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Open Yale Courses provide course materials and videos for a wide range of subjects: from foundational physics, to the American Revolution, to the philosophical issues of Death. A number of their top lectures have also been posted to YouTube, with some garnering 100,000’s of views over the past few years. We’ve rounded up the 50 most watched Open Yale Course lectures on Youtube, and provided a bit of supplementary info just in case you want to check out the courses as well!
50. The Gospel of Thomas
While ancient writers have always informed us of the existence of the Gospel of Thomas, it wasn’t until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Codices that the gospel became available. The gospel is a collection of sayings, or logia, that can be well explained through a “Gnostic” understanding of the world. This involves rejecting the material world in a desire for “gnosis” or a secret knowledge. Course materials are available here.
Course description: This course provides a historical study of the origins of Christianity by analyzing the literature of the earliest Christian movements in historical context, concentrating on the New Testament. Although theological themes will occupy much of our attention, the course does not attempt a theological appropriation of the New Testament as scripture. Rather, the importance of the New Testament and other early Christian documents as ancient literature and as sources for historical study will be emphasized. A central organizing theme of the course will focus on the differences within early Christianity (-ies).
- Views: 104,725
- Posted: 5 Years Ago
- Course: Introduction to New Testament
49. Investment Banks
This talk centers around differentiating investment banking from consulting, commercial banking, and securities trading. The talk also looks into principles formulated by John Whitehead, former chairman of Goldman Sachs, and looks into the substantial power that investment bankers have. Government regulation in light of the financial crisis of the 2000’s is also covered. Course materials are available here.
Course description:
An overview of the ideas, methods, and institutions that permit human society to manage risks and foster enterprise. Description of practices today and analysis of prospects for the future. Introduction to risk management and behavioral finance principles to understand the functioning of securities, insurance, and banking industries.
- Views:110,650
- Posted: 2 Years Ago
- Course: Financial Markets (ECON 252)
48. Socratic Citizenship: Plato’s Apology
This lecture starts by defending the statement that Plato’s Apology is the best introductory text for studying political philosophy. The talk centers on the Apology as a symbol for violated free expression, with Socrates justifying the role of the thinking life and it’s use in political life. Course materials are available here.
Course description: This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. Three broad themes that are central to understanding political life are focused upon: the polis experience (Plato, Aristotle), the sovereign state (Machiavelli, Hobbes), constitutional government (Locke), and democracy (Rousseau, Tocqueville). The way in which different political philosophies have given expression to various forms of political institutions and our ways of life are examined throughout the course.
- Views: 112,627
- Posted: 6 Years Ago
- Course: Introduction to Political Philosophy
47. Putting Yourselves into Other People’s Shoes
This talk begins by talking through the “formal ingredients” of a game, including the players, strategies, and payoffs. Game theory is then applied to situations, from defending the Roman Empire against Hannibal, to a game established in a prior class. The class focuses on questions you should ask yourself when putting yourself into others shoes (how rational are they? and do they know that you’re rational?). Course materials are available here.
Course description: This course is an introduction to game theory and strategic thinking. Ideas such as dominance, backward induction, Nash equilibrium, evolutionary stability, commitment, credibility, asymmetric information, adverse selection, and signaling are discussed and applied to games played in class and to examples drawn from economics, politics, the movies, and elsewhere.
- Views: 112,863
- Posted: 6 Years Ago
- Course: Game Theory (Econ 159)
46. What Happens When Things Go Wrong: Mental Illness, Part I
This video from introduction to psychology describes how modern clinical psychology identifies and treats a range of mental disorders. This lecture focuses on mood disorders including bipolar disorder and depression, and talks through current diagnostic criteria and treatment practices. Course materials for the same course taught by another professor are available here.
Course description:What do your dreams mean? Do men and women differ in the nature and intensity of their sexual desires? Can apes learn sign language? Why can’t we tickle ourselves? This course tries to answer these questions and many others, providing a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior. It explores topics such as perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, religion, persuasion, love, lust, hunger, art, fiction, and dreams. We will look at how these aspects of the mind develop in children, how they differ across people, how they are wired-up in the brain, and how they break down due to illness and injury.
- Views: 117,863
- Posted:6 Years Ago
- Course: Introduction to Psychology
45. Arguments for the Existence of the Soul, Part I
This lecture outlines a number of arguments that can be offered for proof of the existence of the soul. The first argument is known as “inferences to the best explanation.” A number of segments of the course parallel the professor’s book of the same name Death, which explores the variety of questions that emerge after we accept the fact we’re going to die. Course materials are available here.
Course description: There is one thing I can be sure of: I am going to die. But what am I to make of that fact? This course will examine a number of issues that arise once we begin to reflect on our mortality. The possibility that death may not actually be the end is considered. Are we, in some sense, immortal? Would immortality be desirable? Also a clearer notion of what it is to die is examined. What does it mean to say that a person has died? What kind of fact is that? And, finally, different attitudes to death are evaluated. Is death an evil? How? Why? Is suicide morally permissible? Is it rational? How should the knowledge that I am going to die affect the way I live my life?
- Views: 118,881
- Posted: 6 Years Ago
- Course: Death (Phil 176)