Yale University is making some of its most popular undergraduate courses freely available to anyone in the world with access to the Internet. The project, called "Open Yale Courses," presents unique access to the full content of a selection of college-level courses and makes them available in various formats, including downloadable and streaming video, audio only and searchable transcripts of each lecture. Syllabi, reading assignments, problem sets and other materials accompany the courses.

The production of the courses for the Internet was made possible by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The seven courses in the sciences, arts and humanities—which were recorded live as they were presented in the classroom to Yale students—will be augmented with approximately 30 additional Yale courses over the next several years.

Diana E. E. Kleiner, Dunham Professor of the History of Art and Classics and the director of the project, noted that the full content of all the courses is now readily available online and may be accessed at the users' convenience.

The courses reflect the broad liberal arts education provided by Yale College, which encourages critical thinking, intellectual exploration and creativity. She said Yale plans for future Open Yale Courses to include music and the arts. Hewlett Foundation President Paul Brest said that the availability of the Yale courses has significance far beyond the university. "Making the talents of Yale's faculty available for free on the Internet is an important step toward the Hewlett Foundation's goal of providing access to knowledge and educational opportunities throughout the world," Brest said. "Truly, all the world is becoming a classroom."

The URL for Open Yale Courses is: http://open.yale.edu/courses/