ANN ARBOR—If improving your mind topped your New Year’s resolution list, but you can’t find time for classes, there’s another option to consider. Now, busy University of Michigan alumni and others can turn to Fathom.com, an online source of authenticated knowledge from the U-M and other institutions.

U-M’s first online Fathom course, “The Shakespeare You Never Knew: The First History Plays,” will begin Jan. 22. Taught by English Prof. Ralph Williams, the e-course will examine three Henry VI plays and Richard III. With Williams as their guide, learners will explore themes that run through the four plays. The self-paced course, which can be completed in four weeks or less, draws on the Royal Shakespeare Company‘s March 2001 residency at U-M, as well as artifacts from the University Library‘s Shakespeare Collection. The fee for the non-credit course is $45.

Later this year, a second e-course, “Daily Life in the Eastern Roman Empire (100 BCE – 100 CE): Trade, Travel, and Transformation,” will be taught by Susan Alcock, associate professor of classical studies; David Potter, professor of classical studies; Sharon Herbert, director of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and chair of classical studies; and Terry Wilfong, assistant professor of Near Eastern studies and assistant curator of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. The course will provide learners with a sense of daily life in the ancient Roman Empire, focusing on Rome, Italy; Karanis, Egypt; Ephesus, Turkey; and the Nemea Valley, Greece.

In addition to the formal courses, users who visit the U-M entry to the Fathom site (http://www.fathom.com/umich) will find interactive narratives by top faculty on fields ranging from architecture and business to physics and psychology. The free “features” enable visitors to:

Spend time with a North Dakota farming family and find out why a cultural anthropologist cares about their lives.

Explore detailed, three-dimensional images of the human body being created through the Visible Human Project.

Learn how a virtual reality expert teamed up with U-M football staff and players to create a Virtual Football Trainer.

Review the latest research on the aging mind and get an expert’s advice on how to stay mentally fit in later life.

Play business consultant, using a Web-based simulation of a fictitious business.

The U-M joined Fathom in late 2000 as part of its commitment to participate in Internet education at the highest level. The partnership enables the University to explore the most effective uses of information technology to reach wider audiences.

“We want to continue our connection with alumni throughout their lives,” says James L. Hilton, associate provost for academic, information, and instructional technology affairs. “The U-M community is gathered around knowledge, and Fathom provides another opportunity to reach out to that community.”

Matthew Howard, a Fathom producer who worked with faculty to develop the U-M features, notes that “the University of Michigan is a cosmopolitan university, and its move to deliver academic content online further underscores and enriches this.”

Other members of the Fathom consortium are Columbia University, London School of Economics and Political Science, Cambridge University Press, the British Library, the New York Public Library, the University of Chicago, American Film Institute, RAND, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum (United Kingdom), and the Natural History Museum (United Kingdom).

The members provide multimedia content for Fathom’s Web site in the form of articles, Q&A interviews, lectures, seminars, databases and performances across 10 different topic areas. In addition, users can navigate “Knowledge Trails” to explore topics that intrigue them. Some trails explore a single subject in depth, while others crisscross a variety of subjects as they pursue a particular theme, such as the history of science. And, unlike cyberexplorers who gather information by wandering from Web site to Web site, Fathom visitors who navigate Knowledge Trails can rest assured that all the material they encounter is from reputable sources at well-respected institutions.

“In this information age, what people are clamoring for is authenticated information,” says Hilton, “and we want people to come to the Fathom site and to us to look for that authenticated information.”

University of Michigan courses, free seminars and free features on Fathom.com

Fathom.comThe Shakespeare You Never Knew: The First History PlaysDaily Life in the Eastern Roman Empire (100 BCE – 100 CE): Trade, Travel, and Transformationhttp://www.fathom.com/umichJames L. HiltonUniversity of Michigan courses, free seminars and free features on Fathom.com