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Maharishi University of Management online education Have you ever wanted to learn how to cook using Maharishi Ayurveda principles? Or dive into the fascinating realms of consciousness and the unified field? Maybe you’d enjoy a course on storytelling from an award-winning documentary filmmaker, or have fun exploring Maharishi Vedic Architecture. You can do all this and more at Maharishi University of Management (MUM) in Fairfield, Iowa. But what if time, money, or family responsibilities don’t allow you to take off for an extended stay in the Midwest? Well, now MUM has got you covered. The university is moving with the times to offer courses online via their distance education program. There are already 15 courses available, and they plan to raise that number to over 100 within the next two years. Some courses are credit-bearing, while others can be taken simply for your enjoyment. Ayurveda Cooking This 10-lesson course will teach you how to prepare delicious meals using the principles of Maharishi Ayurveda. It includes TV-chef-style illustration videos, recipes, and a solid grounding on the nutritional benefits of the ingredients in the recipes and how to prepare them. The course also covers the effects of each dish on the physiology and the three doshas—the three basic qualities that structure the human body. A second cooking class focuses on Ayurveda Cooking for Vata Dosha, designed to help people bring more stability and balance to their mind and body through proper diet and digestion. Consciousness and the Unified Field Dr. John Hagelin’s introductory physics course reveals how the latest discoveries of modern physics and the ancient Vedic science of consciousness are inextricably linked and, in the final analysis, describe the same ultimate reality of life. It combines videos, webinars, and live question-and-answer sessions with Dr. Hagelin. This popular online course drew over 300 students the first time it was offered. Narrative-Based Creative Storytelling One of the newest programs to be made available online is a course on narrative taught by BBC documentary filmmaker Stuart Tanner. It is ideal for budding filmmakers, journalists, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. And you can begin the course at any time. Mr. Tanner is a senior television producer/director who honed his storytelling skills as an award-winning broadcast journalist and filmmaker of high-profile documentaries for the BBC. The course explores the key elements of storytelling, including character, plot, and narrative themes. It uses exercises to help students improve their writing by applying the fundamental principles of narrative. Vedic Green: Building Your Maharishi Vastu Home & Community This course provides a unique opportunity to gain practical knowledge about Maharishi Vedic architecture. It combines live presentations and discussions with taped materials from conferences and seminars held in the U.S. and Europe. It also includes some of the best talks and documentaries from 15 of the world’s leading experts in Maharishi Vastu architecture and planning. Get a Master’s Degree Online MUM has now begun offering the full MA in Maharishi Vedic Science via distance education. Each course extends over 10 weeks and includes about 11 hours of work per week. If you take the program on a non-credit-bearing basis, you’ll have about three hours of work each week. The program includes short videotapes from the professors explaining the topic of the week, along with video and audio lectures by Maharishi. There are readings from the Science of Being and Art of Living, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita, Maharishi Vedic University: Introduction, and other texts by Maharishi. The series of courses also includes supplementary readings, video-based webinars, chat room learning activities, plus an assessment every other week. Next up, MUM is planning to offer online master’s degree programs in business and computer science. Course Options Some courses can be taken at any time—the materials are available online and you can enroll whenever you like—and are offered for as little as $150. Other courses, especially the credit-bearing courses, include live interaction with a professor. Credit-bearing courses are offered at the regular University tuition rate and have a specific start date. The Technology Behind the Curtain The startup phase of MUM’s online offerings has entailed putting a state-of-the-art technical infrastructure in place. That includes Adobe Connect for videoconferencing, as well as a “learning management system”—a software package that allows a professor to create a virtual classroom. It enables the easy creation of a course-specific website that provides video, ebooks, PDF files, chatrooms, interactive forums, course assignments, and other materials. To satisfy the requirements of credit-bearing courses, the software also includes instructor tools that help with details such as logging attendance, tracking progress, grading quizzes, recording grades, and printing reports. Perry Bedinger, JD, who heads MUM’s online offerings, said the use of videoconferencing was especially effective in Dr. Hagelin’s webinars during the course on physics and consciousness. Students could submit questions in advance, as well as ask them live. Dr. Hagelin would offer a webinar presentation and then engage the students in a live question-and-answer session. A course on wellness consulting took advantage of videoconferencing to include guest instructors and Maharishi Ayurveda doctors from India, in addition to MUM faculty members Dr. Keith Wallace, Dr. Robert Schneider, Dr. Paul Morehead, and Dr. Stuart Rothenberg. Riding the Trend Online distance education is clearly the new trend. “It’s happening right now,” Perry says. “The ground is shifting under our feet. The desire for education exceeds schools’ ability to provide it, and the demand is increasing. The number of people who can physically go to a campus is small, so they’re turning to online offerings. That demand has to be filled.” While there’s a worldwide demand for Maharishi’s knowledge, until now you had to go to Fairfield to take these courses. Now, MUM’s distance education program gives you the opportunity to take courses that deepen your knowledge and enrich your life, right in your own home. For more information on MUM’s distance learning program, visit www.elearning.mum.edu. For more information on MUM’s on-campus courses, visit www.mum.edu. © Copyright 2014 Maharishi Foundation USA, a non-profit educational organization.
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