Hillsdale College Launches New, Free Online Course: "Athens and Sparta"

HILLSDALE, Mich., March 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillsdale College today announced that registration is open for a new online course, "Athens and Sparta." The free, not-for-credit, nine-week course examines the ancient Greek cities of Athens and Sparta as essential for understanding the beginning of the story of Western Civilization. Generous sponsorship for this course was provided by Don and Lois Thorson.

Taught by Hillsdale College Professor of History Paul Rahe, and Victor Davis Hanson, the Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale, the course considers life and government in Athens and Sparta while examining their respective roles in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. The first lesson features an introduction from Hillsdale President Larry P. Arnn.

"Athens & Sparta" consists of nine sessions, each 30 to 40 minutes long, which will be released every Monday and will be available on-demand once published. Each week also features a Q&A session with John J. Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program, and that week's faculty member, along with a quiz for students to test their learning. At the end of the course, students have the opportunity to take a final quiz in order to receive a free Certificate of Completion.

Lesson release dates, topics and professors are:

1. Why Study the Classics?
   Larry P. Arnn
   March 14, 2016
2. Life and Government in Sparta
   Paul A. Rahe
   March 21, 2016
3. Life and Government in Athens
   Victor Davis Hanson
   March 28, 2016
4. Sparta and the Persian War
   Paul A. Rahe
   April 4, 2016
5. Athens and the Persian War
   Victor Davis Hanson
   April 11, 2016
6. Sparta and the Peloponnesian War
   Paul A. Rahe
   April 18, 2016
7. Athens and the Peloponnesian War
   Victor Davis Hanson
   April 25, 2016
8. Sparta and Athens – Conclusions
   Paul A. Rahe
   May 2, 2016
9. Athens and Sparta – Conclusions
   Victor Davis Hanson
   May 9, 2016

Hillsdale College offers a catalog of free, online courses taught by its faculty in subjects ranging from the Constitution to Winston S. Churchill, education, and economics. More than 900,000 students have generated more than 1.5 million course enrollments since the program launched in Fall 2011.

More information and registration for "Athens and Sparta" are available at https://online.hillsdale.edu/.

About Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College, founded in 1844, has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 3.4 million.

SOURCE Hillsdale College

Related Links

https://online.hillsdale.edu/.