Staff Writer Kianna Eberle and Joey Kobara investigate college online courses. Story continued from April 1 newspaper.

College Courses

In an age of technology, sleep deprivation, and dorm beds that sound so much comfier than a frigid lecture hall, more and more students are deciding to skip out on their college lectures. But fear not! With many of the most prestigious colleges beginning to put quite a few of their course lectures online, one can watch all the calculus and lit theory they want without ever leaving their extra long twin duvet nest. Not only college students, but anyone who has a wild urge to watch some PhD rant can go to sites likes academicearth.com and watch a plethora of different college lectures on all sorts of subjects. And as crazy as it sounds, some of them are even pretty interesting. SDA and the school district as a whole will soon be employing such technology as well. Though the array of classes available will be much smaller and will have a focus on reading a text rather than on watching lectures, you may still be able to cozy up with your laptop and indulge your mind with the wonders and horrors of Freshman Health, or something of that nature.

Yale English professor Amy Hungerford teaches a class called “The American Novel Since 1945” with a whole series of lectures analyzing different novels from this period including one focusing on “The Crying of Lot 49” by Thomas Pynchon.  She analyzes a lot of the themes and says some thought-provoking things about Oedipa, the main character, while also putting the novel into more of a historical perspective.

The depth that she went into with the analysis of Oedipa’s character was really interesting. She tied the way that she navigates in the book into the historical situation that women were in in the sixties. She also talked about the strange dichotomy between outward activism and inward focus and development that existed in the sixties especially in Berkeley, where parts of the novel take place, and how the struggles that Oedipa faces can be examined through this view.

I was introduced to lots of new ideas that never crossed my mind while I was reading the book or talking with both teachers and the student book club. Yet many things she said also built upon old ideas I had had about the novel, making it all the more involving and engaging for me. Lots of the things she said built upon old ideas I had had about the novel which made it more engaging and fun to listen to.  I got a lot more out of watching the lecture because I had actually read the material that Hungerford was talking about.

I was a little apprehensive originally about watching a lecture on your computer rather than in real life, thinking that the impersonal aspect might force it to lose its magic. However, I honestly didn’t feel much of a difference. I watched it full screen and I think that the experience was hardly any different from sitting near the back of the lecture hall.

I watched a Harvard philosophy lecture called “The Morality of Murder” from the course called “Justice.” The professor talked in depth about the classic question of whether it is morally permissible to kill one man to save five, among some other moral questions.

The lecture definitely made me think about the issue and reminded me of some old ideas I had had in regards to morality and utilitarianism and such. I think that being able to be “inside” of a Harvard lecture hall and see all of the faces of the students and have such a good view of the lecturer was almost preferable to being in the actual lecture hall. There were no distractions and I think I had a better view than a few hundred of the students in there.

Part of a 100-level philosophy course, the material was presented in a way which made it pretty easy to grasp. Nonetheless, it did make me think about some issues and teach me some new things. I got by perfectly well without having done any reading or having much background knowledge of the subject.

Having these sorts of courses available to the public is a great opportunity. If you are willing to commit an hour or so, you can watch a college lecture for free that will probably teach you some really interesting things. Not only that, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of lectures online and they are so specialized to so many different areas so you are sure to find one about something you are really interested in.

-Kianna Eberle

The Old Testament

The lecture I watched was titled “Studying the Old Testament” in the section Religious Studies. The Lecture was given by Christine Hayes from Yale University.

Sporting a turtle neck, an outdated haircut from the 90’s, and large grandpa glasses, Hayes appearance was boring at best. Her lecture was equally as dull.

First off, there was no introduction to her lecture. She jumped right into the boring history of the ancient Israelites, her voice cracking every few sentences. Then she explained that the class is required to read the Bible. Yes, a two-inch thick book about the growth and development of Christianity as a religion.

Although the lecture itself was boring, the information was informative and organized. According to Hayes, you must read the Bible in three perspectives-as a historian, a literary critic, and a religious participant. I have never taken a college course before, but it seemed very legitimate. The vocabulary of the lecture was a little bit complex, but understandable. It was of decent length: 45 minutes. And notes would have been a necessity to the class.

Overall it was kind of boring and I didn’t really learn anything interesting.

Joey Kobara