Help & Customer Service

+ What Are The Great Courses?

About Us

Designed to meet the powerful demand for lifelong learning, The Great Courses is an intellectual engaging series of video and audio courses led by the world's best professors and experts in diverse fields such as philosophy, history, literature, science, and the arts. The Great Courses currently maintains a catalog of more than 300 courses delivered by great teachers from the Ivy League, Stanford, Georgetown, and other leading colleges and universities.

How Long Has The Great Courses Been in Business?

The Great Courses was originally founded in 1990 as The Teaching Company. Since then, we have gone on to sell more than 8 million courses to lifelong learners around the world.

How Do You Choose Your Professors?

There are hundreds of thousands of college professors and subject matter experts around the world. But only a very select few are chosen to be a part of The Great Courses' faculty. Each year, our professional recruiters identify the top 1% of professors based on teaching awards, published evaluations, newspaper write-ups, and other sources. Then, our team travels to universities and academic institutions—from Harvard to Stanford to UCLA to UNC—and listens to these professors deliver lectures to their students.

Of these few professors, only 1 in 20 is selected to give an audition lecture for The Great Courses. Each audition is then thoroughly reviewed by hundreds of our customers. Those professors who receive a high score are invited to craft a Great Course. In the end, we and our customers choose about 1 in 5,000 professors to create courses for us.

How Do You Make Your Courses?

We work closely with our customers and professors to create every single Great Courses. Here's how we do it:

Customers Choose the Professor: We begin with the top 1% of professors in America. In the end, only 1 in 5,000 professors meets the standards set by our customers, who vote on all our professors.
Customers Choose the Course: We interview thousands of customers to find our what courses they want and how they want them made.
Professors Carefully Craft the Course: Months of preparation ensure that a course will satisfy our customers. Long before a word is spoken on stage, our professor outlines and prepares each lecture and writes the extensive Course Guidebook.
We Record the Course: Working in our in-house recording studios in Chantilly, Virginia, we record the video of each lecture on high-definition-quality equipment and media, or record the audio of each lecture on the latest CD-quality equipment and media. We then devote weeks to include dynamic visual elements into the video lectures and to professionally master the sound for the audio lectures.

What Media Formats Can I Order My Courses In?

We offer The Great Courses on DVD, CD, Video Download (compatible with both iTunes and Windows Media Player), Audio Download (both mp3 and mpeg4), and Transcript Book. Our DVD, CD, video download, and audio download formats provide you with the highest quality video and audio.

Should I Purchase My Course in Audio or Video?

The choice depends both on the content of the individual Great Course and how you want to use it.

Audio: Audio versions are very flexible, allowing you to listen to your course almost anywhere and at any time you like: while commuting, while jogging, while gardening—even while swimming.

Video: Video versions contain all visual elements that the professor finds useful in understanding the subject. Some visual elements include

3-D animations,
detailed maps and charts,
helpful graphics and illustrations, and
on-screen text.

If a Great Course’s visual elements are essential to understanding the material, we only sell a video version of the course. Please note that due to large file sizes, video downloads are best downloaded using a high-speed internet connection.

If a Great Course’s visual elements are essential to understanding the material, we only sell a video version of the course.

When—and Why—Do Your Courses Go On Sale?

Every Great Course goes on sale at least once a year at up to 70% off its standard price. This revolving sales approach allows you to get both great value and great service. Here’s how: Producing large quantities of only the Great Courses currently on sale keeps our manufacturing and inventory costs down. More important: We get to pass these savings on to you. This approach also enables us to fill your order immediately: 99% of all orders placed by 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time ship that same day.

To find out which courses are currently on sale, please check our catalogs, e-mails, newsletters, or the Special Sale section on our website.

Can I Earn a Degree or College Credits By Taking Your Courses?

Unfortunately, The Great Courses does not offer degrees or credits for its courses. Rather, they are meant to be used exclusively for the joy of lifelong learning.

Are All of Your Courses Taught at the College Level?

The vast majority of the Great Courses are crafted at the college level. However, we also publish several courses taught by outstanding teachers on subjects traditionally covered in high school: algebra, chemistry, geometry, U.S. and world history, and more. For more information on courses that may be right for your high school students, visit the High School section of our website.

What are Course Guidebooks and Workbooks?

Every Great Course comes complete with a Course Guidebook, a soft-bound book that features outlines of every lecture, bibliographies, glossaries, timelines, and other material designed to enhance your learning experience.

In addition, most high-school-level courses come with workbooks as well. These soft-bound learning aids are valuable supplements to courses and textbooks your high school students may already be using. Most workbooks provide students with a wealth of questions, along with helpful answer keys.

What Types of Players Can I Use for the Audio CDs and DVDs?

All CD versions of our courses will work in

CD players installed in your home stereo or car,
portable CD players,
CD-ROM drives in computers and laptops,
MP3 players marked with CD-playing capabilities, and
DVD players marked with CD-playing capabilities.

All DVD versions of our courses will work in

DVD players, and

DVD-ROM drives in computers and laptops.

Please note that if you’re watching a Great Course on the computer, you may need to download additional software for the DVDs to work properly.

+ About Your Personal Information and Our Privacy Policy

What Do You Do With My E-mail Address and Personal Information?

Here’s what we do with your e-mail address:

Send you order confirmations. You should receive via e-mail an order confirmation within moments of placing your order.
Send you course starter materials. Designed to supplement your learning experience, you’ll receive course starter materials for every course you purchase. These materials include the professor’s summary of the course, links to recommended websites, and recommended readings.
Send you free articles. Occasionally, you’ll receive interesting and compelling articles of interest on the subjects covered by our courses.
Collect your feedback on courses and professors. You’ll receive e-mail surveys to vote for the Great Courses you want us to make, to rate the quality of Great Courses you’ve purchased, to tell us what improvements to make to The Great Courses and our services, and to tell us which professors we should choose to make the next Great Course.
Notify you of special sale offers. You’ll receive e-mails notifying you when courses featured in our print catalogs and newsletters go on sale. These e-mails also make ordering extremely simple—if you see courses that interest you, simply click on the links in the e-mail to find out more.

Here’s what we do with your name and mailing address:

Send you our monthly Great Courses catalog. You’ll receive, each month, a brand new Great Courses catalog featuring our latest releases, as well as additional courses from our collection that go on sale for a limited time only.
Send you The Great Courses Magazine, newsletters, and other special sale catalogs. You’ll receive additional mail pieces that highlight additional offers you can’t find anywhere else, including The Great Courses Magazine, which features dynamic illustrations and insightful lecture excerpts designed to provide you with a closer look at courses from our specific subject areas.

How Do You Protect My Name, Address, and E-mail Address?

We will not sell or rent your e-mail address or personal information to any other person or company. Period. That has been the policy of The Great Courses since it was founded in 1990, and it’s one we continue to pride ourselves on upholding.

How Do You Protect My Billing Information?

When you order from us online, your billing information is protected by Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. The Great Courses website is secured by Comodo, the leading provider of SSL encryption keys, which electronically masks any information that is sent over the Internet. With this state-of-the-art system, you can enter your credit card number and delivery and billing information safely. This encryption process also protects your information by scrambling it before sending it along to us.

Click on the Comodo logo on our Shopping Cart page or the Checkout page to verify our compliance.

Of course, if you feel uncomfortable ordering from us through our website, we’d be delighted to take your orders over the phone. Contact Us for further information on other ways to order the Great Courses.

How Do You Use the Information You Get From Cookies?

We use cookies, a technology widely used on the Internet, to make your visit to The Great Courses website more effective.

The information that cookies provide us helps us to

offer you special sale opportunities,
allow you to navigate our website more easily and faster, and
provide you with lower prices by better understanding what interests you.

No personal information is stored in long-term cookies. And we do not sell or redistribute cookie-based information to anyone. Period.

How Can I Change My Personal Information?

If you are a registered user of our website, you can correct or update your personal information on the My Account page of our website.

If you’re not a registered user of our website, Contact Us, and we can correct or update your personal information. If you have multiple addresses, we ask that you please send us the multiple address references.

+ About Our Purchase Policies

Do You Accept Purchase Orders?

Yes, we do accept purchase orders.

Our Accounts Receivable Department requires the completion of a credit reference form on all new accounts, along with the purchase order. Please contact a Customer Care Representative at 1-800-858-3224 to receive your credit reference form.

We will bill businesses and institutions if a copy of a purchase order is mailed or faxed to us, after a credit form is completed. In lieu of a purchase order, we will also accept a letter on your organization’s letterhead stating the Great Courses you would like along with their prices. Institutions have 30 days in which to either submit payment for the purchase order or return the items.

What is a “Priority Code”?

A priority code is the five-digit number that appears on the mailing label of the mail piece, catalog, e-mail, or advertisement you’re ordering from. This code ensures that you’ll get the sale prices that appear in that particular piece. Priority codes, which are good through the mail piece’s expiration date, also allow us to determine which mail pieces our customers find most enjoyable and helpful.

How Can I Order a Gift Certificate?

You can order a gift certificate in any amount in the Gift Certificates section of our website. You may redeem the gift certificate in one purchase, or over several purchases until the full amount is used.

You can also order gift certificates over the phone. Contact Us to order a gift certificate today!

What If I Want a Refund?

Every single Great Course comes with a full Lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee: If You are not completely satisfied with your order, for any reason, simply return it with a note describing why you’d like the refund. We will then issue a full refund, or credit your charge card.

You can return your order to:

The Great Courses
Returns Processing Center
4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100
Chantilly, VA 20151

Can I Make Copies of Courses That I’ve Purchased?

Every Great Course is the intellectual property of The Great Courses and is sold for private, noncommercial use only. All copying and all public performance of the Great Courses is a violation of federal law.

If you or your organization wants to exhibit a Great Courses lecture (or lectures) publicly, please send a request for permission for such use to the attention of Brandon Hidalgo. Include details of how you intend to use the lecture (or lectures) and the estimated number of people to whom the lecture (or lectures) would be exhibited.

+ About Our Shipping, Processing, and Lifetime Guarantee

+ About International Orders

How Do You Ship International Orders?

All international orders are shipped via Federal Express International.

This is the most reliable method of shipping because it allows us to track and confirm your receipt of the order. Also, because it is express shipping, you will not have to wait long for your courses.

How Long Do I Have to Wait to Receive My International Order?

Normally, you will receive your order within 10 business days from the time you placed it. However, please note that each country has different customs policies, so we cannot guarantee an exact delivery time. Please check with your local customs office for more information.

How Much Does It Cost to Ship My Order Internationally?

In order to calculate the international shipping charges of your order, please refer to the below chart.

Order Total	Canada/Mexico	Europe/Far East*	Others

Under $100.00	$25.00	$30.00	$40.00
$100.00 - $299.99	$35.00	$45.00	$60.00
$300.00 or More	$45.00	$60.00	$80.00

*Europe/Far East includes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Channel Islands (UK), Cyprus, Denmark, England (UK), Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Monaco, Netherlands (Holland), Norway, Northern Ireland (UK), Portugal, Republic of Ireland, San Marino, Scotland (UK), Singapore, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Vatican City, Wales (UK).

What Customs Fees and Taxes are Involved in International Orders?

For Orders Shipping to Canada: Applicable taxes are calculated during checkout. The Great Courses collects applicable GST, HST, PST, and QST at the time your order is placed and remits the proper amount to Revenue Canada. By placing your order, you authorize The Great Courses to use its FedEx customs broker to obtain customs clearance for your merchandise. The Great Courses are manufactured in the United States and are not assessed duty.

For Orders Shipping to Other Countries: Policies and customs fees are different for every country. However, please note that you will be responsible for customs fees that may be charged. Please refer to your local customs office for more information.

Do You Ship To P.O. Boxes in Other Countries?

Unfortunately, we cannot ship to P.O. boxes in other countries because we ship via Federal Express International.

Most express packages are turned over to a courier service once they cross the border. Often, courier services will not deliver to P.O. boxes. In order to send you your order from The Great Courses, we will need a physical address.

Which Countries Will You Not Ship To?

We will not ship orders to China or Cuba (because they are not signatories to important international copyright treaties) and—except in special circumstances—Colombia (because of the country’s unreliable mail system).

+ About This Website

What Do I Do If I’ve Forgotten My Password or E-mail Address?

If you’ve forgotten your password or e-mail address, please Contact Us. One of our friendly and knowledgeable Customer Care Representatives will simply ask you to verify some information for your security and then help with your login information.

You can also create a brand new account using a new e-mail address and password.

What If I Can’t Log In After Changing My E-mail Address?

For security reasons, you can update your e-mail address online only if you remember your old e-mail address and password. Once you log in using your old e-mail address and password, you can specify a new e-mail address and/or a new password.

What are Cookies, and Why Should I Enable Them?

Simply put, a cookie is a small piece of text data kept by your web browser. Cookies allow you to

purchase through the site,
receive special sale opportunities, and
navigate through our site more easily and faster.

The way our website uses cookies does not pose any information security risks. We minimize the amount of information stored in a cookie, and we never store credit card information in a cookie. If you are concerned about potential security issues related to the use of cookies, you may enable cookies for specific sites (including ours). Please Contact Us for more security information.

Your experience using our website will be enhanced if cookies are enabled. Cookies are enabled in different ways, depending on the type of web browser you use.

Information about how to enable cookies can be found at the following websites:

Internet Explorer: http://www.microsoft.com/info/cookies.mspx
Other Browsers: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/

Why Was I Prompted to Log In When Trying to Check Out or Add a Course to My Shopping Cart?

If you were prompted to log in when trying to check out or add a course to your shopping cart, either cookies are not enabled in your web browser or the timeout period has expired.

To enable cookies, see What are Cookies, and Why Should I Enable Them? After you log in, you should be directed back to your place on the website.

Why Can’t I Get All the Navigation Buttons to Work?

If you can’t get all the navigation buttons to work, it’s because JavaScript is disabled in your web browser.

Some navigation buttons on our website require JavaScript. You can enable JavaScript by going to your web browser’s “Help” menu and searching for “enabling JavaScript” or “enable JavaScript.”

Why Can’t I Submit a Form?

If you can’t submit a form, it’s because JavaScript is disabled in your web browser.

You can enable JavaScript by going to your web browser’s “Help” menu and searching for “enabling JavaScript” or “enable JavaScript.”

+ How Can I Contact The Great Courses With Additional Questions?

+ Who Supplies the Images On This Website?

© iStockPhoto.
© Masterfile.
© Ocean/Corbis
COLIN MONTEATH/HEDGEHOG HOUSE/MINDEN PICTURES/National Geographic Stock.
Courtesy NASA
Courtesy NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL).
Courtesy NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), M. Meixner and P. McCullough (STScI).
Courtesy NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University).
Courtesy NASA, the AVO project and Paolo Padovani.
Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Courtesy NASA/JPL.
Courtesy National Archives, nlc10017.36.
Courtesy of Assouline Publishing, Inc.
Courtesy of Barron's Education Series.
Courtesy of Evans Chamberlain.
Courtesy of Hachette Book Group.
Courtesy of Macmillan.
Courtesy of Oxford University Press, Inc.
Courtesy of Pearson Education.
Courtesy of Perseus Books Group.
Courtesy of Random House, Inc.
Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
Courtesy of Thames & Hudson, Inc.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print: LC-DIG-cwpb-04402; LC-USZC4-694; LC-DIG-matpc-13011; LC-DIG-pga-02205; LC-DIG-pga-02388; LC-DIG-ppmsc-09876; LC-USZ62-10610; LC-USZ62-117121; LC-USZ62-128254; LC-USZ62-130772; LC-USZ62-2939; LC-USZ62-60242; LC-USZ62-87246; LC-USZ6-878; LC-USZC4-11310; LC-USZC4-3254; LC-USZC4-7599; LC-USZC4-7933; LC-USZC4-8047; LC-DIG-ppmsca-19305; LC-USZ62-64419; LOC 3c165u; LOC 32392u; LOC 23687a; LOC 0005188; Loc-DIG-ppmsca-09874; LOC 02716U; LOC 01082u; LOC 3c03529u; LC-USZ62-1222955; LOC 01425u; LOC 3g06423u; LOC LC-DIG-matpc-13011.
NASA, ESA and R. Massey (California Institute of Technology).
NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team.
The Great Courses.
U.S. Navy photo by Ensign John Gay.

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