Each month, we are providing you with live access to The Great Courses professors and experts who are leading The Great Courses Journeys in the upcoming year. Each live event will have an approximately 25-minute lecture, plus a 15-minute Q&A session for all attendees.  

The Great Courses Journeys LIVE

Nectan’s Glen

Tintagel Castle

Join Professors Cleto and Warman on “Enchanted England: Folklore, Literature, and Landscapes” September 21-28, 2026.

Experiencing King Arthur’s Cornwall
with Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman

Date/Time: 1/29/2026, 2 pm ET

JANUARY

Drs. Cleto and Warman take you in the footsteps of King Arthur to experience the unforgettable sites and scenes from the life of this legendary hero. You’ll see St. Nectan’s Glen, said to be the site where the Knights of the Round Table were blessed before their quest for the Holy Grail. You’ll learn the story behind Tintagel Castle, believed to be the birthplace of Arthur himself. And you’ll visit dramatic sites such as the 7-foot-tall, inscribed Tristan Stone, said to be a memorial to Arthur’s knight, Sir Tristan. Discover all this and much more in a stirring lecture based on their “Enchanted England Journey”.

FEBRUARY

A Venetian Squero

Venice

The Rise of Venice as a Maritime Empire
with Dr. Thomas F. X. Noble

Date/Time: 2/26/2026, 2 pm ET

Join Dr. Thomas F. X. Noble on a centuries-long tour of how Venice came to dominate the Adriatic world. Professor Noble outlines for you how, beginning in 1000, Venice built its vast maritime empire by treaty and by force, a project that began as early as the 10th century. You’ll learn about Dalmatian pirates; Venice’s role in the Fourth Crusade; Venetian rivals such as Genoa, Byzantium, Hungary, and the Ottoman Turks; and the gradual decline of Venice’s sea power from the 16th to the 18th centuries. All this and more is drawn from Professor Noble’s Journeys cruise, “Adriatic Odyssey: Venice to Dubrovnik.”

Join Professor Noble on “Adriatic Odyssey: Venice to Dubrovnik” with PONANT August 5-13, 2026.

Bavarian Food

Rothenburg

Revealing Real German Regions
with Dr. James Pfrehm

Date/Time: 3/26/2026, 2 pm ET

MARCH

Join Professor Pfrehm on “Germany’s Castles, Cultural Traditions, and Medieval Life” September 24–October 1, 2026.

Travel with Dr. James Pfrehm across German regions to reveal their unique cultural identities. You’ll walk the streets of Metropolitan Bavaria, take in the rich rural traditions of the Bavarian Alps, and experience the medieval past up close in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Learn how their dialects differ, how their histories define them, and how cuisine and local customs tell different stories of different peoples. You’ll see several of the sites, events, and even the foods experienced on Professor Pfrehm’s own Journey “Germany’s Castles, Cultural Traditions, and Medieval Life.”

Valley of the Moon

The Milky Way

Under Chile’s Cosmic Skies: Telescopes and Extreme Life
with Dr. Sarah Rugheimer

Date/Time: 4/23/2026, 2 pm ET

APRIL

Join Professor Rugheimer on “Astronomer’s Alley: Chile’s Atacama Desert” November 2-8, 2026 or February 5-11, 2027.

Dr. Sarah Rugheimer introduces you to the cosmic wonders you can experience from Chile’s Atacama Desert and beyond. You’ll learn why these southern skies offer perhaps the world’s best stargazing locations and just what you can see with and without a telescope. She’ll guide you through nebulae and constellations you can view through South America’s largest public telescope park. And enter the world of extremophiles, the extreme life forms that astrobiologists like Dr. Rugheimer are searching for beyond Earth. These topics and more form the basis of her Great Courses Journey, “Astronomer’s Alley: Chile’s Atacama Desert.”

Liverpool and the Birth of the Beatles
with Dr. Michael Shelden

Date/Time: 5/28/2026, 2 pm ET

Travel back in time with celebrated biographer Dr. Michael Sheldon to the Liverpool of John Lennon’s and Paul McCartney’s youth. Hear the story of where the Beatles really began, at the intersection of Vale and Menlove. Unchanged since John lived down the road with his Aunt Mimi, it’s the spot where Paul would visit John in their earliest days together. More important, it’s where John’s mother was struck in a car accident that took her life. Strawberry Field is just a stone’s throw behind it. Quiet and peaceful even today, it holds so much meaning to what inspired John and Paul, and several of their greatest songs. This serene location and powerful story both come from Dr. Shelden’s Journey, “The Beatles & the Triumph of the British Invasion.”

Join Professor Shelden on “The Beatles & the Triumph of the British Invasion” October 12-17, 2026 or March 15-20, 2027.

The Milky Way

Valley of the Moon

May

Writing the Declaration

Signing the Declaration

The Declaration of Independence at 250: From Philadelphia to the World

with Dr. Richard Bell

Date/Time: 5/14/2026, 2 pm ET

Prominent historian of the early United States, Dr. Richard Bell, explores the monumental impact of the Declaration of Independence on the occasion of its 250th anniversary in 2026. Dr. Bell takes you through the shockwaves that still reverberate today as he discusses his Great Course The Declaration of Independence: America’s Birth Certificate (releases 5/22/2026) and his recent award-winning book The American Revolution and the Fate of the World. He will also share the Revolutionary’s era’s impact on the Caribbean world, drawing from his upcoming cruise with The Great Courses Journeys, “Caribbean Crossroads: Rival Empires in Paradise.”

Join Professor Bell on “Caribbean Crossroads: Rival Empires in Paradise” March 2-10, 2027

JUNE

Creation of Man, Sistine Chapel

St Peters

From Leonardo to Michelangelo: Polar Opposites of the Italian Renaissance
with Dr. Jean-Pierre Isbouts

Date/Time: 6/25/2026, 2 pm ET

Join Professor Isbouts on “Exploring Italy’s Renaissance: Da Vinci and Michelangelo” October 18–24, 2026.

Travel to the height of the Italian Renaissance with celebrated art historian Dr. Jean-Pierre Isbouts as he explores the parallel developments and conflicts of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. How could two of the greatest artists of their (or any) place and time be so different, and why does that matter? Dr. Isbouts will compare and contrast these two giants of High Renaissance and Mannerist art, respectively, illustrating the tension between them, and how their intersecting lives and works inform the lessons of and places you can visit on his Great Courses Journey, “Exploring Italy’s Renaissance: Da Vinci and Michelangelo.”

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