Have you already mastered the art of baking bread (if you could find yeast)? Organized your junk drawers, closets and garbage bins? Well, it’s time to tackle the things you’ve always wanted to learn about, but never had time.
Schools, museums and a host of other places are offering — free — online classes. No catch!
What: Women Making History: Ten Objects, Many Stories
Where: Harvard University
Why: Women are still fighting for equality.
Description: This eight-week course explores how women have pushed boundaries and shaped history in the last century. You’ll have unique access to 10 historic items in the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.
What: Modern Art & Ideas
Where: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Why: Your modern and contemporary art immersion has been lacking of late.
Description: A five-week course that explores art through the themes of Places & Spaces, Art & Identity, Transforming Everyday Objects, and Art & Society. The coursework includes interviews with artists, designers and curators.
What: Success
Where: University of Pennsylvania and Wharton School via Coursera
Why: I mean, how do you pass up a class on success?
Description: Taught by Wharton Professor G. Richard Shell, an award-winning author and the creator of the popular Wharton School course on the meaning of success, this class “was designed to help you define what success means to you, and to develop a plan for achieving it.”
What: Music for Wellness
Where: Berklee College of Music
Why: You already have a song in your heart.
Description: Find out the science behind why the music you listen to makes you feel happy and reduces stress through a course that marries Eastern and Western philosophies. You’ll create music, dance and learn techniques to use music as a coping and wellness mechanism.
What: Shakespeare's Life and Work
Where: Harvard University
Why: You still get moved by, “What light through yonder window breaks …”
Description: This Harvard online course taught by Shakespearean expert Stephen Greenblatt, the John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard, will make you fluent in all things Shakespeare: his life, how his body of work relates to today, and his plays’ historical significance.
What: Everything About Orchids
Where: Longwood Gardens
Why: Once orchid blooms are gone, they sure are hard to revive.
Description: Learn tricks to keep your orchids beautiful and even plant them in your garden via video learning and an interactive discussion with professionals and students who love this beautiful flowering plant.
What: Vegetable Gardening
Where: Oregon State University