Archaeology to Opera
Simple Joy #5
Free is fun. And while making formal education free in a degree seeking context is a hot button topic I’m talking about the whet your appetite version today. My simple joy is learning a tad about everything under the sun through free online mini courses.
The very first course I took online was “Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites” through the University of Edinburgh. I love history and thought, hey why not?
Since then I have sampled a smorgasbord of free classes, including:
~Innovation: the Fashion Industry…..University of Leeds
~Music Psychology: Why Does Bohemian Rhapsody Make Us Feel So Good…Griffith University
~World of Wine: Grape to Glass…Adelaide University
~Religion and Science….University of Edinburgh
~Archaeoastronomy…Politecnico di Milano
~Star Trek: Inspiring Culture and Technology… Smithsonian Institute
~Inside Opera…King’s College London
~Pyramids of Ancient Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art & Archaeology…Harvard University
~Spirituality and Sensuality: Sacred Objects in Religious Life…Hamilton College
The courses typically run anywhere from two to eight weeks in length and, as you can tell, run the gamut subject wise. Prominent universities and colleges around the world host them.
I’m sure there are other sites but the ones that I’ve used are Future Learn, EdX, and Coursera. There are video lectures and short articles to read for every class. Go at your own pace. Quite honestly, read/click on whatever you want. Most courses give a LOT of information, even though they are considered “a taste of” classes.
My favorites?
Antiquities Trafficking and Art Theft at the University of Glasgow. It was so much more complex an issue than expected and so interesting that I actually considered training for a career in art law, particularly focusing on cultural heritage, provenance, and repatriation//restitution of stolen goods.
Magic in the Middle Ages through the Universitat de Barcelona was another great one. It inspired me to keep a notebook on things I research about the Middle Ages (yes, 1000 years’ worth of territory and and the whole globe…. but it’s just snippets that I write down). Also fascinating to see what people considered magical, what behavior was feared and punished.
A History of Royal Fashion with the University of Glasgow completely fed into my love of fashion history. There were some incredibly well preserved pieces and the stories behind them had me drooling.
I’m a school nerd. I love book learning- science and art categories, thank you. Simple joy. Gratis. Just waiting for you to Google and discover it.
Yours truly,
Vivie V.
