Dear Teachers,
Are you interested in further studies? Try these Open Online Free Courses and Reading Material.
Are you interested in further studies? Try these Open Online Free Courses and Reading Material.
"A liberal arts education can be the foundation for a career in just about
any field, from politics to business, not just those directly related toliberal arts majors. Through these courses, students learn how to solve
problems, think critically, write well, and gain a whole host of important
facts about history and culture. That’s what makes these kinds of courses
so essential in a well-rounded college degree program, and why so many
colleges require students to take them, regardless of major.
Even if you’ve already signed up to take the basic liberal arts courses at
your school, whether for your major or to fulfill general education
requirements, it never hurts to take a few more or to expand your knowledge
beyond the material covered in a course. We previously compiled a list of
the *best free STEM
resources*<http://www.
and
now it’s the liberal arts’ turn, with loads of courses, lectures, reading
material, and more on this list for you to look at and learn from in your
free time.
*Universities*
These universities offer a wide range of liberal arts courses that students
can access for free.
1. *MIT OpenCourseWare <http://ocw.mit.edu/courses>: *MIT offers one of
the largest collections of open courses anywhere on the web. While you
might think they would just be STEM-related, there are actually a good
number of liberal arts courses to choose from as well.
2. *The Open University
<http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/
are so many liberal arts courses to choose from on the Open University,
from Art in Venice to the French Revolution, that you could take one every
week and still not tackle them all.
3. *Open Yale Courses <http://oyc.yale.edu/>: *Yale offers free courses
in diverse fields, including African American Studies, Classics, English,
History, and Art History, among many more.
4. *UC Berkeley Webcasts <http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
from courses in great liberal arts fields like anthropology and psychology
when you head to UC Berkeley’s open learning site.
5. *Carnegie Mellon Open Learning
Initiative<http://oli.web.cmu.
: *The bulk of the material on the OLI is technology-focused, but you can
also find courses on French, speech, and soon, psychology.
6. *University of Notre Dame OCW <http://ocw.nd.edu/>: *Notre Dame
boasts an impressive collection of OCW in the liberal arts, with something
to meet almost any students’ needs.
7. *UCI OpenCourseWare <http://ocw.uci.edu/courses/
the University of California-Irvine’s OCW page to get access to courses in
the social sciences, education, and the humanities.
8. *OpenUW <http://www.outreach.
of Washington offers a limited number of courses for free, but some are on
really great topics like the Civil War, Greek mythology, Hamlet,
Shakespeare, and even JRR Tolkien.
9. *Columbia Interactive <http://ci.columbia.edu/ci>: *While this site
is no longer being updated with new material, the existing courses that are
offered here are well worth your time to check out, covering everything
from poli sci to literature.
10. *Open Oxford
University<http://itunes.
: *You don’t have to get accepted to this prestigious British school to
take courses there. Instead, head to their iTunes U site and start learning
about literature, nature, and much more.
11. *Stanford University on iTunes
U<http://itunes.apple.com/us/
: *Stanford is another school with a standout collection of courses on
iTunes U. Students can find everything from history to fine arts through
the California school’s free offerings.
12. *UMass Boston OCW <http://ocw.umb.edu/courselist
the free resources offered by the University of Massachusetts-Boston.
There’s a great mix of science, tech, and liberal arts courses to take
advantage of.
13. *Cornell University<http://itunes.
: *Architecture, communication, business, and music are just a few of the
topics courses and lectures from Cornell focus on through their iTunes U
site.
14. *Cambridge
University<http://itunes.
: *Find news, lectures, and even course material on this prestigious
school’s iTunes U site.
15. *Capilano University OCW <http://ocw.capilanou.ca/>: *Capilano offers
free courses in liberal arts topics like art history, anthropology,
English, geography, and philosophy.
16. *University of
Wisconsin-Madison<http://
: *Leading professors at UWM share their expertise through courses and
lectures featured on this site.
17. *King’s College London
Podcasts<http://itunes.apple.
: *Through free resources at King’s College, you can take a course in the
history of philosophy or engage yourself in a humanities audio tour.
18. *NYU on iTunes
U<http://ax.search.itunes.
: *Listen to lectures on subjects like French, Spanish, sustainability,
architecture, and philosophy through NYU’s iTunes U portal.
19. *Arizona State University
OCW<http://itunes.apple.com/
: *ASU provides a mix of OCW and lectures through iTunes U that can help
you learn about a diverse selection of subjects, from geography to culture.
20. *World Lecture Hall <http://wlh.webhost.utexas.
the World Lecture Hall site to help you find courses from leading
universities around the world. Search by course, topic, or university.
*Courses*
You can also find great courses offered outside of universities, like those
listed here.
21. *Connexions <http://cnx.org/content>: *On Connexions, you can search
for free educational material on just about any liberal arts subject you
can think of.
22. *Wikiversity <http://en.wikiversity.org/
you want to learn about architecture, ethnology, or history, head to
Wikiversity for free course materials.
23. *BBC Learning <http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning
courses in topics like history, English, and religious studies, but some of
their most popular courses can help you learn one of dozens of languages.
24. *Fathom <http://www.fathom.com/
free seminars from around the world in liberal arts subjects when you use
Fathom.
25. *Saylor.org <http://www.saylor.org/>:*This free collection of
college-level courses offers students the chance to learn about everything
from art history to English lit.
*Lectures*
If you are more interested in a short lecture than a whole course, there
are plenty of options out there. Here are some that draw on professors,
scholars, experts, and other high-quality sources.
26. *Harvard @ Home <http://athome.harvard.edu/>: *Even if you live
thousands of miles from Harvard you can get access to their lectures
through the resources offered on their Harvard @ Home site.
27. *Forum Network <http://forum-network.org/>: *The Forum Network
collects great lectures from authors, scholars, and public figures on just
about every subject imaginable.
28. *TED <http://www.ted.com/>: *Some of the most brilliant minds in the
world have lectured at TED events, and you can see what they have to say by
visiting the organization’s website.
29. *Princeton WebMedia<http://hulk03.
: *Princeton is home to some seriously amazing lectures, a collection of
which you’ll find here.
30. *Academic Earth <http://www.academicearth.org/
Earth to find high-quality lectures from top universities in subjects like
religious studies, art, history, literature, and political science.
31. *MIT Video <http://video.mit.edu/channels
arts-related channels on MIT’s great lecture site to explore the cutting
edge of the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
32. *Boston College Front Row <http://frontrow.bc.edu/
score yourself a front-row seat to some of the best lectures at BC when you
visit their website.
33. *Conversations with History <http://conversations.
University of California Berkeley sponsors and shares this seriously
amazing series on history.
34. *London School of Economics
Podcasts<http://www2.lse.ac.
: *Give yourself a free economic education by listening to a few of the
hundreds of podcasts uploaded to the London School of Economics’ website.
35. *Public Radio
International<http://itunes.
: *Here you’ll find some great stories from public radio stations, covering
topics like history, culture, and language.
36. *Museum of Modern
Art<http://itunes.apple.com/
: *You can learn more about art history by listening to the resources
offered by the MOMA, exploring the works of great artists like Jackson
Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman.
37. *UCLA OID Webcasts <http://www.oid.ucla.edu/
Instructional Development at UCLA shares free video lectures of important
campus events featuring great speakers and faculty research here.
38. *Duke University<http://itunes.
: *Get a free education from Duke when you head to iTunes. Currently, the
only full course they offer is in chemistry, but there is an amazing
collection of free lectures that can be great learning tools.
*Educational Resources*
Do research, learn, and collaborate using these great educational resources
in the liberal arts.
39. *Bio Network <http://www.biography.com/
is a great place to read more about some of the most important figures in
world history.
40. *Library of Congress American
Memory<http://memory.loc.gov/
:*On the Library of Congress site you’ll find documents, photographs,
music, and more from some of the most pivotal events in American history.
41. *National Archives <http://www.archives.gov/>: *Whether you’re doing
research or just browsing, the National Archives are a great place to learn
more about American history and life in other eras.
42. *Federal Resources for Educational Excellence<http://free.ed.gov/
: *The U.S. Department of Education offers some great learning materials
here on a wide range of liberal arts subjects.
43. *Smarthistory <http://smarthistory.
Khan Academy, this online history learning tool puts standard history
textbooks to shame.
44. *Livemocha <http://www.livemocha.com/>: *If you’re trying to learn a
new language, give this interactive social learning site a try.
45. *Smithsonian
Folkways<http://itunes.apple.
: *The Smithsonian shares its collection of traditional music from around
the world on this iTunes U archive. It’s a great way to broaden your
understanding of world cultures.
- *Reading Material*
- Pair your free courses and lectures with some free reading material offered
through these sites.
46. *Wikibooks <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/
access to a number of free textbooks and reading materials, which can often
be a great supplement for other free courses.
47. *Google Scholar <http://scholar.google.com/>: *Use Google Scholar to
find academic articles on just about anything, including the social
sciences and psychology.
48. *Project Gutenberg <http://www.gutenberg.org/
books reach a certain age, their copyrights expire and they’re free to
share. You’ll find hundreds of these books, some great works of literature,
on the Project Gutenberg site.
49. *Bibliomania <http://www.bibliomania.com/>: *Bibliomania is another
great place to look for free books, from fiction to drama to poetry.
50. *FlatWorld
Knowledge<http://catalog.
: *FlatWorld develops open source textbooks. Currently, you can access
great reads on writing, college life, job hunting, geography, history, and
psychology."
- Thanks to Mr. Pawan Agrawal, U.T. of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
- Regards!
- --
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