Department of History

Oil depletion and the collapse of the American Dream. Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too the suburban way of life has become embedded in the American consciousness. Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American way of life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for north America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia?

Our Eternal Selves introduces us to the systems of yoga that grew out of the mainstream of India spiritually.

Campbell introduces us to the core ideas at the heart of the Eastern traditions and exploreswhat Aldous Huxley called the Perennial Philosophy and how it is realized in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Perhaps the most sophisticated form of yoga, Kundalini Yoga, concentrates on the seven chakras or symbolic centers of our psychic energy.

The world of Islam is shared by some 800 million people of all colors, economic levels, and social strata. What they share is a faith which is today what it was from the beginning, the same in the Moroccan king's palace and a Filipino hovel. The essential principles on which Islam rests-its five pillars-are discussed, described, and put into historical context in this program. The program introduces the huge international mosaic of Moslem believers, and the conflict between traditional teaching and the effects of industrialization.

We are principally talking about four main experinces of suffering-birth, sickness, aging and death. And the significance of the recongnition of these experiences of suffering as a catalyst towards a spiritual guest is strongly demonstrated in Buddha's own personal life story.

There is a disparity between the way you perceive things and the way things really are.

Story of the Great Depression as told by the people who lived it.

This classic documentary tells the tragic story behind the world's first global war. The film shows the rivalry between the various royalty in Europe leading up to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the failed attempts to avoid the war that followed. It then goes on to show German atrocities as they invade Belgium and France, and how incompetent leaders on both sides cost the lives of millions.