I joined a free online course today, sponsored by FutureLearn through the University of Sheffield. Since school will be out (not-so) soon, and since the title of the course --
Literature of the English Country House -- intrigued me, I registered. We will be reading selections from different authors, including Jane Austen, my absolute most personal favourite writer. (The "u" is intentional by the way!) If you've never tried a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) before, I can highly recommend them.
I realized that our Berlin community already does the same kind of thing on a regular basis, albeit with a smaller group. It is a marvelous way to understand OUR community content. It can be fiction. It can be non-fiction. It can even be in the form of a graphic novel. Reading (and reading voraciously) about a topic can give anyone a better sense of the era under study.
