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Edited by Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot, Greater Atlanta, GA, USA
Email: jurascot@earthlink.net
This is not a typical article for our readers but it can be extremely beneficial
for those who read these pages. Here is an opportunity put together by our
friends at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow for
Burns aficionados to study and learn about him. It has been a pleasure for me to
serve on the Centre’s business board for several years, and I look forward to
taking this class and encourage you to do so as well. All of this started for me
when I recently received the following email from Dr. Ronnie Young in the School
of Critical Studies at the University.
Dear Frank
Greetings from Glasgow! Gerry Carruthers, who sends his best,
asked me to forward you the details of a new free online course on Burns that
the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at Glasgow University is launching in
January on the Futurelearn platform. I’d be grateful if you’d circulate the
attached information to anyone who might be interested.
All best wishes
Ronnie
Please join me in participating in this exciting cost-free study
of the poems, songs, and legacy of our Bard. My personal thanks to Ronnie and
Terry McGuire for providing the details below on the three-week course. It will
be well worth even the busiest of us taking the time to involve ourselves.
(FRS: 12.15.15)
Starting 25 Jan 2016
Register now
In celebration of Burns Night
2016, the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow, in
partnership with Futurelearn, will be launching the first Massively Open Online
Course (MOOC) on Robert Burns. The course ‘Robert Burns: Poems, Songs, and
Legacy’ is free and open to all. We’re aiming to attract newcomers as well as
long-time fans of the poet, including those with an interest in Scottish history
and culture, or just poetry, literature and song in general.
This course will introduce
learners to the life, works, and posthumous reputation of Burns. Over the course
of three weeks, learners will explore three core questions: Who was Robert
Burns? What made Robert Burns a poetic genius? What made Burns a worldwide icon?
In the process, learners engage with diverse materials including poems, songs,
music and video, as well as original publications and manuscripts by Burns and
objects made to commemorate the poet.
Registration for the course is now open at
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/robert-burns/1
To
view the extended trailer for the course, visit
http://tinyurl.com/pely48s
Good friend Terry McGuire, who has supplied me with dozens of articles over the
years about Burns sent me the following information about the free online three
week course
Robert Burns: Poems, Songs and Legacy
Celebrate Burns
Night online, and dig deeper into the life and works of Robert Burns, with this
free University of Glasgow course.
About the course
If you’ve ever welcomed in the
New Year with a rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” or enjoyed a whisky and haggis on
25 January, you’re likely to be one of the thousands, nay millions, of fans of
Robert Burns around the world.
Now you can celebrate the poems,
songs, and legacy of the great Scottish poet in a new way - with this free
online course from the University of Glasgow, which begins on Burns Night 2016.
Learn how an 18th-century Scottish poet became a
global icon
Over three weeks, we’ll introduce
you to the life and works of Robert (“Rabbie” or “Robbie”) Burns, exploring
three core questions:
- Who was Robert Burns?
- What made Robert Burns a
poetic genius?
- And what made Robert Burns
a global icon?
In the process, you’ll examine
archive material, original publications and manuscripts by Burns himself,
recordings of Burns songs and examples of objects used to commemorate the poet.
You’ll also look at and learn to interpret a selection of Robert Burns’s works
in the context of Scottish history and culture. Poems and songs covered in the
course include:
- Auld Lang Syne
- To a Mouse
- To a Haggis
- Ae Fond Kiss
- A Red Red Rose
- Scots Wha Hae
- A Man’s a Man for a’ That
- The Vision
Setting things in a wider
context, you’ll also develop your understanding of Robert Burns’s reputation -
from the rise of Burns Clubs and Burns Suppers following his death, to the
continuing celebration of the poet today through Burns Night, Hogmanay (New
Year) and beyond.
Learn with Scotland’s leading experts on Robert
Burns
You’ll learn with experts from
the
Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow, which leads
the world in the academic study of the poet, his life and works, the history and
culture of the period in which he lived, and his ongoing legacy.
So join us on 25 January 2016, for a Burns Night
with a difference.
·
FREE online course
Duration: 3 weeks
4 hours pw
Certificates available
Share
Educators
Gerard Carruthers
Requirements
No previous experience or
qualifications are required for this course - just an interest in Robert Burns,
Scottish history and culture, or poetry and song in general.
Get a personalised, digital and printed
certificate
You can buy a
Statement of Participation for this course — a personalised certificate in
both digital and printed formats — to show that you’ve taken part.
Join the conversation on social media
Use the hashtag
#FLRobertBurns to join and contribute to social media conversations about
this course. |
