My usual excuse is I’m too busy. OK, it is true. I’ve got a lot on my plate. But that doesn’t discourage me from thinking about the classes I’d like to take if I could.
I’d love to spend a semester studying Russian literature. It’s not like I haven’t read Dostoevsky or Tolstoy or Solzhenitsyn. But there’s so much that I’ve missed. I’d love to take a fresh crack at a good philosophy course on existentialism. I’ve read my share of Sartre and Camus and Simone de Beauvoir, but I’d welcome the chance to revisit them and all the others I never got around to when I was in my early twenties. The list of art and music classes I’d take is long, which is one of the reasons I befriend art and music professors and sometimes convince them to work with me on a media project or develop a course together—giving me a chance to learn from them.
Sometimes I imagine I’d like to take a math class, probably geometry, which I wasn’t any good at, although I suspect the bigger problem was I never figured out how to really learn (or like) math. I wish I did, because I’d also like to take architecture classes—or maybe even an engineering class. How do you build a bridge? And are there history classes I’d like to take? Many. How about a good class on the history of cities? Yes, please.
What about you? What class would you like to take? Don’t worry if you’re going to get an A—or even pass. The point is the chance to learn. And don’t worry if you’ve never seen the class you have in mind in a catalog; maybe that class should exist.
As always, I’m looking forward to hearing from each of you. So take a moment and share your thoughts!
Value this work? I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber to sustain it, receive regular audio posts and participate in upcoming live discussions.
Photo Credit: By Peter M. Fisher via Getty Images.
What a lovely thing to think about and dream about!
Would love to take classes in Spanish. My first language was Spanish, but we(my siblings and me)switched to speaking English at home. It was the 60’s, so teachers would punish us severely if we spoke Spanish. Second generation Mexican-Americans, we were obedient and assimilated, learned to hate our roots and culture, only to find doors closed at every opportunity. Bummer. I’m not complaining, just stating the truth. Not sorry if it makes anyone uncomfortable.
In the 90’s, I did try Spanish classes as an adult. I did okay, but it really opened my eyes to the disparity in education between the working poor on the East side of Houston and the middle and upper classes who lived on the West side.
If you don’t have a good enough foundation in grammar, it makes it impossible to study in any foreign language. I hit a wall after 1 year of study.
We were using leftover textbooks and not the best teachers, never had reading lists, didn’t have debate teams or sports teams, never had College counselors visit the schools.
We had a freeway built that split the neighborhood in half. I graduated in 1975, amidst the fall of Saigon. This was, and still is, the reality Houston Texas.
Classes on critical race theory, classes on the real History of Texas and the many forced repatriation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans would be interesting.
Any classes about History that are actually the truth. I pay close attention to your brother when he talks about historical moments, I know he speaks truth.
I’d love to take painting and art classes where the teacher is not leering at me. He was later arrested as a pedophile. This was 5th grade, I never took another art class again. East Houston in the sixties.
Long post, too much information, but it feels good to write about it and it feels better to dream about taking classes.
I’m recently married to an English professor, he teaches at Austin Peay State University. Maybe I’ll enroll or audit some of those classes soon ♥️
I just retired after 11 years as a journalist and more than 30 years as a lawyer. After I finish all the projects I didn't get to due to a full time job and a full plate of volunteer work, I would love to study public administration. I almost pursued that as a graduate degree after law school, but decided I had enough degrees. I also had two kids to educate. The Connecticut state university system allows seniors to audit courses. I will definitely look into that.
Civil War History became a favorite subject for me in my late 20’s. I was raised a yankee but my birth parents were from Alabama. I met them following a misdiagnosis of cancer. My doctor told me to contact them as possible bone marrow donors. My mother contacted them for me. She knew where they lived my whole life. With a trip to meet my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins I was inspired to cook southern style and look up relatives that fought in the Civil War. From granny’s side their were 5 who rose quickly in the ranks but I suspect that was due to the deaths of superior officers in the 6th Alabama. That branch of the family no one talks about. They are rowdy and dangerous to this day. I would love to take language and art classes as well.
Spanish and French, I had 3 years of Spanish (1 elementary school, 1 high school, 1 college) and 2 of French (1 high school 1 college) and I can barely remember any of it!
Probably acting workshops since I'm trying to reactivate that career from long ago. After a double major BA in Journalism and Environmental Biology ca. 2004 at 51 and year of law certificate, I'm so done with formal education.
I have had a good career as a psychologist and still help people, as an advocate. But I sometimes imagined a whole other life with less emotional pressure. I would have liked to study art restoration. (I’d have had Holly Hunter’s job that she lost at the start of the movie Home for the Holidays.)
Like a blind squirrel that finds a nut (gentle teasing, not a harsh criticism, lol) , every blue moon one of your posts completely captures my imagination the over-whelming commonalities that bind us together. Thanks, that's why I subscribe to you.
As it turns out, with the War in Ukraine raging, the book Age of Reason reappeared on my bookshelf. Sartre does not disappoint, his stark vividness and sometimes cruel word-pictures are a great master class for me to learn about character studies and description.
Also, the David Starkey 16 episode doc The Monarchy plainly is a warning for now to heed the lessons of history.
Mar 20, 2022·edited Mar 20, 2022Liked by Steven Beschloss
ALL the classes. I can never stop being curious. I'll miss that about being human when I'm dead and gone. Or maybe the afterlife is nonstop curiosity! Let's hope so.
BTW I hope to go paid subscriber with you soon, Steven. You've got a great gig going here and I want to contribute, but I've also noticed EVERYTHING is getting expensive, so when I move my 'stack to paid in late summer, I'm hoping economically things even out. But I'm not sure about that. I think Putin is hell-bent on global destruction. That's why he needs to be stopped.
Latin. It wasn’t offered when I was I high school, and in college I didn’t have time (I know…). Or physics. Or chemistry. Being ridiculously right brained, I have literally no foundation in science. I’d love to remedy that.
Thank you for your kind interest in all of us. :) If I were to start over, classes in Real Estate, Journalism, Directing, Photography, Audio Engineering, French and I'd love to learn how to play the violin - All would be on my educational bingo card. I'd also like to know more about the USIC.
At this point in my life, there are four classes I would like to take now if given the chance. The first two I could have almost a lifetime ago. The first was Urban Studies and the history of city planning and land use. I got to know the professor outside of the classroom and regretted not taking any of his courses, but it has always been an interest since I was a history teacher for many years.
The second course is another regret I have from my college student days. It was another professor that I got to know outside the classroom that taught the course. The class was Constitutional Issues in US History, since that later became an obsession and some of my best lessons as a civics and history teacher.
One course that I wish I had taken was something in the realm of musical history. I played the trumpet for eight years, and became familiar with the classics and pop genres. Later in life, jazz became a big interest. So having a better understanding of how music evolved and its impact on culture would have been very interesting to learn.
One other class would be to study the history and development of mystery and suspense writing. I am trying my hand at that now, and often wish I had a deeper knowledge and understanding of the genre and how the masters of the craft developed their stories and characters.
I've always wanted to learn JavaScript (always wanted to be a web developer). I tried taking a few online courses (learn at your own pace), but I kind of got "lost in the sauce". So I guess I'll just have to settle for being a semi-retired technical writer and leave it at that. Any classes I take from now on (if I ever get the time) will be for creative or hobby related subjects offering hands-on training.
Oh my goodness, where do I start? If I could do it over, I'd get my MFA instead of a master's in communication. I'm working on a novel, and I think an MFA would've been very helpful. Also, tons of history! Especially European and African history.
You named all the things I would love to sit in a classroom and learn. I would add chemistry, though I wasn't very good at it when I was 16. I miss the lectures and discussions we sometimes had. It was all learning. I get excited just thinking about it. It has been too many years since I felt the joy of discovery and listened to people.
So many courses. I have an insatiable curiosity! I’d like to learn Spanish and relearn German, but I now have a hearing impairment that makes these a real challenge. I am trying to learn written German right now. I’m a retired history teacher, so almost any history interests me. I know very little about African history and also want to learn more about Polynesian/Pacific Islander history. Also Native American history from the perspective of various tribes/nations (as far as a non-Native American is allowed to, at least). Now that I’m older, I would also like to learn the histories of England/UK, Ireland, and Germany again. I know I can read about these, but classroom instruction offers so much more.
Penn State has a senior's village for its former graduates. One of the perks is that people living there may audit ANY class, FREE, if there is room. When the time comes and if I could afford it, that would be a great place to be.
I loved math at a time when only boys took it in high school. Guess who the only girl in class was!
My dad taught both history and math. I thought I might major in it, but taking college calculus drove me crazy. Took so much time, none left for other subjects, so I dropped it and concentrated on history. Every once in awhile, I get out Dad's old algebra book and work a few pages. So, I might sit in on some calculus classes where I could listen but not have to do.
I would like, also, to go to French class. I took 2 years of Latin, but I quit 2nd year French to take typing. The principal had a fit, college prep kids did not take typing!!Where do you plan to go to college he asked. Penn State. Oh,said he, they take anyone !Where did he go?Temple. It's a good school, but in today's rankings, PS in #22 in the top 25, nationally, #63. Temple-#103. So there, Mr. Rizzo !! I still remember my first learned Fr. sentence: J entre dans la salle de classe. Even now, je parle un peu.
I would love to take art classes. I can draw, but nothing original, only copy, The gene runs in my family. I would like to do better. My granddaughter is going to go to Ringling College of Art and Design. Maybe I will look over her shoulder.
Lastly, I would like to learn how to tap dance. I wanted to take lessons. Dad said no. Piano it was. He would call around to see who charged the least. I ended up with the Episcopal organist who really did smack your hand on a wrong note. He sat on the edge of a folding chair, fell off one time when he leaned over too far. I was so happy, had to hold in the laughter. Father was raised in the old ways of Methodism.My ancestors founded a Methodist Church in frontier PA; it still thrives as does our cemetery. He was strict in many ways with my brother and sister, couldn't ride bikes on Sunday, etc. When I came along 14 & 10 years later, Mother said, you had the first two, this one is mine. (She liked to dance around to Eddie Arnold's Hey, Good Lookin") So, by the time I was in high school, Daddy and I sat on the front porch glider and played cards. My German grandmother probably rolled over in her grave.
I subscribe to Wondrium and have so many classes in my watchlist I'll never be able to finish them all. Among them are The Life and Death of Stars, The Aging Brain and Why Insects Matter. I love learning!!
I took two art history classes in college and loved every minute of them. I would love to take more! I’m personally not artistic at all,
but the combination of art & history is absolutely fascinating. I’d also love to take a world history class or two because I never learned, for example, when Europe was in the renaissance period, what was going on in China & India culturally.
Quantum physics, especially quantum entanglement are mind-blowing. My husband has a PhD in math so he’s able to explain a lot to me and I’ve come to believe every living thing is entangled with every other living thing.
Along those same lines and sort of related are the newer studies about consciousness.
Stuart Hameroff, MD and Nobel Prize winner Sir Roger Penrose, have collaborated extensively on the topic. Dr. Hameroff has annual symposiums on consciousness at the University of Arizona.
They both have quite a few u-tube presentations on the topic as well.
I think, Law. Specifically, American law. I know that it is a vast subject, but since I am always bitching about it, it would be nice to have a better understanding of which I speak. I simply cannot abide how inequitably it is applied, at least appearing that way to me.
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders is like a mini class in the Russian short story. I found it tremendously satisfying during the pandemic.
Quantum Physics. No matter how many times I’ve read books by Hawking or Weinberg or watched YouTube “explanations” it is still all a Black Hole to me!
What a lovely thing to think about and dream about!
Would love to take classes in Spanish. My first language was Spanish, but we(my siblings and me)switched to speaking English at home. It was the 60’s, so teachers would punish us severely if we spoke Spanish. Second generation Mexican-Americans, we were obedient and assimilated, learned to hate our roots and culture, only to find doors closed at every opportunity. Bummer. I’m not complaining, just stating the truth. Not sorry if it makes anyone uncomfortable.
In the 90’s, I did try Spanish classes as an adult. I did okay, but it really opened my eyes to the disparity in education between the working poor on the East side of Houston and the middle and upper classes who lived on the West side.
If you don’t have a good enough foundation in grammar, it makes it impossible to study in any foreign language. I hit a wall after 1 year of study.
We were using leftover textbooks and not the best teachers, never had reading lists, didn’t have debate teams or sports teams, never had College counselors visit the schools.
We had a freeway built that split the neighborhood in half. I graduated in 1975, amidst the fall of Saigon. This was, and still is, the reality Houston Texas.
Classes on critical race theory, classes on the real History of Texas and the many forced repatriation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans would be interesting.
Any classes about History that are actually the truth. I pay close attention to your brother when he talks about historical moments, I know he speaks truth.
I’d love to take painting and art classes where the teacher is not leering at me. He was later arrested as a pedophile. This was 5th grade, I never took another art class again. East Houston in the sixties.
Long post, too much information, but it feels good to write about it and it feels better to dream about taking classes.
I’m recently married to an English professor, he teaches at Austin Peay State University. Maybe I’ll enroll or audit some of those classes soon ♥️
Where to begin? I'd love to be able to revisit everything I thought I knew in the bloom of youth, now, with the hindsight of experience.
A long wish list - Architecture, Japanese, Sociology...but I start Beginning Welding a week from Thursday.
I just retired after 11 years as a journalist and more than 30 years as a lawyer. After I finish all the projects I didn't get to due to a full time job and a full plate of volunteer work, I would love to study public administration. I almost pursued that as a graduate degree after law school, but decided I had enough degrees. I also had two kids to educate. The Connecticut state university system allows seniors to audit courses. I will definitely look into that.
Civil War History became a favorite subject for me in my late 20’s. I was raised a yankee but my birth parents were from Alabama. I met them following a misdiagnosis of cancer. My doctor told me to contact them as possible bone marrow donors. My mother contacted them for me. She knew where they lived my whole life. With a trip to meet my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins I was inspired to cook southern style and look up relatives that fought in the Civil War. From granny’s side their were 5 who rose quickly in the ranks but I suspect that was due to the deaths of superior officers in the 6th Alabama. That branch of the family no one talks about. They are rowdy and dangerous to this day. I would love to take language and art classes as well.
what class i would take? it would be law school to learn how to put all the corrucption in prison
Spanish and French, I had 3 years of Spanish (1 elementary school, 1 high school, 1 college) and 2 of French (1 high school 1 college) and I can barely remember any of it!
Deep dive into the history of national religion and how it works and the results.
Probably acting workshops since I'm trying to reactivate that career from long ago. After a double major BA in Journalism and Environmental Biology ca. 2004 at 51 and year of law certificate, I'm so done with formal education.
I have had a good career as a psychologist and still help people, as an advocate. But I sometimes imagined a whole other life with less emotional pressure. I would have liked to study art restoration. (I’d have had Holly Hunter’s job that she lost at the start of the movie Home for the Holidays.)
Like a blind squirrel that finds a nut (gentle teasing, not a harsh criticism, lol) , every blue moon one of your posts completely captures my imagination the over-whelming commonalities that bind us together. Thanks, that's why I subscribe to you.
As it turns out, with the War in Ukraine raging, the book Age of Reason reappeared on my bookshelf. Sartre does not disappoint, his stark vividness and sometimes cruel word-pictures are a great master class for me to learn about character studies and description.
Also, the David Starkey 16 episode doc The Monarchy plainly is a warning for now to heed the lessons of history.
Thanks again for a great question,
Ric
ALL the classes. I can never stop being curious. I'll miss that about being human when I'm dead and gone. Or maybe the afterlife is nonstop curiosity! Let's hope so.
BTW I hope to go paid subscriber with you soon, Steven. You've got a great gig going here and I want to contribute, but I've also noticed EVERYTHING is getting expensive, so when I move my 'stack to paid in late summer, I'm hoping economically things even out. But I'm not sure about that. I think Putin is hell-bent on global destruction. That's why he needs to be stopped.
Latin. It wasn’t offered when I was I high school, and in college I didn’t have time (I know…). Or physics. Or chemistry. Being ridiculously right brained, I have literally no foundation in science. I’d love to remedy that.
Thank you for your kind interest in all of us. :) If I were to start over, classes in Real Estate, Journalism, Directing, Photography, Audio Engineering, French and I'd love to learn how to play the violin - All would be on my educational bingo card. I'd also like to know more about the USIC.
At this point in my life, there are four classes I would like to take now if given the chance. The first two I could have almost a lifetime ago. The first was Urban Studies and the history of city planning and land use. I got to know the professor outside of the classroom and regretted not taking any of his courses, but it has always been an interest since I was a history teacher for many years.
The second course is another regret I have from my college student days. It was another professor that I got to know outside the classroom that taught the course. The class was Constitutional Issues in US History, since that later became an obsession and some of my best lessons as a civics and history teacher.
One course that I wish I had taken was something in the realm of musical history. I played the trumpet for eight years, and became familiar with the classics and pop genres. Later in life, jazz became a big interest. So having a better understanding of how music evolved and its impact on culture would have been very interesting to learn.
One other class would be to study the history and development of mystery and suspense writing. I am trying my hand at that now, and often wish I had a deeper knowledge and understanding of the genre and how the masters of the craft developed their stories and characters.
I've always wanted to learn JavaScript (always wanted to be a web developer). I tried taking a few online courses (learn at your own pace), but I kind of got "lost in the sauce". So I guess I'll just have to settle for being a semi-retired technical writer and leave it at that. Any classes I take from now on (if I ever get the time) will be for creative or hobby related subjects offering hands-on training.
Oh my goodness, where do I start? If I could do it over, I'd get my MFA instead of a master's in communication. I'm working on a novel, and I think an MFA would've been very helpful. Also, tons of history! Especially European and African history.
I'm months away from turned 62, and 40 days from being evicted from my home, But I would love to go to law school for JD.
You named all the things I would love to sit in a classroom and learn. I would add chemistry, though I wasn't very good at it when I was 16. I miss the lectures and discussions we sometimes had. It was all learning. I get excited just thinking about it. It has been too many years since I felt the joy of discovery and listened to people.
Sharon Pugh
So many courses. I have an insatiable curiosity! I’d like to learn Spanish and relearn German, but I now have a hearing impairment that makes these a real challenge. I am trying to learn written German right now. I’m a retired history teacher, so almost any history interests me. I know very little about African history and also want to learn more about Polynesian/Pacific Islander history. Also Native American history from the perspective of various tribes/nations (as far as a non-Native American is allowed to, at least). Now that I’m older, I would also like to learn the histories of England/UK, Ireland, and Germany again. I know I can read about these, but classroom instruction offers so much more.
Penn State has a senior's village for its former graduates. One of the perks is that people living there may audit ANY class, FREE, if there is room. When the time comes and if I could afford it, that would be a great place to be.
I loved math at a time when only boys took it in high school. Guess who the only girl in class was!
My dad taught both history and math. I thought I might major in it, but taking college calculus drove me crazy. Took so much time, none left for other subjects, so I dropped it and concentrated on history. Every once in awhile, I get out Dad's old algebra book and work a few pages. So, I might sit in on some calculus classes where I could listen but not have to do.
I would like, also, to go to French class. I took 2 years of Latin, but I quit 2nd year French to take typing. The principal had a fit, college prep kids did not take typing!!Where do you plan to go to college he asked. Penn State. Oh,said he, they take anyone !Where did he go?Temple. It's a good school, but in today's rankings, PS in #22 in the top 25, nationally, #63. Temple-#103. So there, Mr. Rizzo !! I still remember my first learned Fr. sentence: J entre dans la salle de classe. Even now, je parle un peu.
I would love to take art classes. I can draw, but nothing original, only copy, The gene runs in my family. I would like to do better. My granddaughter is going to go to Ringling College of Art and Design. Maybe I will look over her shoulder.
Lastly, I would like to learn how to tap dance. I wanted to take lessons. Dad said no. Piano it was. He would call around to see who charged the least. I ended up with the Episcopal organist who really did smack your hand on a wrong note. He sat on the edge of a folding chair, fell off one time when he leaned over too far. I was so happy, had to hold in the laughter. Father was raised in the old ways of Methodism.My ancestors founded a Methodist Church in frontier PA; it still thrives as does our cemetery. He was strict in many ways with my brother and sister, couldn't ride bikes on Sunday, etc. When I came along 14 & 10 years later, Mother said, you had the first two, this one is mine. (She liked to dance around to Eddie Arnold's Hey, Good Lookin") So, by the time I was in high school, Daddy and I sat on the front porch glider and played cards. My German grandmother probably rolled over in her grave.
I subscribe to Wondrium and have so many classes in my watchlist I'll never be able to finish them all. Among them are The Life and Death of Stars, The Aging Brain and Why Insects Matter. I love learning!!
I took two art history classes in college and loved every minute of them. I would love to take more! I’m personally not artistic at all,
but the combination of art & history is absolutely fascinating. I’d also love to take a world history class or two because I never learned, for example, when Europe was in the renaissance period, what was going on in China & India culturally.
Quantum physics, especially quantum entanglement are mind-blowing. My husband has a PhD in math so he’s able to explain a lot to me and I’ve come to believe every living thing is entangled with every other living thing.
Along those same lines and sort of related are the newer studies about consciousness.
Stuart Hameroff, MD and Nobel Prize winner Sir Roger Penrose, have collaborated extensively on the topic. Dr. Hameroff has annual symposiums on consciousness at the University of Arizona.
They both have quite a few u-tube presentations on the topic as well.
I think, Law. Specifically, American law. I know that it is a vast subject, but since I am always bitching about it, it would be nice to have a better understanding of which I speak. I simply cannot abide how inequitably it is applied, at least appearing that way to me.
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders is like a mini class in the Russian short story. I found it tremendously satisfying during the pandemic.
Alaska History, Russian History, American history. I will like any and everything you will make avaliable.