Gone are the days that require a tuition bill for higher learning – at least in some cases. Thanks to the generosity of colleges like MIT, Utah State University and Columbia University, curiosity seekers can review college materials, lectures and notes from past courses online through open courseware projects. Many times these open courses are free or charge a nominal fee. Subjects range from engineering to literature and nearly everything in between. It’s like getting a free education in whatever you desire without all the hours in classrooms.
Listed below are some interesting, fun and challenging open courses from several colleges and universities as well as a small list of other schools that host open courseware programs.
To find open courses, browse the list of current offerings for each school either by term, year or database. Some colleges do not offer the same courses each year or term.
Colleges and Universities with Open Courseware Programs
- Duke Law Center for the Study of Public Domain
- Fulbright School: FETP OpenCourseWare
- Harvard Extension School
- The University of California Open Access
- John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Open Courseware
- Tufts University Open Courseware
- The University of Notre Dame Open Courseware
- Utah State University Open Courseware
Open Courseware Classes from Berklee College of Music, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University
Berklee Shares.com Open Courseware
1. Berklee College of Music: Free Bass Guitar Lesson
2. Berklee College of Musics: Free Guitar Chords Lesson
3. Berklee College of Music: Free Voice Lesson
Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative
6. Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative: Visual Communication Design
Columbia Interactive Open Courseware
9. Columbia University: Slavery and Emancipation Series
10. Columbia University: The Impact of Technology on the Legal Profession
12. Columbia University: The Politics of Healthcare Series
13. Columbia University: No-Sweat Speaking
14. Columbia University: End of Life Decisions
15. Columbia University: Biography of the AIDS Epidemic Series
16. Columbia University: America since 1945 Series
17. Columbia University: Non-violent Power in Action Series
18. Columbia University: Covering Terrorism, A Two Part Seminar
19. Columbia University: The Politics of Pollution Series
20. Columbia University: Art and Understanding
21. Columbia University: Filmmaker’s Master Class with Milos Forman
22. Columbia University: “Pops,” Out Here in the Cause of Happiness: The Story of Louis Armstrong
23. Columbia University: Digital Video: An Introduction
24. Columbia University: Brand Leadership Series
25. Columbia University: Helping Students Cope with Trauma and Loss
26. Columbia University: War Reporting Series
27. Columbia University: Journalism in the Digital Age
28. Columbia University: Medical Ecology: Environmental Disturbance and Disease Series
29. Columbia University: The Dark Side of the Universe
30. Columbia University: Brain to Brain: Animal Communication
31. Columbia University: How Your Brain Works – Or Not!
32. Columbia University: Dinosaurs and the History of Life Series
33. Columbia University: Earth’s Variable Climate
34. Columbia University: Darwin, Mendel and the Diversity of Life
35. Columbia University: The History of the City of New York
36. Columbia University: The Shakespearean Sonnet and the Modern Voice
37. Columbia University: The Future of English
38. Columbia University: An Adventure with Words: James Joyce’s Ulysses
Gresham College – Lectures and Events
39. Gresham College: Financial Crisis? Do We Need More Regulation?
40. Gresham College: Divorce Law – A Disaster?
41. Gresham College: Bollywood and Mental Illness
44. MIT Open Courseware: Designing Your Life
45. MIT Open Courseware: A Clinical Approach to the Human Brain
46. MIT Open Courseware: Music Perception and Cognition
47. MIT Open Courseware: Human Reproductive Biology
48. MIT Open Courseware: The Creative Spark
49. MIT Open Courseware: Expository Writing: Autobiography – Theory and Practice
50. MIT Open Courseware: Writing and Reading Short Stories
51. MIT Open Courseware: Writing and Reading Poems
52. MIT Open Courseware: Writing and the Environment
54. MIT Open Courseware: Writing and Experience
55. MIT Open Courseware: Intro to Tech Communication
56. MIT Open Courseware: Writing and Reading the Essay
57. MIT Open Courseware: Rhetoric
58. MIT Open Courseware: Digital Poetry
59. MIT Open Courseware: Writing about Nature and Environmental Issues
60. MIT Open Courseware: The Science Essay
61. MIT Open Courseware: Documentary Photography and Photojournalism: Still Images of a World in Motion
63. MIT Open Courseware: Managerial Psychology
64. MIT Open Courseware: Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager
65. MIT Open Courseware: Popular Musics of the World
66. MIT Open Courseware: Beginning Costume Design and Construction
67. MIT Open Courseware: Hip Hop
68. MIT Open Courseware: Playwriting I
69. MIT Open Courseware: Dance Theory and Composition
70. MIT Open Courseware: Women’s Novels: A Weekly Book Club
71. MIT Open Courseware: Prohibition and Permission
72. MIT Open Courseware: Gender, Sexuality and Society
73. MIT Open Courseware: The Economic History of Work and Family
74. MIT Open Courseware: Dilemmas in Bio-Medical Ethics: Playing God or Doing Good?
75. MIT Open Courseware: Popular Narrative: Masterminds
76. MIT Open Courseware: The Contemporary American Family
77. MIT Open Courseware: Introduction to Astronomy
78. MIT Open Courseware: Hands-On Astronomy: Observing Stars and Planets
79. MIT Open Courseware: GPS: Where Are You?
80. MIT Open Courseware: The Solar System
81. MIT Open Courseware: Developmental Entrepreneurship
82. MIT Open Courseware: How To Learn (Almost) Anything
83. MIT Open Courseware: How To Make (Almost) Anything
84. MIT Open Courseware: Human Memory and Learning
85. MIT Open Courseware: Animal Behavior
86. MIT Open Courseware: Drugs, Politics and Culture
87. MIT Open Courseware: The Rise of Modern Science
88. MIT Open Courseware: The Civil War and Reconstruction
89. MIT Open Courseware: How to Stage a Revolution
90. MIT Open Courseware: American Classics
91. MIT Open Courseware: Introduction to Fiction
92. MIT Open Courseware: Reading Fiction: Dysfunctional Families
93. MIT Open Courseware: Bestsellers: Detective Fiction
94. MIT Open Courseware: World Literatures: Travel Writing
95. MIT Open Courseware: Studies in Drama: Too Hot to Handle – Forbidden Plays in Modern America
96. MIT Open Courseware: Romantic Poetry
97. MIT Open Courseware: Magic, Witchcraft and the Spirit World
98. MIT Open Courseware: Anthropology of War and Peace
99. MIT Open Courseware: American Dream: Exploring Class in the U.S.
100. MIT Open Courseware: The Fountain of Life: From Dolly to Customized Embryonic Stem Cells
Open courses offered from colleges and universities are not a substitute for a college education and do not count toward a degree unless otherwise noted. Have fun learning and be on the look out for new offerings from the colleges and universities listed above and in your area.