Modern poetry, as well as introductory courses in physics, psychology, and political science, are four of seven classes from Yale U. that the institution put online today. Not only are the courses free for anyone who is interested, but they are as close to being there as online technology allows.
“These are gavel-to-gavel presentations,” Tom Conroy, a university spokesman, told The Chronicle. “We’ve put everything online that we could, and I think that’s what makes this different.” Lectures can be downloaded and run in streaming video or in audio only. There are searchable transcripts of each lecture, as well as course syllabi, reading assignments, problem sets, and other materials.
Diana E.E. Kleiner, a professor of the history of art and classics and director of the project, which is called Open Yale Courses, said in a written statement that the project’s leaders “wanted everyone to be able to see and hear each lecture as if they were sitting in the classroom.”
The courses available are:
• Astronomy 160: Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics, with Professor Charles Bailyn.
• English 310: Modern Poetry, with Professor Langdon Hammer.
• Philosophy 176: Death, with Professor Shelly Kagan.
• Physics 200: Fundamentals of Physics, with Professor Ramamurti Shankar.
• Political Science 114: Introduction to Political Philosophy, with Professor Steven B. Smith.
• Psychology 110: Introduction to Psychology, with Professor Paul Bloom.
• Religious Studies 145: Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible), with Professor Christine Hayes.
The project also has international connections, with Open Yale Courses lectures broadcast over Chinese television and a satellite network in India. The lectures will also be available at 300 libraries and universities throughout the world, via a U.S. State Department project called American Corners. —Josh Fischman
