Professor John M. Bowers discusses why some works and not others become part of the literary canon. He examines the context of the works, and how academic curriculum perpetuates and changes the development of the canon.

Provides a demonstration of storytelling using original adaptations of traditional children's folk tales.

Agatha Christie ranks as one of the most successful writers of all time. Combining rare access to Christie's family and her personal archive, the show gives viewers a never-before-seen look into the late crime writer's fascinating life story. Retraces the celebrated English writer's footsteps across the England. With access to both her family and those who lived with her and knew her best.

Twenty-four lectures of thirty minutes each on Dante's famous poem. Includes portraits, photographs, maps, and diagrams.

This episode of Clash of the Gods presents the real story behind our most renowned modern myth - that classic story of good vs. evil, fought in the world of Middle Earth. We enter creator J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastical world of hobbits, orcs, and wizards, and uncover the real life influences that shaped his epic fantasy, The Lord of the Rings. Intriguing connections and parallels are drawn from this epic saga to the battlefields of World War I and the...

"A documentary on the National Endowment for the Arts project Operation homecoming: writing the wartime experience."--Container

Operation Homecoming is a unique documentary that explores the firsthand accounts of American troops through their written words, and offers a profound window into the human side of the war being fought in Iraq. The film evolved out of a National Endowment for the Arts project that gathered the writing of soldiers and their families who have participated in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Interviews and dramatic readings by such actors as Robert...