Long Distance Wisdom

[Philosophy Now]

Rick Lewis on the joys of taking a philosophy degree from your armchair.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/108/Lo ... nce_Wisdom

[marjoram_blues]

Rick wrote: MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) allow you to watch university lecture courses by leading academics while drinking cocoa in your own armchair. A particularly well-known philosophy example is the course on Justice offered by Professor Michael Sandel of Stanford University. While often highly enlightening, MOOCs aren’t meant to provide individual tuition, an all-round education in the subject, or indeed a qualification.

Some do provide a certificate, if that is what you want/need. Also, there can be interaction between the students and profs; questions asked and answered about course content, tests. Not all courses are equally challenging. Pick'n'mix to keep brain active...
I completed this one - a year or so ago. As usual, many took the opportunity to argue about...religion - the same old, same old. However, it did get me over my fear of logic. Included videos, transcripts.

https://www.coursera.org/course/thinkagain
Reasoning is important. This course will teach you how to do it well. You will learn some simple but vital rules to follow in thinking about any topic at all and some common and tempting mistakes to avoid in reasoning. We will discuss how to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments by other people (including politicians, used car salesmen, and teachers) and how to construct arguments of your own in order to help you decide what to believe or what to do. These skills will be useful in dealing with whatever matters most to you.

Rick wrote: Taking a degree course from home is very hard work, and you won’t have the emotional support of fellow students around you, nor the stimulation of informal conversations with them in the bar about your topic of study. You still have to write essays and assignments, and meet deadlines. You still need to sit exams or fulfil assessment requirements in order to receive your degree. However, you can take the degree without having to uproot your life, resign from your job, abandon your children, sell your house, or put the dog up for adoption.

Over several years, studying with the Open University took its toll. Exhausting but worthwhile, picking subjects that interested me, eventually adding up to the required points for a degree. But I didn't start off with that aim/intention - it was addictive.

However, it has changed. No longer is it possible to take incremental decisions and small 10 point modules simply for interest; they want students to commit to a degree straight off. Many tutors have been paid off.
Discussion forums have all but disappeared - Facebook having taken over. So, there is support and people can and do arrange meet-ups, sometimes after tutorials. Or to practise Italian face-to-face.

Such courses are great for long-distance learning but 'Wisdom' ??

[rbirds]

An excellent accredited U.S. college from which you can earn an online graduate degree in philosophy or theology is Holy Apostles College & Seminary. This is a Catholic college (the seminary is the on-campus portion of the institution) where degrees adhere to Catholic tenets but is open to anyone seeking an online graduate degree.

My own Masters degree in philosophy is from Holy Apostles. It was an interesting and challenging program, reasonably priced and staffed with an engaged and accessible faculty. You can find out more about Holy Apostles at http://www.holyapostles.edu/ .

Really, it was a wonderful program for a non-Catholic student like me and I recommend the program to anyone interested in a graduate degree but does not have the opportunity to attend an on-campus graduate philosophy degree program.

[bigbird]

I'm surprised that the University of London's BA (Philosophy) via Birkbeck isn't mentioned in this list.