Another Nod to EdX

I’ve been taking several EdX classes for a while and it is fascinating how much there is to learn.  Because of the number of classes I take and my limited amount of time, I do little more than audit the classes.

I watch all the videos, as they’re my source of dictation.  I should probably be working from more school approved sources, but I can’t bring myself to do it.  I read as much literature as I can from the required and recommended readings, but again, time is limited.  I don’t always quite make it.  The tests and assignments, though, I generally don’t bother.  I really don’t have the time for those and is the main reason that I don’t quite get any certificates in any of the classes.

If you are looking to further improve your education but don’t have a lot of time or inclination to pay, do give www.edx.org a try.  And if you’d like, I have a few recommendations.

Harvard’s Professor Gregory Nagy (pronounced NAHJ) teaches a course called “The Ancient Greek Hero.”  I wasn’t a complete dunce when I signed up for this.  I’d read The Odyssey twice and The Iliad in college; gone through several of Socrates’ plays in high school (including all the Oedipus stories); and I’d even dabbled a bit in Herodotus, albeit not very much.

I thought I had a grasp on what these stories were about.  Professor Nagy taught me I had no clue.

You can’t look at these works from the context of our culture.  You have to look at them in light of ancient Greece’s culture.  Achilles wasn’t just a character in a war story, he was a vital part of their belief system.  The ancient Greeks saw him as an object of worship.  They wrote songs about him, he was part of their rituals, their myth cycle, and even as an example of how to achieve an unwilting glory.

It took taking the entire course for me to get it.  I’m going to retake the course as soon as it comes up again.  In the back of my mind, I always knew that Greek culture is the root of Western civilization; I just never grasped how much.  And while it’s not a culture I seek to emulate, I think it’s an important one to learn about.

One that just started is McGill University’s “Food for Thought.”  It’s a chemistry class of sorts all focused on food and how it affects our bodies.  I’ve just finished the second, but that still leaves plenty of time to sign up and take full advantage of the course.

They’re going over all the science, or lack of science as the case may be, that goes into the study of food.  They spend a good deal going over the scientific method, the laborious process of what it takes to publish any new scientific research, and how the media and other “helpful” nutritional authors constantly skew the facts and why the public keeps falling for it time and time again.

Then there’s the fun facts about our diet, what we need, and how we get it.  Vitamin C is crucial for the prevention of scurvy, a particularly nasty disease that plagued humanity for centuries, usually sailors and soldiers with insufficient supplies.  The Native Americans saved Jacques Cartier’s men in the Sixteenth Century by making a tea of white cedar tree’s needles, which have a sufficient amount of vitamin C to heal them.  Later, limes were a staple in long voyages.

These days, we tend to rely on oranges as a vitamin C staple, but did you know that green peppers have far more vitamin C in them than any citrus fruits?  I had no idea.

As for minerals, we tend to think of bananas as a primary source of potassium, but it turns out that potatoes have more potassium by far than our most popular tropical fruit.

On the subject of minerals, they spend an entire section just on calcium.  This is deserved because calcium is vital for our bones and teeth and the lack of it can lead to osteoporosis, a bone disease that decreases your bone mass and density, which will lead to a higher chance of fractures.

Women, this is especially important for you.  On average, women tend to develop osteoporosis earlier in life than men, and it most commonly occurs after menopause.  Get calcium in your system.

There are all other sorts of classes, from math to history, science and English, current events and philosophy.  These are just a couple I’ve enjoyed and think important, but check it out for yourself.  They’re adding new courses all the time, and the subjects are varied and wonderful.  Enjoy!