Hillsdale’s course, Classic Children’s Literaturecame on line this week. I’m half way through. All perfect scores which is utterly meaningless.
I’ve taken a few Hillsdale courses before. Graduate seminars they are not. More like story hour for grownups. Which is not to say I don’t enjoy them, I do. Do I learn stuff? Sure!
Here’s the structure of Classic Children’s Literature. There are nine video/audio lectures of about 25 minutes each. The introductory lecture, as they all are, is given by the president of Hillsdale. There is no doubt he is a smart guy. There is no doubt he has an agenda– which I wholeheartedly agree with. Folks should read better books, should know some freaking history, should recognize what a monumental thing the American Revolution was– and by extension, America was/is (depending on where your brain is today), and learn to be better thinkers. So no qualms there. But geeze, it’s like listening to… [thinking … no one quite captures it]
FWIW Aristotle always figures prominently in the introductions.
The lectures are given by one or more profs. The quizzes are a joke.
See what I mean?
But still.
I pair my headphones with the iPad. Put it on the sill above the sink, load the dishwasher, do the dishes. Take the quiz and marvel at the fact that not once was mentioned that Lewis Carrol was a pseudonym. Maybe there’s the assumption that’s understood?
All in all, not waste of time.
Next time someone says something truly ignorant I am going to use that.
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