You've seen their ads many times, particularly if you read any serious political or cultural magazines. You can't miss the boldface come-ons: "Witness the Glory of Shakespeare," in National Review. "Follow the Story of Lost Christianities," in the Wilson Quarterly. "Enrich Your Music Listening Skills and Learn the Language of Music," in The New Republic. A recent Economist featured a full-page ad for "Who's Who in the Evolution of Western Medicine." Other typical subjects range from "Particle Physics for Non-Physicists" to "The Art of the Northern Renaissance."I just want to endorse McClay's praise for the company. I've been listening to their courses for the last six or seven years. I listen to them in the car and while I'm doing housework. I've used them to learn material to supplement my own teaching. I love the feeling of arriving at work having listened to a lecture on say, the First Great Awakening, and knowing that I've learned something new before school even starts. There are times when I actually do more housework than I had planned just to finish a lecture. And believe me, doing housework is the last priority in my life.
The source of these promises, and of the DVDs, audio CDs and tapes created to deliver on them, is the Teaching Company of Chantilly, Va., an outfit begun 17 years ago by a Capitol Hill attorney named Thomas Rollins. After some rocky early years, the company has grown steadily to become the colossus of its field, the country's leading publisher of proprietary university-level courses for home use. With more than 200 courses already available and new ones being added almost daily--now including a line of courses directed at high-school and home-schooled students--and with all of them taught by reputable and often quite talented lecturers, the Teaching Company has become a serious force in American education. Such was evidently the opinion of Brentwood Associates, a well-heeled private equity investment firm in Los Angeles, which acquired the company last October for an undisclosed, but presumably handsome, sum.
If you are sick of your morning radio programs or bored silly folding laundry, I highly recommend that you buy one of their courses or see if your library has them on loan. I've listened to most of the modern history courses and would be happy to recommend individual ones if you have questions. Of the many courses I've listened to, I've only been disappointed a couple of times. These make great gifts. My first one came when my husband ordered me Gary Gallagher's course on The American Civil War and I've been hooked ever since.
McClay, a professor at the University of Tennessee, tries to argue that, as much as he enjoys the courses he's listened to, there is still something missing from the classroom experience by not being there in person. Perhaps if you could guarantee that the professors would all be of the caliber of the Teaching Company professors, I might agree with him, but for me, it's the best of college - listening to a great professor without the homework, papers, or tests.
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