Article on the Age of Enlightenment or Reason in which political thought was transformed during the 18th Century.

Essay on the Enlightenment as typified in America by Benjamin Franklin.

Use the video "Edwards and the Transition to Enlightenment" to consider the two learning outcomes below. It featuring discussions of Raymond Williams's model of culture; Edward Taylor; Jonathan Edwards; Benjamin Franklin; George...

An overview of how the Age of Enlightenment influenced the American colonies in thought, Benjamin Franklin, and the colony of Georgia.

Article on the History of Germany and the Age of Enlightenment, 1648 to 1789.

The ideas of the Enlightenment began in Europe, but they were acted upon in the American colonies. See how the philosophies of John Locke and Rousseau influenced the thoughts and actions of Puritan clergy and political figures like...

Online tour of objects in the museum's galleries explains attempts by eighteenth-century scholars to classify art according to Enlightenment ideas and ideals.

Some of the earliest depictions of the Buddha reaching enlightenment appear as sculptural friezes on the exterior of sacred Buddhist monuments known as stupas. View pictures of these friezes and read the history of Prince Siddhartha in...

Meet three significant absolutist monarchs from the Enlightened period. The PowerPoint will detail the significance of Enlightened Absolutism, also referred to as Enlightened despotism.

[Free Registration/Login Required] The lesson is designed to review the main thoughts and ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers and how their ideas contributed to the American governmental system.

Learning activity in which students study the ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau. Lesson includes individual, group and whole class activity in which students write, discuss and debate the role...

Learning module in which students study the Scientific Revolution and explore the dramatic change in the way people thought about the world during the 17th and 18th Centuries. Unit includes videos, unit guide and primary sources.

Contains a brief history and listing of artists in France during the late 18th century. Focus of this site is on painting and portraits of key figures from this time.

Through this activity, 9th graders will delve into some of the revolutionary documents and consider the ideas of "authority" and "power" from the perspectives of those who had such a great stake in America's revolutionary struggle.

Series of hyperlinked pages explains the history, construction, and condition of Borobudur, a large Buddhist monument in Indonesia covered in relief carvings and free-standing sculptures of the Buddha.

This is an introduction to a unit on Rationalism, also known as The Age of Reason or Enlightenment, was set during the American Revolutionary period. It focuses on the belief that the power of reason and science would further human...

Joseph Wright of Derby's painting, "A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery", encapsulates in one moment the age of Enlightenment. View pictures and read details of this painting in this essay.

Discusses the intellectual atmosphere in the 1800s as America struggled to find its identity. The influences of the Enlightenment and Romanticism are described, and the ideas of various writers and philosophers.

Lesson plan for explaining the path to enlightenment known in Buddhism as the Eightfold Path.

This statue depicts the bodhisattva Maitreya. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who postpone their own salvation in order to help all sentient beings. The bodhisattva is an ideal type, not a depiction of an historical person like the...

This is an image of the compassionate and merciful bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who are destined to become buddhas but postpone that final state in order to help humanity. The name Avalokiteshvara...

The vajra (Tibetan: Dorjie) and bell (Sanskrit: ghanta; Tibetan: drilbu) are the most important ritual objects of Tibetan Buddhism. Most every lama has a pair and knows how to use them. They represent "method" (vajra) and "wisdom"...

Links to embedded videos and other information about World History: 1450 - 1750 Renaissance and Reformation including the The Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, Spanish and Portuguese Empires, Mughal rule in...

Can a mound of dirt represent the Buddha, the path to Enlightenment, a mountain and the universe all at the same time? It can if it is a stupa. The stupa ("stupa" is Sanskrit for heap) is an important form of Buddhist architecture. View...