Posted on 09/27/2019 5:58:31 AM PDT by karpov
The task of learning never ends for those who want to grow in wisdom. But in a world of eight- or ten-hour workdays, traffic jams, and daily responsibilities, it can be easy to put the life of the mind on the back burner.
Besides time constraints, another difficulty is that education is expensive. For those still working to pay off their student loans, the prospect of paying more for additional learning opportunities is simply not justifiable.
Fortunately, neither the barriers of time nor money have to inhibit continuing one’s education. There are a myriad of free online resources available that give people the flexibility to learn when they have the time.
The Martin Center found three online sources that offer free courses on important topics such as political and moral philosophy, the history of Western Civilization, and civil liberties.
Hillsdale College Online Courses
…That is higher education: the knowing of things that are the most completely satisfying and good for their own sake. — Larry P. Arnn
Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, is a beacon of traditional American thought. It was founded in 1844 and Larry P. Arnn is its 12th president.
Students at Hillsdale are required to take a comprehensive general education curriculum known as the “core curriculum.” Hillsdale’s free online courses are modeled on the core curriculum, as well as other highly popular classes. Some of the free courses include Western Heritage, American Heritage, the Great Books 101 and 102, Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
The Constitution 101 course is Hillsdale’s most popular online course—it’s been taken by more than 800,000 students worldwide. All of the lectures are delivered by Hillsdale faculty and about 1,000 students enroll in Hillsdale’s online courses per day.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
Ping
Ping
good info
My kid (adult) listens to pod casts throughout the day. While cooking, driving, working when appropriate.
Of course, having young ears helps.
I have been listening to audiobooks for nearly two decades now, and few technology advances have been as wonderful to me as that. I have had an Audible account nearly since they opened (I think) and have been getting three books a month from them for all these years...love it, just love it.
I had a two hour commute home yesterday (16 miles!!!!!!!) and if it weren’t for the audiobooks....I would have been out of my ever-lovin mind!
Also, I used to be a prolific, obsessive reader. For about ten years now, I haven’t been able to read a book. My eyes just can’t do it no matter what glasses I get, no matter what I do.
Audiobooks and podcasts have been a lifesaver for me.
The book itself is an almost impossible read. But the audio book is wonderful. It gives a complete history of everything from creation and leading up to The Lord of The Rings books.
It's not short but it is fascinating.
Bkmk
I might do just that...thank you for the recommendation.
Interestingly, I have always been a reader, I read Moby Dick when I was 7 or 8, but I didn’t become a really heavy reader until halfway through my tour in the Navy, when I read “The Lord of The Rings” and I couldn’t put it down.
That kind of put me into reading hyperdrive and since then I became one of those people that would read books until 4 AM because I couldn’t put them down.
But I just couldn’t read “The Simarillion”. Is there more than one version-I want to make sure I get the one with a good reader...it makes all the difference to me!
Bookmark
bkmk
As for the Audible version (unabridged) the reader is Martin Shaw. He is a British actor with a huge list of credits (Inspector George Gently) in TV and movies. I find his voice very easy to listen to.
just completed winston churchill course from hillsdale ... great course ... highly recommend ... and it’s totally free ...
bookmark
That helps, thanks!
The Silmarillion (First Age) and Akallabeth (Second Age) are feigned history, somewhat like oral tradition. Tolkien was a leading expert on Beowulf.
They were written before the other books. No one would publish them; his son (and confidant) published them posthumously. (Even The Fellowship of the Ring was almost a vanity publishing by Houghton-Mifflin, family friends, who thought no one would read it, and the first printing was only 500 copies.)
They must be taken on their own merits, similar to old Norse Myth: separate stories that are loosely linked as an ongoing narrative.
I did not find them unreadable, and have read them a few times, although certainly they are not as enjoyable as a cohesive narrative like TLotR, which I have read more than two dozen times.
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were based upon these books. Reading them expands upon many of the overt and covert references in them (especially in The Council of Elrond). There are many “Easter Eggs” to be found.
My favorite Easter Egg: Gimli the Dwarf offended the Silvan Elves - and Sindarin Prince Celeborn - by requesting a lock of Galadriel’s hair. The Dwarves and Elves were still nominally enemies, and Galadriel, a Noldorin Princess, was virtually a queen. But she saw he had a good heart, and she granted his request.
This takes on enormous resonance after reading The Silmarillion: Galadriel refused the same request three times from her cousin Feanor (who wanted to preserve her most beautiful hair in one of his creations), because she saw he did not have a good heart.
Feanor and Galadriel were both of the First Born in Valinor, and were the two most personally powerful Elves of all time.
I have LPs of JRRT reading passages from TLotR. His accent is thick and fast, so I had difficulty following him when I was younger.
“There are a myriad of free”
The writer should take a basic English usage course if one is available.
The mug is round. The jar is round.
They should call it ‘Roundtine’.
He’s my protégé!
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