No matter your budget, Road Scholar’s Free Online Lectures are a great way to experience the very best of online learning!
Each lecture is 45-60 minutes long and includes a Q&A session with the instructor, allowing you to enjoy innovative learning from the comfort of your own home at no cost to you.
The Westminster district of London is Britain’s royal and political capital. On this virtual field trip, join London historian Ruth Polling as we explore Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and Downing Street. Tracing key moments across more than 800 years, this online tour examines how the English Parliament developed—and how power gradually shifted from an all-powerful monarchy to today’s parliamentary democracy.
Walking Political History in London's Westminster District
Westminster from the dome on Methodist Central Hall. By © User:Colin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35624446
Long before the rise of the Inca Empire, early Peruvians attuned themselves to the natural world around them. They discovered sustainable ways of living, guided by the gods of the upper realms and the abundance offered by Mother Earth. Join historian Oscar Oviedo Velasco as he journeys into the myths and cosmologies of ancient Andean culture, offering insights into how Indigenous Peruvians once interpreted the universe. Gain a new perspective on how Andean societies engaged with their world before the Spanish conquest altered their way of life.
Cosmovision of the Andean Civilization
Santa Muerte has been called the “fastest-growing religion in the Americas.” Join religion scholar Brian Carwana for an introduction to this devotion centered on Saint Death—or the “Bony Lady”—a female figure often likened to the Grim Reaper. Her devotees in Mexico and elsewhere have grown rapidly in recent decades, much to the dismay of Catholic and Pentecostal churches. This lecture also explores the Day of the Dead, a tradition that is unrelated to Santa Muerte but also features skeletons in an unusual event that mixes mourning with festivity. Together, these practices offer insight into how death is understood, commemorated, and given meaning in Mexico and other Latin American cultures.
Santa Muerte & the Day of the Dead
Join us this Manatee Awareness Month for a program delivered from atop the 150,000-gallon manatee habitat at the new Mote Science Education Aquarium. Jason Robertshaw, certified Florida Master Naturalist and Program Manager at Mote Marine Laboratory, will share more than 30 years of groundbreaking manatee research, exploring how scientists use aerial surveys, drones and photo-identification to track populations, monitor migration patterns and identify critical habitats. Learn how researchers catalog individual manatees by their unique scars and markings, creating decades-long records that help shape state and federal conservation efforts. At a critical time for the species, you’ll gain insight into the threats manatees face — including seagrass loss, harmful algal blooms, cold stress and human impact — and how science is guiding conservation efforts. This lecture offers a compelling look at how data and discovery come together to protect one of Florida’s most iconic animals.
Florida's Gentle Giants - Protecting Manatees above and below
More than a decade after the referendum, Brexit remains one of the most consequential political decisions in modern British history. Join linguist and historian Nettah Yoeli-Rimmer as he explores the UK’s long and often-uneasy relationship with the European Union, as well as the social, political and economic forces that led to the 2016 vote. This lecture examines the realities of Brexit as they exist today and considers where Britain–EU relations may be heading next, from pragmatic compromise to deeper realignment.
Brexit - A political earthquake in modern Britain
