Coming soon to a computer screen near you!
Shoreline Community College is preparing to host its first ever massive open online course, better known as a MOOC, on July 21. William Lindenmuth, an Associate faculty member in Philosophy at Shoreline, will examine a variety of philosophical issues through the medium of film for the class that will be hosted on www.canvas.net until Sept. 15. The class is free.
The class will engage some of the central questions surrounding the human experience through the medium of film. Film can be seen as not merely entertainment, but rather culture condensed into artistic works created to reflect both who we are and what we want to be. The class will consist of video lectures, short readings and lively discussion boards.
Expect to enjoy thinkers such as Aristotle, Marx and Kant; issues like “Who am I?” “What is the good life?” and “What is the role of government?” and screenings of The Hunger Games, Inception, and District 9. By enrolling for Philosophy and Film, students will become more philosophically, cinematically and culturally literate.
MOOCs represent the latest stage in the evolution of open educational resources. A person no longer needs to be associated with an institution of higher education to enroll in a college-level course and study under the supervision of college professors.
Lindenmuth is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Shoreline. He received his Master’s in Philosophy from the New School for Social Research in New York City, and his BA in English from Saint Mary’s College in California. He specializes in normative ethics and moral psychology particularly through the mediums of literature and film. His essay on the film Inception will be published Fall 2014 in The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan by Lexington Books.
For more information e-mail elearning@shoreline.edu.