November 27, 2021

iTunes U Shut Down, But Many Courses Still Remain

UPDATE! As you might’ve heard, iTunes shut down their iTunes U section at the end of 2021. iTunes U was launched in 2007 to showcase free educational material from universities, colleges, and other institutions. Now the bad news is that you can no longer browse iTunes U and some of their courses and offerings are gone. But the good news is that many of their courses have now moved over to the iTunes Podcast Directory. At LearnOutLoud we’ve tried to feature the top audio & video learning content that iTunes U had to offer over the years which we’ll highlight below.

After going through their courses which we featured, here are some of courses that still remain on the iTunes Podcast Directory and we still feature on our site:

Over 70 Courses & Lectures from Stanford University on iTunes & YouTube

12 Courses from La Trobe University

23 Free Courses from UC Davis on iTunes & YouTube

16 Courses from East Tennessee State University

19 Courses from Missouri State University on iTunes & YouTube

11 Courses from Harrisburg Area Community College

And here are some of the individual courses and offerings we’ve featured over the years:

The Literature of Crisis

In addition to their other offerings through Stanford on iTunes, Stanford University is offering this course for free through iTunes U on audio download. This Intro to Humanities course entitled “The Literature of Crisis” explores crisis when it occurs at the personal, familial, and societal levels through six major works of literature. Professor Martin Evans and Marsh McCall are both dynamic lecturers that lead listeners through these works. While it seems a lot can be derived from the lectures without reading the works, you may want to read (or listen to) some of the works yourself in conjuction with listening to the lectures. Here are the works they examine (with links to these titles on audio book): Apology by Plato, The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Hamlet by Shakespeare, The Aeneid by Virgil, and Candide by Voltaire.

Story of Freedom in America

Professor J. Rufus Fears was an American historian, scholar, teacher, and author, who was best known for his many courses he taught through the Teaching Company that produces The Great Courses. Now you can get one of his “great” courses absolutely free from the University of Oklahoma through iTunes U. In a series of 18 dynamic audio & video lectures supplemented by downloadable documents, Professor J. Rufus Fears tells the story of how America’s vision of freedom became a model for the entire world. As Fears argues in the first lecture, one of the main reasons America has endured is because the founding fathers used lessons from the past to make decisions in the present and plan for the future. This sense of what works historically and what we should avoid has given the great American leaders (from Jefferson to Lincoln to FDR) a sturdy precedent that can be used as a tool to forge ahead. With that established, Fears says the purpose of the course will be to reflect upon the lessons provided by major turning points in American history and how we can use this history to tackle the problems the world faces today. Enjoy this course from a truly great professor and historian. Now on YouTube.

Colonial and Revolutionary America

The ways in which scholars and teachers approach American History has gone through a major shakeup in recent years, and in this free course presented by Stanford, students will be given a chance to assess the new ways we might investigate American origins. Historian and professor Jack Rakove identifies two strands of thinking when it comes to American history: the first, more conventional take examines American history through the prism of British colonial involvement and the transplantation of English institutions into North America. The second, more contemporary view sets the clock back to European “discovery”, starting with Columbus and tracing the vast exchanges over what became known as the Atlantic Ocean. Setting up his survey in these terms, Rakove explains that writing a strong narrative of American history has always been tough to do, and the course will try to navigate the complex series of interactions that led to the development of the North American continent up the Revolutionary generation. This course is available on audio through iTunes U.

Romanticism Course

Who were the Romantics? In this free course conducted by Timothy Morton, listeners will learn about an innovative literary period between 1790 and 1820 that produced influential writers such as William Blake, Jane Austen, William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Mary Shelley. Centered primarily in England at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the Romantic poets began to grapple with a changing world that was dominated by capitalist ambition, a growing consumerism, and the explosive development of democratic political reforms. Morton also feels that with this change there came a new self-awareness that the romantics tapped into, where many became conscious of a newfound intellectual and expressive freedom. The course will not only cover the writers and their work, but also pay special attention to how their thinking helped influence modern self-understanding. It’s being offered on audio on iTunes U.

How to Think Like a Psychologist

In this free mini-course provided by Stanford University, Upside of Stress author and psychologist Kelly McGonigal hosts a survey of current trends in psychology and how they might offer strategies for use in daily life. With each class, cutting edge psychologists offer a lecture on their specific areas of study, followed by lively interviews with McGonigal and questions from the class. Fascinating topics covered include how to use meditation to combat anxiety, finding practical techniques to manage our emotions, and what really makes human beings unique. A must for anyone interested in the role psychology plays in daily life, and for those that want to learn more about the newest, exciting innovations in the field. This course is available on video through iTunes U.

Enjoy what is left of iTunes U through the iTunes Podcast Directory!