I'm watching a Teaching Company course on History of World Literature taught by Professor Grant Voth (great course, consider this a recommendation!) and it has me twitching. While I may be fairly literate my reading has been less extensive than it might have been and less than halfway through the course the material covered is beckoning. "So many books, so little time" is so true!

After each lecture I dash to my computer to check the catalogue of our local library system. From there it is on to Amazon where my wish list bulges. I want to read the Jakata. I want to spend time with The Tale of Genji and read more of The Canterbury Tales. Sign me up for Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei. And how long will it take to finish One Thousand and One Nights?

Each of Dr. Voth's lectures sends me off wanting more of the subject he covers. That is the gift of a good teacher, isn't it, encouraging the student to discover more on her own? I had a similar experience with the music courses taught by Professor Robert Greenberg. My husband and I were given a course on classical music and another on music theory taught by him and we enjoyed them both. Now we have shorter courses on Beethoven, Liszt, and Mozart yet to tackle and we are eager for the experience.

My thoughts have wandered on this post, I know. It is part WOW! for the learning, hooray for the teachers, with a soupçon of self-mockery for my bubbling enthusiasm, and topped off with a flourish of gratitude to the friend who has gifted us with the DVDs.