"Sweet Speech," the vernacular of southern blacks that Zora Neale Hurston captures in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is the subject of a resource from the PBS American Masters series. An anthropologist, Hurston drew on her...

Viewers of a short video learn about the development of the Broadway Book Musical in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Scholars explore the Golden Age of Broadway, which produced classics like Annie Get Your Gun and...

A short clip discusses Leonardo da Vinci's art, inventions, architecture, and amazing mind. Many of his inventions and ideas have actually been built, such as tanks, man-powered flying machines, and a parachute.

From mystery plays to Shakespeare! Progress chronologically through the evolution of English drama, which began as a way for English clergymen in the eleventh century to illustrate biblical stories to the mass of illiterate commoners....

Have you ever noticed that babies in paintings from the Middle Ages look a little...strange? Find out why with an informative and amusing video about the moment artists decided to make babies look cute again.

While white literary critics praised her work, the black literary establishment trashed Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. See what other writers have to say about the novel in a short video from the PBS Masters series.

When delving into such writings as "I Too Sing America" or "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by poet, novelist, and playwright Langston Hughes, don't forget to provide this important historical background information on the Harlem...

Oh, the drama! According to Plato, poetry is a false representation of reality and, to him, poetry included drama. The Puritans also despised theater, a topic the informational video explores. The narrator describes the controversial...

Wigs, masks, demons, and Buddhism—what's not to love? All of these elements play a role in Japanese theater during the Middle Ages, a topic the informational video covers in depth. An engaging host shares an exhaustive overview of the...

Believe it or not, German theater did not become established until years after theater in other European countries. A video describes the history of German theater starting in the late seventeenth century. After a discussion, viewers...

Sometimes it's impossible to keep up with the Joneses. Scholars watch video 48 in the Crash Course Theater and Drama series that describes poor theater, which takes out the typical lights, costume, and sets that rich theater includes....

After a brief introduction to Renaissance music and the composer, key characteristics of Renaissance music is discussed.

In this video viewers watch as Kentucky students perform the Maltese Bransle, a country dance that was popular in the royal courts of France and England during the Renaissance.

This video explains the purpose and structure of the Maltese Bransle, a country dance that was popular in the courts of England and France during the Renaissance.

In this video, instructor Jennifer Rose teaches a group of fifth-grade students a Renaissance dance, Upon a Summer's Day, from John Playford's book The English Dancing Master. Included are teaching tips and additional background...

This video explains the purpose and form of the Pavane, an Elizabethan processional dance.

An overview of the religious ideals of the Reformation and the response of the Catholic Church to the changes sought by the leaders of the Reformation.

This video [2:55] discusses Raphael's (Italian), La belle jardiniere (also, Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist), 1507, oil on panel, 48 x 31 1/2 in (122 x 80 cm, Musee du Louvre, Paris) Speakers: Drs. Beth Harris and Steven...

This video [4:53] discusses the engaging exhibition featuring more than thirty woodblock prints and engravings by (or after) the German Renaissance master printmaker Albrecht Durer (1471-1528). The artist was an extraordinary innovator...

This video [5:01] discusses Lucus Cranach the Elder's, Adam and Eve, 1526, oil on panel (Courtauld Gallery, London). Speakers: Rachel Ropeik and Steven Zucker. (http://smarthistory.org/cranachs-adam-and-eve.html)

This video [3:26] discusses Raphael's, Madonna of the Goldfinch, 1505-6, oil on panel, 42" x 30" (107 x 77 cm), Uffizi, Florence. Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris.

A conversation between Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker in front of Albrecht Altdorfer's The Battle of Issus, 1529, oil on panel, 158.4 x 120.3 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich. [4:43]

This video [3:36] discusses Albrecht Durer's, The Large Piece of Turf, 1503, watercolor and gouache on paper, 16-1/8 x 12-5/8 inches / 41 x 32 cm (Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna).

This video [2:19] discusses Pieter Bruegel the Elder's, The Dutch Proverbs, 1559, oil on oak, 117 x 163 cm (Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) Speakers: Beth Harris and Steve Zucker.