Historical Fiction MOOC

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Mon October 7th, 2013, 10:08 pm

I know this is rather last minute for most of you, but I just signed up for a historical fiction MOOC on Coursera titled Plagues, Witches and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction. I'm excited about this class since it covers a genre I love.

These are the authors whose works will be discussed and who will visit the class themselves:

Jane Alison
Geraldine Brooks
Yangsze Choo
Katherine Howe
Mary Beth Keane

I have taken a few other MOOCs on Coursera and am looking forward to this new one.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Tue October 8th, 2013, 4:12 pm

What does MOOC stand for?

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Tue October 8th, 2013, 4:14 pm

Massive Open Online Course. Meaning you're taking classes with people world wide. For free. Coursera has a few that they've put on a signature track which may eventually lead to a degree, but 97% of the classes are free.

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Mon October 14th, 2013, 9:27 pm

Class starts tomorrow!

I'm excited!!

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Tue October 15th, 2013, 10:25 am

[quote=""Rowan""]Massive Open Online Course. Meaning you're taking classes with people world wide. For free. Coursera has a few that they've put on a signature track which may eventually lead to a degree, but 97% of the classes are free.[/quote]

For free? How do they manage that? I considered the Open University but it's pricey.

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Tue October 15th, 2013, 2:11 pm

It's free because the professors can record lectures and use the same ones over and over, with perhaps a few occasional tweaks and updates. And as I said, you get no credit towards a degree for most of the classes. Coursera is trying out a new thing called Signature Track which, I believe, will provide credit of some kind. The universities involved - close to 100 now I think - are from around the world.

This class I enrolled in - called Plagues, Witches and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction - is being taught by a professor at the University of Virginia. I've taken classes from the University of Michigan as well as Brown University and a history class from UVA. It's interesting because you interact with people from all over the world and get differing viewpoints on subjects. It was very lively in the forums for the history class I took. LOL

You should check it out: coursera.org. They have a very broad range of class offerings too. 460 classes in 25 categories.

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Wed October 16th, 2013, 10:51 am

Ah, I see, so it's sort of like auditing a class from over the internet. Shame they don't seem to have more actual history courses.

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Wed October 16th, 2013, 12:45 pm

They are constantly growing and like most universities - here in the US anyway - the offerings ebb and flow. This class I'm taking now might not be offered again for months. I've taken a class about the history of the internet and it was offered last summer (2012) and I think it's set to be offered again after the first of the year. Just make an account and check back occasionally. I had no idea about this historical fiction class until just last week. There are even classes they've listed without a start date yet, but you can mark it and be notified when it's coming on board.

I've already dropped one history class because I didn't like the professor's teaching style. LOL It's the guy from Princeton. He was a real snore-fest as far as I'm concerned, but I see they're already offering it again.

I can download all lectures so if you're interested I can share them via Dropbox at the end of the class. Just one or two so you get the idea of what it's like. And they're typically no more than 10-20 minutes long.