I just uploaded my 100th video on my Youtube Channel–JamesTaborVideos just this morning:
I have tried to organize everything into topical Playlists so you can find your way around based on your current interests. I will continue expanding and improving that organization as I add more materials, to allow the most efficient navigation. I am also coordinating the video topics with posts here on my blog going back to 2006 when I began officially blogging.
When I began to develop the channel just one year ago this week, I had no idea it would grow so rapidly–or in the ways that it has, drawing thousands of subscribers and millions of views. I think at that point I had less than a dozen videos and under 300 subscribers–now grown to nearly 23 thousand! I hardly ever paid much attention to the channel itself. It was just something I had begun in 2012 without much thought other than perhaps putting up a few things here and there.
All that changed last year. I was making plans to retire after 43 years of teaching at three major universities–Notre Dame, William and Mary, and UNC Charlotte–and was rethinking how I wanted to continue to pursue my research, writing, and other academic pursuits.
My idea was to begin to use Youtube to make my work–whether interviews, lectures, or other video presentations–available to a much wider audience beyond the “academic” world of my students and colleagues. Several of my books had already begun to draw major media attention and a sizable base of loyal non-specialist readers, who mostly kept up via this blog. But, as it turns out, stepping into the Youtube world was an entirely new experience. I would liken it to trying to trying to drink from a fire-hose. One of my videos on the Dead Sea scrolls, for example, has drawn over 5.5 million views–a level of interest I had never even dreamed of.
I have a lot planned for 2023 as I enter into this second year with the Channel. If you have not done so yet, I invite you to Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/user/jamestaborvideos, and you can also hit the little “bell” for notifications if you want to keep up with new videos I will be uploading.
Stay tuned…
P.S. If you have considered signing up for the Mark Course, “Creating Jesus: Why Mark’s Gospel Was Forgotten,” and just not made the move yet, here is the link: https://sales.mvpcourses.com/firstgospel/. I hope you will take the plunge. I am getting really positive feedback from those who have completed it so far. There is no required homework or exams–it is a mini-course built around seven video lectures with course guides and other materials along the way.
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