Saturday, May 17, 2008

Classics Freebies from the Open University!

The Open University is a distance learning university based in the United Kingdom which awards both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees to students around the world. The Open University also offers free non-credit mini-courses through it's Learning Space. Several courses look like they may be of interest to readers of this blog:
  • Getting Started on Classical Latin For students who have no experience whatsoever with Latin. You'll develop "an awareness of the links between English and Latin, an understanding of basic English grammar...and an awareness of the fundamentals of pronunciation in Latin." There's also a similar Greek mini-course!
  • Introducing the Classical World "aims to get you started on exploring the Classical World by introducing you to the sources upon which you can build your knowledge and understanding" as well as "getting you started on an exploration of both time and space in the Classical World."
  • Exploring a Romano-African City investigates the archaeology and history of a Roman North African City. The learner will learn to identify both indigenous and Roman identity and culture and study the development of Romano-African culture.
  • The Roman Empire: Introducing Some Key Terms is a course "introducing key terms that are essential for understanding the Classical Roman world."
The Open University Classics Department also has a neat Interactive Latin Website for students who are learning Latin inflections -- noun, verb and adjective endings -- with vocabulary standard in most Latin courses.