Regardless if you are in a traditional, brick and mortar school, online classroom, or a combination of the two, you should take advantage of local lectures in your field of interest.
Many schools and museums hold events open to the public, often free or very cheap. For example, if you live in the Philadelphia area, the Penn Museum maintains an active calendar featuring lectures by visiting professors, hands-on workshops, films, and exhibits. For the military historian, this museum continues to offer some fantastic topics. Here are some examples from the first quarter of 2013:
- January 2: Gettysburg: History and Hype
- January 16: The First Crusade: Three Battles for Latin Christendom
- February 6: From Actium to an Asp: The Beginning of the End for Cleopatra the Great
- March 6: The Siege and Fall of Masada
- March 27: Greece and Asia in the Late Bronze Age: The Historical Background of Homer’s Iliad
Even better, if you miss one of these lectures, Penn Museum uploads videos online. That means you can pay 5-10 bucks to see it live or wait a week and watch it online.
If your interest is not history or you live outside of the Philadelphia area, you will need to do some digging. However, most schools and museums hold regular events like these. Track them down and take advantage of them.
Here are some calendars from a small sampling of schools and museums across the United States:
- Stanford University in California
- Pritzker Military Library in Illinois
- Princeton University in New Jersey
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
- Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania
- Rice University in Texas
Look up the institutions near you and take advantage of any cheap, open lectures they provide in your field.
By Scott Manning
Online Learning Tips, Student Contributor
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