Mike Koh, 54, a State Farm Insurance financial service representative, had not been to school in 29 years. Then he heard Rush Limbaugh pitch Hillsdale College’s Constitu- tion 101 Course.
After watching 10 weekly 40-minute online lectures taught by six different profes- sors, Koh had a greater ap- preciation for the Founding Fa- thers, the Constitution, and the mission of Hillsdale College.
“They had it figured out,” Koh said of the Founders. “They knew man’s nature.”
Koh is one of the 275,000 people who enrolled in the 101 course, says Director of Online Programs Fred Hadra.
In fall 2011, President Larry Arnn began teaching a five-week online lecture series entitled, “Introduction to the Constitution.” The webcasts generated so much interest that the College decided to do a follow-up.
“We were trying to test the water and gauge the interest,” Hadra said.
In the first course, 185,000 people enrolled.
“That gave us an indication that people are interested,” Hadra said.
Tuesday, Sept. 4, Hillsdale began its third course, “Con- stitution 201” with lectures aimed at explaining the advent of liberalism in America.
Arnn said the goal is to feature most of the core cur- riculum through similar lecture series.
“We are working in that direction,” Arnn said. “So far it’s encouraging.”
Arnn’s greatest hope in offering the courses is to get people to develop a good un- derstanding of the Constitution before applying it to the issues of today.
“They want to talk about Justice Roberts and Obam- acare,” Arnn said. “You don’t start there.”
Arnn said he encourages questions such as, “What does it say? What is its significance? and is it good?”
The course is marketed similarly to Imprimis. The content is free and encourages potential donors to support the College’s mission.
Hadra said there has been a positive response from donors and that people have taken an interest in making sure the material gets to more people.
Koh did not say if he donated to the program, but he has been recruiting enrollees.
He is convinced other State Farm agents to sign up. His personal Facebook status re- cently read “There’s still time” and included a link to the Constitution 201 webpage.
Both Arnn and Hadra point- ed out that the online course is “not the same thing as what happens on campus.”
“It can’t ever be like teach- ing here,” Arnn said. “A col- lege is a conversation.”
The subscribers do have assigned primary readings, however, as well as the chance to email questions. Recurring questions are submitted to Director of the Dow Journal- ism Program John Miller, who directs them to professors in supplementary episodes.
For the people watching the lectures and producing the content, the coming election seasons means discussions of the Constitution are extremely relevant.
“This is a tremendous time of people talking about the Constitution,” Hadra said.
