Tom Friedman’s NYT column this morning highlighted the growing popularity of lectures about justice by Harvard professor Michael J. Sandel. Curiously, Sandel’s lectures, which are more philosophical than legal, have drawn interest Japan and China, where students are showing a surprising desire to learn about topics a bit deeper than math and economics.

We tend to cover career training on this site, but it’s certainly refreshing now and then to apply some thought to questions of morality that arise in a very concrete way in all of our lives. Sandel’s lectures are available for free on Harvard’s website. They have lots of comments by students cut in that make them feel, at times, a bit like commercials. But it’s hard not to be impressed not only by Sandel’s ideas, and perhaps even more by his ability to create a very interactive discussion with a very large class of students. He’s quite successful at making you think about big questions to which there are, in most cases, no clear answers

The lectures are fairly long — about 25 minutes each. But if you want to take some free classes at Harvard, give these a look:

Life, death and economic issues involving trolly car drivers, basketball players and Bill Gates: A Journey in Moral Reasoning

Issues of for-profit schools, paid contractors fighting our wars, prescription drug marketing and paying children for getting good grades. Markets and Morals (advise you to skip past the long introduction to get to the lecture on this one)

And finally, a talk Mr. Sandel did at TED that I think hits on a terribly important issue: The Lost Art of Democratic Debate

With everyone in Congress trying to tie college education to gainful employment, New York University has come up with a four-credit class that offers serious career opportunities. “DJ History, Culture and Technique” teaches students to select and spin music at parties, with advanced studies in scratching and mixing tunes. Homework often involves making a hot mix of songs and then playing it in class. Does the teacher dance during the phase of the class? As wacky as it sounds, the course has created lots of excitement among students who normally hate academics, and there is, in fact, considerable work for DJs in New York’s party scene. The one sour note: students have to pony up $5,200. for the class at this high-end private university.

This prompted us to look at other oddball college courses being offered around the U.S. Among some of the more interesting finds, at some very respectable institutions:
- “Underwater Basket Weaving,” at UC San Diego and at Reed College in Portland.
- “Zombies in Popular Media,” at Columbia College, Chicago
- “Cyberporn and Society,” at State University of New York at Buffalo
- “The American Vacation,” at The University of Iowa
- “Maple Syrup – the Real Thing,” at Alfred University in upstate New York
- “Tree Climbing,” at Cornell University

In case you want to learn about Star Trek, Harry Potter or even the Joy of Garbage, it appears there is now a school that can help you, for a price.