I didn't look at every single category (I skipped the Business and Math sections) so of the remaining classes offered that I looked at, I would take one of the following

No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life
Chamber Music of Mozart
The Genius of Michealangelo
Roots of Human Behavior
Chaos

Those are the ones that would appeal to ME... but then again I am just a bit odd! LOLOLOL!

Very aggressive! My opinion is that considering today's political climate, the timing for "History of the United States" is right.

Just sign me up for all of them. Ya know, it occurs to me, my kids in high school have some good textbooks, I should just raid their shelves.

Tricia, since you at/near the end of religion, might I suggest 'Who Wrote the Bible' by Richard Friedman. I took a course from him way back in my undergrad years and I, with a fairly good background in the Old Testament, found my jaw dropped at end of the course, which is essentially spelled out in this very accessible book. (did you know there are two separate creation stories? The second starts at Genesis 2:4! Read the book and find out why!)

I might choose Classical Mythology because I missed it in school because I moved. Never learned it and need to catch up.

I love ancient history so I would choose one of these. Wow! They have some great courses, maybe I should try one!

A Brief History of the World
Ancient Greek Civilization
Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome
Early Middle Ages
Era of the Crusades
History of Ancient Egypt
History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts
Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations
Late Middle Ages
Vikings

Joanne

Hmm, how exciting! Personally I think I'd try the African Experience or the US & the Middle East -- or any of those classes about the Masters -- the US History would be very tempting, but a lot of work. What a great thing to do! Let us know what you decide to take.

Alexa, I just read the course description & reviews of "Chaos". Wow, where else can I learn something from a cutting edge professor like Steven Strogatz? I surely can't enroll at Cornell. lol I'm still a bit intimidated by the science & mathematics department! Have to get over that...

Jessy, I've not read "Who Wrote The Bible". As part of my outside reading for the "Old Testament" course I did read, "Reading The Old Testament", Barry L. Bandstra. Both Amy-Jill Levine (great professor, BTW!) professor of the course & Bandstra spent considerable time on the two Genesis stories. Gotta tell ya, these courses rattled me more than a little. So much so I met with my pastor to discuss it. Over lunch, he told me about his first six weeks in seminary, his dismay, & excitement about studying the Bible from an academic, archeological, & literature approach. I'll never read the Bible in the same way again yet somehow I've come out the other end of these courses with my faith intact & even refreshed. Of all the classes I've so far completed Amy-Jill Levine is my favorite professor. I watch a lot of the History Channel's religion programs & notice she's usually cited on the credits scroll.

Sue, I've not taken Mythology either & it's definitely on my short list. The religion courses touched just enough on mythology to really whet my appetite. Might be a good spring/summer course? Thanks for the suggestion.

Joanne, I also love ancient history. I took 6-7 courses in art school on ancient Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Crusades, Rome, & the Middle Ages. To understand the great art & architecture of that period you have to know something about the context of those civilizations. I'm weak on far eastern ancient history though & will probably take "From Yao to Mao - 5000 Years of Chinese History" from the Teaching Company.

blueiris, I don't know a darn thing useful about Africa. How sad is that?! Your mention of the Middle East really got me thinking & I've decided to order "United States and the Middle East - 1914 to 9/11". It's probably well past time I learned more about this issue. Many years ago, I read a book on the history of Israel but only remember bits/pieces. So, thanks. I'm looking forward to the course. I read through the reviews for the course & Dr. Yaqub seems to be an engaging professor. Also found it humorous that some reviewers found him pro-American & other pro-Palestinian. :) It's a touchy subject & probably a course where everybody's toting their personal biases into Lecture #1.

I still need to order one more class. I like to work on two at a time. Oh, in rereading my original post I noticed I left out one course I've completed..."History of the Supreme Court" (Modern History).

I'm still leaning towards to US history class. After reading, "Lies My Teacher Told Me", James W. Loewen, & what I've learned from my genealogy work...I know my perspective of US history is far from accurate. A better more balance & truthful understanding of US history (including the warts) should make understanding the complexities of today's world easier.

Any other classes sound interesting? I should also be looking at the economics courses!!!

/tricia

Wow. Now I know how I am going to spend my retirement. I only looked at the Best Sellers list and I would enjoy so many of them. I liked the one about How to Write a Good Sentence and the one on Art through the Ages.

I took an art appreciation course in college and just loved it. Same for the fundamentals of music. I should have followed my heart and gone with those majors. I am not an artist or a musician, but maybe I could have found a way to make a living at it. Run an art museum?? Who knows.

Anyway. just put the list on the wall, throw a dart and enjoy!

Ok, I'm really a wierdo - and I didn't look at all of them, but I think this looks cool...

Joy of Mathematics

Here is a link that might be useful: Joy of Mathematics

lol, Elizabeth! I sorta agree with you. I'm thinking "Joy of Mathematics" might be a foot in the water type of class for me to start working in the Mathematics/Science department! DH harrasses me frequently about my math phoebia. He reminds me that I was chosen from over 600 bank employees to teach all of the bank's loan officers discounted cash flow yet I freeze at the multiplication tables!! :) It's 'cause I've not had any formal math education past the 4th grade. Yep, that's when I started with my private teacher & I conned her into stressing language/history/art & ignoring math. Then, when it was time for HS I really didn't need to go (tested out at 13) but my parents made me go for 3 periods/day. I was allowed to pick/choose whatever classes I wished. I took 4 years of French, 3 years of German, 2 years of Spanish, and a bunch of English, literature, history classes. Not a single math class! So, I'm a'scared to tackle any formal math stuff. To get my master gardener's certificate I had to take a semester of chemistry...yikes! My professor would get so frustrated with me...I'd always get the right answer but couldn't put my formula on paper! :( He learned to call on me for verbal answers & ignored my attempts at daily written assignments...Bless his heart!

/tricia

Thanks for posting that link Tricia. My husband loves this kind of stuff and went shopping there yesterday. He wanted to get all of them. I just set him and myself up on a budget so I told him to get whatever he could fit into his yearly book/magazine category budget. Great site.

dktrahan,

lol

Your DH will enjoy the classes, I'm sure. And, if he doesn't...he can get a refund. I think that's amazing. They are a great company. Last September, my DH was involved in a serious car accident on I-84. At the time, he had one of these courses in his car. Volume 3 was smashed. I phoned The Teaching Company to see if I could replace just a single volume...they not only replaced the smashed six CD volume...they sent them to us for free via Next Day Air. They also send you mini-courses periodically throughout the year for free. For instance, I received a great 2-hour lecture on the Ancient Olympics last summer just before the games started. Also received a free mini on the great Greek thinkers.

I've been chosen to review a new class for the company. It's on the stars. I think it's titled, "The Night Sky - The Celestial Bears". It should be here next week. This is the first time they've asked me to preview a new class. I'm really looking forward to it...my first science class!

I couldn't make up my mind so I ended up ordering,

US History
How To Write A Good Sentence
US & the Middle East
Great Masters - Tchaikovsky (since I just finished a Russian history course I want to revisit Tchaikovsky's life & music in context to Russian political/social events)

I'm going to be BUSY!

/t

Tricia,
As one who thinks of math as art and music and philosophy, I would pick this one from the math section.
Joy of Thinking: The Beauty and Power of Classical Mathematical Ideas

From the Math/Science section, I'd also like:
Understanding the Brain

Spacific,

I admire your choices! From the math department - I'm thinking the High School level courses might be better suited to my abilities! :) I was so proud of myself for getting a B+ in "Perspective 1 & 2" during art school. I'll never forget the first time I sat down at my easel with a ruler in one hand & a pencil in the other staring at that very blank piece of white paper...the assignment was to draw what I saw outside the window next to my studio including proper shadowing. It was the first time I considered living in the desert SW surrounded by nothing but sagebrush & Joshua trees 'might' not be so bad...! lol I befriended a classmate & exchanged cookies & pans of lasagna for tutoring in geometry. rofl

/tricia