I've been interested in history for a long time. So as I commute to work from the Cleveland area, I've been listening to lectures by Yale professor Paul H. Freedman from his course, "The Early Middle Ages, 284-1000."
Freedman generously allowed his course to be placed on the Internet as part of Yale University's Open Yale Courses program, which in turn is part of the 450 free online college courses compiled at Open Culture.
Some of the classes, such as Freedman's, are available as both video and audio. Some are offered only as streaming video.
Course areas include architecture, the world of the ancient Greek and Roman classics, economics, film, geography, law, literature, astronomy, biology, physics ... you get the idea. There's a wide range of courses.
I'll probably listen to lectures on quantum mechanics and ancient Greece when I finish Professor Freedman's course. The ancient Greece lectures are by Donald Kagan, a big name classical historian.
Comments
Thanks Tom,
I am going to look into this, prefer audio when I can as my sound board is shot and i cannot listen on the computer.
" Playaways" obtained through the library are also excellent. I listen to them while I work around the house, as they are like an MP3 player with boioks. Kat
Interested in idependent learning? Check out Khan Academy.
It is something one should learn independently.
I'm halfway through Kagans ancient Greece series. It's more sociology than history, but it beats watching a sitcom any day.
@ Mr. Jackson:
Thanks for the heads up.
Reads like a good use of your "dead" driving time. However, do stay focused while driving. :)
There are some very interesting socio-economic parallels between the growth of the Roman state and the debasement of their currency and our present profligate govt. and its reliance on fiat money.
You can also often obtain MP3 downloads from The Ludwig von Mises Institute website should you wish to educate yourself in Austrian Economics:
http://www.mises.org/
thanks tom for the web pages. people should never stop learning.