learning beyond college, and yet still at the college level. As an educator, I feel strongly that part of my life's work is to engage in conversations with people of all ages and from all backgrounds. Indeed, I believe that true learning isn't about professors professing, while students take notes and reproduce the teacher's thinking on exams or papers. True learning goes both ways and encompasses much more than the traditional classroom: it's a process of collaborative meaning-making that challenges and changes how all participants see the world, and how they understand themselves. My work with The Great Courses and Audible Originals is in this spirit; I hope these lectures open dialogues, spark curiosity, and allow for new visions (and revisions).
Like stories, food can connect us to other people and their experiences in remarkable ways. Much of our lives revolve around the meals we eat, and our culinary senses of taste and smell are potent triggers of the past. This strong, sensory connection between eating and evocation can be used in fiction to conjure a host of emotions in the audience. In the 10 lectures of “Books That Cook: Food and Fiction,” Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black takes you on a culinary tour of fiction, from Proust’s evocative madeleine and the voracious hunger of fairy tales to the intersection of recipes with storytelling and the emotional consumption of food on film.
The short story is a classic American form, part of our national literature that emerged out of immigrant and indigenous tales. In 24 lectures, “Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Readers and Writers” traces the short story from early examples of supernatural, mythic, and whimsical work by Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe to more realistic and experimental stories by modern masters such as Ernest Hemingway, Jhumpa Lahiri, and ZZ Packer. Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black teaches you how to interpret these tales with an expert’s eye, while also training you in how to transform your lived experiences into original stories of your own.
If you have a clever anecdote, an interesting memory, or an opinion on a social or political issue, then you have an essay in you. Discover the keys to unlocking your writing potential through "Becoming a Great Essayist" with Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black, your expert guide. These 24 illuminating lectures explore numerous types of essays, challenge you with stimulating writing prompts, and provide advice on how to write essays that people will read. Professor Cognard-Black—an award-winning author and editor—has an intimate, honest, and direct approach. She teaches you that the versatility and expressiveness of the essay makes it an ideal medium for crafting true stories that offer compelling insights and perspectives.