The Floating University

2012 Webby Honoree The Floating University is a free online education platform featuring video lectures by some of the world’s top thinkers. The first course, “Great Big Ideas” serves as an introduction to a wide variety of disciplines–from Physics to Demography to Political Philosophy to Biomedical Research–and was taught at Harvard, Yale and Bard. Produced for Big Think / Director & Producer: Kathleen Russell / Editorial Director: Buboo Kakati / Director of Production: Jonathan Fowler / Editorial Assistant: Cody Adams / Director of Photography: Charles Farrell / Camera Operators: Ryan Muir, Dillon Fitton / Editors: Charles Farrell, Kathleen Russell, Wesley Swinnen / Assistant Editor: Dillon Fitton / Animators: Gabe Darling, Mark Phillips, Russ Porchia


Physics - Michio Kaku: The Universe in a Nutshell:

Linguistics - Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain:

Demography: Joel Cohen: An Introduction to Demography (Malthus Miffed: Are People the Problem?):

Biomedical Engineering - Douglas Melton: Is Biomedical Research Really Close to Curing Anything?

Economics - Saul Levmore: Monopolies as an Introduction to Economics

Philosophy - Tamar Gendler: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Politics and Economics:

Psychology - Paul Bloom: The Psychology of Everything:

Finance - William Ackman: Everything You Need to Know About Finance and Investing in Under an Hour:


Art - Leon Botstein: Art Now (Aesthetics Across Music, Painting, Architecture, Movies and More):

Classics - Jeffrey Brenzel: The Essential Value of a Classic Education
Jeffrey Brenzel: The Essential Value of a Classic Education

Sociology - Nicholas Christakis: The Sociological Science Behind Social Networks and Social Influence: **trigger warning: mentions of suicide**