Hey. If you’re looking for something productive to do with that new Christmas iPod, why not load it up with class sessions taught by professors from major universities, huh? Or if you’re angling for a new Christmas iPod, why not tell your parents you can use it to listen to class sessions taught by professors from major universities! 😉
Yale University has made several undergraduate-level courses available to the public, in both downloadable video and audio format. Choose from Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics, Death (Yikes. Don’t panic—it’s a philosophy course!), Fundamentals of Physics, Introduction to Political Philosophy, Introduction to Psychology, and Intro. to the Old Testament.
I’m currently listening to the English course in Modern Poetry, myself, but I’ll probably pick up the Psychology course next, just for kicks.
Meanwhile, over at UC Berkeley, they have a whole raft of courses downloadable as bona fide podcasts. Chose your course, click a link, and the whole thing loads up in iTunes or your favorite podcast-crunching software. I’m currently listening to The History of the Ancient Mediterranean World.
How do I find time to listen to this stuff? Well, I do have a dog to walk. Twice a day. If you’ve got mind-numbing repetitive tasks you have to do, why not consider using up those spare brain cycles? Surprise your folks by vacuuming, washing dishes, cleaning—and listen. Not only will you get smarter, but you’ll build up brownie points! 😀 No generation before ours has had such easy access to this kind of information and expertise. Go grab some! Sure, some of it might be a little over your head, but why should that stop you? 😛
[Post photo: “Library of Adams House (Harvard)” (cc) Paul Lowry/flickr]