Comments on: Free Philosophy Courses

Free Philosophy Courses

anotherpanacea — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:27:08 -0800

A while back I whipped up a guide to free podcasts and online resources in response to budget cuts in the US and UK that have begun to threaten the existence of philosophy departments. It's by far the most popular thing I've ever written. This new page is intended as a continually updating version of that one-off post, and I'd appreciate advice on how to structure it and suggestions on good resources you've found.

Some colleagues in the DC/Baltimore area have discussed integrating these resources with grassroots organizations like the Baltimore Free School model or a Maryland/DC version of the Bard Prison Initiative. So I'm interested to know if anyone has experience in these areas and would be interested in corresponding with us.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:11:59 -0800

If we had more good science funding in this country, we could just design a computer to do this kind of retrograde humanities thinking for us. Problem solved!

By: chndrcks

chndrcks — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:25:33 -0800

I love free, online courses, but it was hard tracking down philosophy courses, so this is great. I think a big part of the problem is how important discussion is in these courses (as important as lab in a chemistry class). It would be interesting to see which programs offer a forum for discussion and how often those forums are used.

If you ever need help with this project, feel free to contact me.

By: Oli D.

Oli D. — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:39:38 -0800

Yes , forum for discussion ! The books are there , but it's hard to have a conversation with them .

By: anotherpanacea

anotherpanacea — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:01:30 -0800

Update: A group of us will be offering a course at the Baltimore Free School in late March and April. Right now we imagine that we'll focus on metaphysical and political conceptions of freedom. With three professors and all these podcasts, though, I'm not sure we're really achieving the efficiency and broad access goals that initially motivated me.

chndricks, Oli D.-

Do you think there would be value in supplying and moderating such a forum for discussion? Obviously, giving people a place to post questions and reflections is easy, but if it became popular it'd be quite difficult to moderate. That's why I decided to point people towards already-existing forums where such discussions already take place.

By: anotherpanacea

anotherpanacea — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:31:53 -0800

Here's the Baltimore Free School course we'll be teaching in March and April.