Re: "The Teaching Company"...

[Adsos Letter]

Has anyone had experience with the series of college-level lectures produced by "The Teaching Company"?

They cover a whole range of subjects; from History to Philosophy, Science, Religion, etc.

I have purchased many of these series of lectures, and I have a question for anyone else who may have experienced them:

Do you notice a certain consistent bias in their Historical and Religious lectures? If so, what? I have my own view on this, but I would first like to hear what others think.

:D

[Kiouni]

1. MIT offers their courses free online:

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

Why pay for it?

[Adsos Letter]

3. Thanks for the link Kiouni!

Why pay for it, indeed! It also looks as if the MIT site has a much broader range of material to offer.

Thanks.

:hi:

[Jim__]

2. I've never taken their History or Religion courses

I did take a (I think) Literary Criticism course from them. It was pretty good; but when we got up to modern critics, the course definitely did not give a legitimate analysis. The professor was somewhat right wing, and definitely religious in his outlook. That wasn't a problem though most of the course; but, when we got to modern and contemporary critics, the treatment was terrible; basically dismissing most views as irrelevant.

I've also noticed they have a Linguistics course given by (I think) John McWhorter. I tried to read a book on linguistics by him once and had to give it up because it was largely right-wing talking points.

[Adsos Letter]

4. Thanks for your feedback Jim!

Many of their courses in the area of Religion or History (especially when it comes to the history of American political ideas) seemed to me to be taking a definite swing to the Right.

I wondered if I was the only one to sense that...

:D :hi:

[MountainLaurel]

7. This is a great discussion

I'm a librarian and just got a catalog from them recently. This is the kind of info that I need in order to make an informed decision about purchasing things.

[artemisia1]

8. Don't Decide Too Quickly...

Their best courses are in the sciences. The Modern Physics (for non-scientists) course I have from them is EXCELLENT. Also, the instructor was a strong believer in Climate Change (Global Warming) before it became fashionable. Their Astronomy course is a classic. I've never purchased from their Humanities collection, although I have friends who have, so I can't speak to any bias there, but the science courses, in my experience, are taught by open minded, probably liberal, instructors. Recommended with the caveat that they are PRICEY!

[MountainLaurel]

9. That last point is the largest problem.

And the biggest obstacle: My monthly budget for audiobooks is about $150.

[Adsos Letter]

10. Their courses are offered at significant discounts...

regularly, and on a rotating basis. That is the only way I'll buy them; otherwise, they are too costly.

[Retrograde]

5. McWhorter acknowledges his political differences with Chomsky

but I thought he tried to be fair when discussing his linguistic contributions. I didn't think the lectures themselves were particularly political.

My library carries a lot of their courses - most of them seem to be about classical music, which doesn't interest me that much. I'm thinking of trying some of their history courses: I like listening to spoken word when I walk or garden, so I may as well learn something in the process!

[ramapo]

6. I've tried a few

After getting samples CDs from Teaching Company for a couple of years, which had very impressive presentations, I broke down and ordered a few courses; jazz history, Hitler, and the development of language. The Hitler course was the best of the bunch, the jazz course a bit lame, and the language course still waits for me to finish it. It was interesting but is long and I lost the inspiration to listen to the rest.

What amazes me is the number of catalogs that I've received since I placed my order. Within a week I got offers to order more courses. I hadn't even had a chance to finish one yet. It seems I get something in the mail weekly, which I now just dump into the recycling.

Thanks for the pointer to the MIT courses. I stumbled upon that long ago and forgot about it. I'm going to give them a try. Can't argue with free either. I only bought the Teaching Company courses that were on sale. Some are rather pricey.