Instructional Video4:30
TED-Ed

TED-Ed: Michelle Brown: What is a butt tuba and why is it in medieval art?

Pre-K - Higher Ed
A rabbit attempts to play a church organ, while a knight fights a giant snail and a naked man blows a trumpet with his rear end. These bizarre images, painted with squirrel-hair brushes on vellum or parchment by monks, nuns and urban...
Instructional Video14:50
TED Talks

William Noel: Revealing the lost codex of Archimedes

12th - Higher Ed
How do you read a two-thousand-year-old manuscript that has been erased, cut up, written on and painted over? With a powerful particle accelerator, of course! Ancient books curator William Noel tells the fascinating story behind the...
Instructional Video12:07
TED Talks

TED: How I'm discovering the secrets of ancient texts | Gregory Heyworth

12th - Higher Ed
Gregory Heyworth is a textual scientist; he and his lab work on new ways to read ancient manuscripts and maps using spectral imaging technology. In this fascinating talk, watch as Heyworth shines a light on lost history, deciphering...
Instructional Video5:16
TED-Ed

TED-Ed: The hidden treasures of Timbuktu | Elizabeth Cox

Pre-K - Higher Ed
On the edge of the vast Sahara desert, citizens snuck out of the city of Timbuktu and took to the wilderness. They buried chests in the desert sand, hid them in caves, and sealed them in secret rooms. Inside these chests was a treasure...
Instructional Video2:31
Curated Video

Library of Congress

9th - Higher Ed
Home to millions of books and manuscripts, the Library of Congress is a hub of culture and knowledge, pioneering digital accessibility while safeguarding America's rich history.
Instructional Video6:14
Curated Video

Exploring the Continuity of Greek-Arabic Bilingualism

12th - Higher Ed
Historian Maria Mavroudi (UC Berkeley) reveals how a careful study of Arab-Greek bilingualism can shed important light on a wealth of societal values, including the very foundations of their systems of knowledge.
Instructional Video13:52
Religion for Breakfast

The Book of Enoch Explained

12th - Higher Ed
In this episode we examine the topic: The Book of Enoch Explained
Instructional Video10:17
Religion for Breakfast

Was the Gospel of John Changed to Suppress Mary Magdalene?

12th - Higher Ed
Mary Magdalene has a ton of conspiracy theories swirling around her. Most are pure speculation. But a recent study by a Duke University New Testament PhD student, Elizabeth Schrader, argues that the copiers of the Gospel of John may have...
Instructional Video5:01
Curated Video

Greece, Patmos Island

12th - Higher Ed
According to a legend in Greek mythology, the island's original name was "Letois", after the goddess and huntress of deer Artemis, daughter of Leto. It was believed that Patmos came into existence thanks to her divine intervention. The...
Instructional Video2:59
Institute for New Economic Thinking

02 On Writing Keynesian Economics and the Economics of Keynes

Higher Ed
In late 2015, JW Mason and Arjun Jayadev went to speak with Axel Leijonhuvud, in retirement in Pismo Beach, to ask about his work and the intellectual paths not taken after 1968. Over a couple of days with him and his wife Earlene, they...
Instructional Video11:06
Bino and Fino

On To Timbuktu

Pre-K - K
Bino can’t find one of his books because he can’t remember where he left it. Mama Mama teaches the children to treasure their books.
Instructional Video4:40
TED-Ed

What Is a Butt Tuba and Why Is it in Medieval Art?

9th - 12th Standards
Before picture books and animated videos, there were hand-copied manuscripts whose margins were filled with fantastic images. A short video examines the tradition of illuminating books and considers what some of the more bizarre images...
Instructional Video4:43
TED-Ed

The World’s Most Mysterious Book

6th - 12th
What is MS 408? Who wrote it? What does it say? Nobody knows who wrote the Voynich manuscript, nor can anyone translate the text. Introduce viewers to the mystery with a short video that details what little is known about the manuscript.
Instructional Video
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Can Doodles Be Art?

K - 1st
Do you like to doodle? People in medieval times did too! Join Matilde, age 10, as she finds out more about marginalia and manuscripts.