Online Learning — Introducing the Next Course

As I wrap up my MIT Open Course on Reading and Writing Short Stories, I spent a few hours yesterday looking at the other available courses online. To my surprise (and dismay), I saw that although all of the courses offered a very extensive reading list, most of the courses did not offer any lecture notes. The lecture notes which professor Shriann Lewitt uploaded to correspond with her reading selection was invaluable. I learned a lot from her notes and was looking forward to extending my knowledge with another literature class or perhaps even a course in Ancient history. Alas, without those helpful lecture notes, I am not sure how much I would get out of reading a list of random books. Luckily, however, I decided to check online to see if there were other Universities who offered free online courses and stumbled upon Coursera. I feel like a kid in a candy store. There are so many options, and more importantly, all of the lectures are on video so that I feel as if I am actually attending the lecture. I have decided to try a course on Ancient Egypt offered by the University of Pennsylvania. Like I did with the Reading and Writing Short Stories class, I will listen to the lectures online and blog about it. It will be a way of making myself accountable for the classes and keeping up with it over summer.

I have always loved the history of Ancient Civilizations, in particular, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. I grew up reading stories about the boy King Tutankhamun and Ramses the Great. I used to beg my parents to take our family vacations in Egypt but we invariably went somewhere in Korea or Japan. History has always been a way for me to ‘visit’ a country, regardless of time and distance. I look forward to starting this journey with all of you and sharing what I learn in Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization.