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Six years ago, someone had the idea that there exist a need not being fulfilled, namely, a segment

of educated public have a thirst for sophisticated knowledge that are notavailable in easy-to-absorb segments at the college level. Some want this as entertainment,some for general

knowledge, and some for easy learning.  Thus, the existence of “One Day University” was born. You rent space in a large hotel inNew York city, invite good speakers from nearby universities, such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, etc. to give popular one hour lectures on topics of literature, science, medicine, and history to anyone willing to pay and spend one day, i.e. Five hours,  to hear five  out of eight such lectures offered.  Apparently, the organizer wasright. In six years this idea has grown to an attendance of approximate two thousand people and is being expanded to other big cities.

My wife and I decided to try out the experience this year in NYC on April 21.

We took in lectures on:

1.    How the Brain works?  

2.    Aging: mind, body, and relationships

3.    How to appreciate great music  

4.    China, Russia, and India: rise of the rest    

5.    The American Civil War

6.    Genius, Creativity and Depression

We rate the first two lectures 80/100 and the last four 90+/100.

My personal best being the 4^thone on China, Russia, and India. Professor Kotkin of Princeton uses

humor, sarcasm, and facts to point out thing with these three countries not usually found in

TV shows  and newspaper articles. He was actually rather nice to China compared

to Russia and India. However, for ultra-nationalists in China who think that China will soon

overtake the US and be the super power of the world, they will be disappointed.

Kotkin uses geography, history, military power, economic facts, and governance to point out

convincingly that it will take a long time before China can rise to the level of the US even if the

current trajectory is maintained.

All in all, it was an enjoyable but tiring day for us having voluntarily concentrated

for five full hours of brain exercises. But we learned interesting things and were satisfied.For more information go to http://www.onedayu.com/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Day_University