Let Us Enroll at Yale

Yale is one of the top universities in the world. With an acceptance rate of 6.8%, I don't think my odds are too good. And yet, I've already taken several wonderful courses there. These courses can be found at http://oyc.yale.edu/courses. Check the web link for a selection of many other classes.

Here they are:

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

WITH JOANNE FREEMAN

The American Revolution entailed some remarkable transformations--converting British colonists into American revolutionaries, and a cluster of colonies into a confederation of states with a common cause--but it was far more complex and enduring than the fighting of a war. As John Adams put it, "The Revolution was in the Minds of the people... before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington"--and it continued long past America's victory at Yorktown. This course will examine the Revolution from this broad perspective, tracing the participants' shifting sense of themselves as British subjects, colonial settlers, revolutionaries, and Americans.

THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ERA, 1845-1877

WITH DAVID W. BLIGHT

This course explores the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War, from the 1840s to 1877. The primary goal of the course is to understand the multiple meanings of a transforming event in American history. Those meanings may be defined in many ways: national, sectional, racial, constitutional, individual, social, intellectual, or moral. Four broad themes are closely examined: the crisis of union and disunion in an expanding republic; slavery, race, and emancipation as national problem, personal experience, and social process; the experience of modern, total war for individuals and society; and the political and social challenges of Reconstruction.

ROMAN ARCHITECTURE

WITH DIANA E. E. KLEINER

This course is an introduction to the great buildings and engineering marvels of Rome and its empire, with an emphasis on urban planning and individual monuments and their decoration, including mural painting. While architectural developments in Rome, Pompeii, and Central Italy are highlighted, the course also provides a survey of sites and structures in what are now North Italy, Sicily, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and North Africa. The lectures are illustrated with over 1,500 images, many from Professor Kleiner's personal collection.

LISTENING TO MUSIC

WITH CRAIG WRIGHT

Located at the heart of campus, the Department of Music at Yale welcomes practitioners of music in the widest sense, including students with an interest in composition, music history, musicology, performance, and theory. Majors are required to undertake broad historical surveys, classes in music theory, and studies in basic musicianship. Students are especially encouraged to make use of Yale's extensive collection of historical instruments, original manuscripts, and recordings, as well as the Yale Institute for Sacred Music. The graduate program offers concentrations in music history and music theory.