Hundreds of college courses now are available for free online, including classes taught at prestigious schools, such as Yale, Stanford, MIT and University of California, Berkeley. You won’t earn college credits for viewing or listening to these online courses, and you can’t ask the professors questions or take the exams, but neither must you live close to campus or pay tuition or fees. You don’t have to follow a preset class schedule or do homework, either. Just access recorded video or audio files of the lectures whenever you like.
You can find links to these free online college courses at my Web site www.OpenCulture.com/freeonlinecourses, or you can check the following…
iTunes U (www.Apple.com/education/itunes-u). Apple’s online music and movie store, iTunes, also offers free access to college courses in video and audio format. You must download free iTunes software to your computer to take advantage if you have not done so already. Courses available through iTunes also can be downloaded to an iTunes-compatible mobile device, such as an iPod, iPad or iPhone.
YouTube EDU (www.YouTube.com/edu) offers free online access to many college courses in video format without the need to download any software. A series of lectures may be listed out of order in YouTube search results, but the lectures usually are numbered so that a course can be viewed in its proper sequence.
Directly through a university’s Web site. A few universities offer public access to select classes right on their own Web sites. Examples: MIT’s OpenCourseWare (www.ocw.MIT.edu)… Yale’s Open Yale Courses (www.oyc.Yale.edu).
Here, 10 compelling courses available free online…
The American Novel Since 1945. Yale English professor Amy Hungerford examines 14 novels published during the past 65 years, including Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood, Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, Philip Roth’s The Human Stain and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated.
Length: 26 lectures of about 45 to 50 minutes each.
Availability: Audio and video files are available through Yale’s Web site (www.oyc.Yale.edu/English) and through iTunes. Video files also are available through YouTube (www.You Tube.com/YaleCourses).
Geography of World Cultures. Stanford University international history lecturer Martin Lewis discusses the spread of languages, religions and ethnic groups around the globe. He explores how different parts of the world differ culturally and delves into the historical forces that helped create this diversity.
Length: 10 lectures of about 100 to 120 minutes each.
Availability: Audio files are available though iTunes.
Historical Jesus. Stanford University religious studies professor Thomas Sheehan digs deep into the literary and historical evidence to uncover what the actual Jesus of Nazareth likely said and did during his lifetime. Sheehan uncovers both differences and similarities between this historical Jesus and the figure traditionally portrayed in the New Testament.
Length: 10 lectures of about 85 to 110 minutes each.
Availability: Audio files are available on iTunes.
Human Behavioral Biology. Stanford University professor of biology and neurology Robert Sapolsky explains how biological factors influence human behaviors, including aggression, religious belief and sexuality, in this wide-ranging and highly engaging course.
Length: 25 lectures of about 50 to 105 minutes each.
Availability: Video files are available on iTunes or YouTube (www.YouTube.com/StanfordUniversity), then search the course’s title.
Introduction to Political Philosophy. Yale University political science professor Steven B. Smith explores the work of some of the most influential political thinkers in the history of the Western world, including Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Tocqueville.
Length: 24 lectures of about 40 to 50 minutes each.
Availability: Audio and video files are available through Yale’s site (www.oyc.Yale.edu/Political-Science) and iTunes. Video files are available on YouTube (www.YouTube.com/Yale Courses).
Introduction to the Old Testament. Yale University religious studies professor Christine Hayes discusses the Old Testament as it relates to the history and culture of the Ancient Near East. She also explores how the Old Testament has served as a foundation for Western civilization.
Length: 24 lectures of about 50 minutes each.
Availability: Audio and video files are available though Yale’s site (www.oyc.Yale.edu/Religious-Studies) and YouTube.
Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? Harvard University government professor Michael Sandel asks students to confront difficult moral issues in this highly popular and thought-provoking course. Example: Is it right to kill one person if doing so saves five others?
Length: 12 lectures of about one hour each.
Availability: Video files are available at the Web site Justice with Michael Sandel (www.JusticeHarvard.org), on YouTube (www.YouTube.com/user/Harvard, then select “Justice Series” from the menu) and on iTunes.
Physics for Future Presidents. Physics professor Richard Muller at the University of California, Berkeley, examines real-world issues that involve physics, including nuclear power, space travel, terrorist weapons and global warming. The course is designed to be accessible even to those who have limited math and science training. It has been named UC Berkeley’s best class in a poll by the student paper.
Length: 26 lectures of about 60 to 90 minutes each.
Availability: Audio files and video files are available through Berkeley’s Web site (http://Webcast.Berkeley.edu, select “Courses,” then select the Fall 2006 semester and scroll down to “Physics 10”). If you have trouble locating or accessing these files, video files also are available on iTunes and YouTube (www.YouTube.com, then search for “Physics 10”).
Science, Magic and Religion. UCLA history professor Courtenay Raia discusses how science and religion evolved over the course of human history. She also examines how belief in magic changed over time.
Length: 19 lectures of about 60 to 70 minutes each.
Availability: Video files are available on iTunes and YouTube (www.YouTube.com/UCLACourses).
The Stanford Mini Med School. More than 30 scientists and physicians from Stanford University School of Medicine contributed to this informative introduction to human health, health care and recent medical research.
Length: The course is divided into three sections — Fall, Winter and Spring (though you can view them all at once). Each section consists of 10 video lectures, each lecture generally lasting about 110 to 120 minutes.
Availability: View directly through the Stanford Web site (www.Med.Stanford.edu/minimed) or through iTunes or YouTube.
