Top U.S. Professors Unite With The Faculty Project To Offer Free Online Courses

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan.26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Udemy, a marketplace for online learning, today announced the debut of The Faculty Project (www.facultyproject.com), a remarkable initiative that brings together outstanding educators from many of America's most prestigious universities to teach free courses online. Staffed by professors from such world-class institutions as Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Vassar, Duke, Northwestern, the University of Virginia and others, the new Web site will enable people from all over the world to benefit from college-level learning on a variety of stimulating and practical subjects—at no cost whatsoever.

Subjects on the Udemy-powered site were chosen by the faculty themselves and cover a broad range of topics from Business and Law to History, Engineering, Public Health, Literature and Archaeology. Enrollment is now available at FacultyProject.com, with classes being created and uploaded throughout the Spring semester of 2012.

Teaching members of The Faculty Project have been recognized by their students and peers as being among the world's best and most engaging professors. All have won specific awards for teaching excellence, and many have garnered "Outstanding Professor of the Year" awards at their institutions.

"We couldn't be more proud of the educators that have agreed to participate in this truly unique endeavor. Each is participating without pay, simply because they are interested in bringing knowledge to the global community," said Tim Parks, Director of The Faculty Project. "Their knowledge, teaching skills, and passion for their respective subjects are truly exceptional."

On-Demand, Interactive
Courses on The Faculty Project will be available to students on an on-demand basis. Each course is a curated collection of videos, PowerPoint presentations, PDF documents, articles and other materials. A discussion board allows students to post comments and questions to the rest of the class and gives professors the opportunity to interact with their online audience. 

A sampling of the subjects initially on The Faculty Project includes:

• Introduction to Business Strategy—Michael Lenox, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
• Introduction to Operations Management—Gad Allon, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• Economics of Energy and the Environment—Ben Ho, Vassar College
• Budgeting in Accounting—Ken Milani, Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame University
• History of Modern China—Pamela Crossley, Dartmouth College
• Brazil for Beginners—Marshall Eakin, Vanderbilt University
• The United States Constitution: A Biography—Robert Allison, Suffolk University
• Public Health—David Dausey, Mercyhurst; honorary faculty member at Carnegie Mellon
• Ancient Greek Religion—Robert Garland, Colgate University
• Perspectives on Contemporary American Democracy—Jeb Barnes, University of Southern California
• Elixir: A History of Water and Humans—Brian Fagan (retired), University of California/Santa Barbara
• Classics of American Literature: T.S. Eliot—Victor Strandberg, Duke University
• Building Information Modeling for Sustainable Design—Glenn Katz, Stanford University
• Select Classics in Russian Literature—Irwin Weil (Emeritus), Northwestern University
• The Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness—Amishi Jha, University of Miami

Support from Faculty
"I am looking forward to taking the next step in open digital learning, bringing together the best possibilities of the classroom with the best possibilities of digital resources, and making the latest results available to the greatest number," said Pamela Crossley, Professor of History at Dartmouth College. "The new platform should be a frontier on the integration of text, interactive software, and the insights of individual instructors."

"Fostering broad access to education is critical for advancing business and society," noted Gad Allon, Associate Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. "I'm eager to tailor and extend essential management lessons through this online teaching platform, bringing knowledge to a global, diverse audience."

"This project creates an incredible and unprecedented opportunity to share lessons that empower and inspire people to improve their lives and change their worlds," added Glenn Katz, Educator at Stanford University's Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering as well as Educational Solutions Specialist at Autodesk. "The Faculty Project brings together a critical mass of educators and topics that will help prove the effectiveness and demonstrate the value of this new learning approach, while providing valuable feedback and insights about how to enhance and continue improving it."

Enroll Now
Anyone with a computer, tablet or smartphone with an Internet connection can enroll for a course on The Faculty Project. Additional faculty and courses will be announced as they become available. To learn more, visit www.facultyproject.com.

About The Faculty Project:
The Faculty Project brings academia's most outstanding professors to the computers, tablets, and smartphones of people all over the world. Powered by Udemy, The Faculty Project courses are free with open enrollment for anyone with an Internet connection. Visit www.facultyproject.com.

About Udemy:
Udemy, the world's marketplace for online learning, is a platform that allows anyone to teach and learn. Just as blogging democratized the publishing industry, enabling anyone to instantly become a journalist, Udemy seeks to dramatically change education by empowering millions of experts around the world to teach and share what they know. Privately-owned Udemy is funded by Lightbank, MHS Capital, 500 Startups and other investors responsible for funding Internet giants like YouTube, LinkedIn, Zynga, Twitter and Yelp.  The company is based in San Francisco.  To learn more, visit www.udemy.com.

SOURCE Udemy