Hillsdale College Launches New, Free Online Course: “Athens and Sparta”
March 23, 2016
Hillsdale College today announced that registration is open for a new online course, “Athens and Sparta.” The free, not-for-credit, nine-week course examines the ancient Greek cities of Athens and Sparta as essential for understanding the beginning of the story of Western Civilization. Generous sponsorship for this course was provided by Don and Lois Thorson.
Taught by Hillsdale College Professor of History Paul Rahe, and Victor Davis Hanson, the Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale, the course considers life and government in Athens and Sparta while examining their respective roles in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. The first lesson features an introduction from Hillsdale President Larry P. Arnn.
“Athens & Sparta” consists of nine sessions, each 30 to 40 minutes long, which will be released every Monday and will be available on-demand once published. Each week also features a Q&A session with John J. Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program, and that week’s faculty member, along with a quiz for students to test their learning. At the end of the course, students have the opportunity to take a final quiz in order to receive a free Certificate of Completion.
Lesson release dates, topics and professors are:
1. Why Study the Classics?
Larry P. Arnn — March 14, 2016
2. Life and Government in Sparta
Paul A. Rahe — March 21, 2016
3. Life and Government in Athens
Victor Davis Hanson — March 28, 2016
4. Sparta and the Persian War
Paul A. Rahe — April 4, 2016
5. Athens and the Persian War
Victor Davis Hanson — April 11, 2016
6. Sparta and the Peloponnesian War
Paul A. Rahe — April 18, 2016
7. Athens and the Peloponnesian War
Victor Davis Hanson — April 25, 2016
8. Sparta and Athens – Conclusions
Paul A. Rahe — May 2, 2016
9. Athens and Sparta – Conclusions
Victor Davis Hanson — May 9, 2016
Hillsdale College offers a catalog of free, online courses taught by its faculty in subjects ranging from the Constitution to Winston S. Churchill, education, and economics. More than 900,000 students have generated more than 1.5 million course enrollments since the program launched in Fall 2011.
More information and registration for “Athens and Sparta” are available at https://online.hillsdale.edu/.