Monday, February 26, 2007

The Great Courses


I love opening the mail at work. Today there was a catalog for The Great Courses, available on DVD, CD, audiotape ... or you can download them and transfer them to a CD or mp3 player.

The Great Courses are offered by The Teaching Company, and they're described in the catalog as "the perfect anytime, anywhere intellectual indulgence. We've created more than 2,000 hours of stunning courses in literature, philosophy, history, the arts and sciences -- the finest achievements in human endeavor, thought, and expression -- yours for the sheer joy of learning."

Well, that just tickles every fancy I have! I'm not a big fiction reader, so books on tape don't have a huge appeal for me, but this just makes me salivate like Pavlov's pet puppy! And the best part is that they make it affordable!

If you sign up on their website, they'll send you information when a new course is offered, let you know when a live lecture is planned in your area, and store your "wish list" of lectures by category ... from anatomy and astronomy to world history and whatnot. They'll notify you when the course you're waiting for goes on sale ... and every course they offer goes on sale at least once a year.

They also have free topical and seasonal lectures to download, so I downloaded the 45 minute lecture on Martin Luther King. Handily, it takes exactly 45 minutes to drive to work.

Between Ev's Sirius radio with all those NPR stations and my wish list of Great Courses, we should know everything there is to know ... in about 2,000 hours.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy .... : )

Kwach

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, you'll like this then. I read this week that you can take any of the online courses (and there's a lot of them) offered through MIT (I believe, but I can check for you). The only caveat is that you can't take them for credit or if enrolled at the school for any other classes.

Kate

Kwach said...

Woohoooo! I love discovering sneaky ways to learn great stuff!

Here's another interesting website, provided by an online friend. These are all free:

http://www.eliteskills.com/free_education/

There are free courses from several universities, free videos, online documentaries and language courses.

:)

I should retire and earn a PhD from the comfort of my desk chair, eh?

Kwach