TED Talks has spawned the renewal of lectures as an engaging form of education (who would have guessed?) and many universities and organizations are regularly sharing lectures from their public programs, staff workshops, and student courses online with the public.  They’re also a great resource for house museums and historic sites, who can use them for professional development and staff training, or to check out a potential speaker for a special event.  They might even inspire museums to record their own events and share them online.  Here are a couple programs that caught my eye:

Graduate Lectures at the University of California, Berkeley

• Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination by Annette Gordon-Reed
• The First U.S. ‘War on Terror’: The 1798 Sedition Act and Constitutional Politics in the Age of Jefferson by Charles McCurdy
• The Riddle of Sustainability: A Surprisingly Short History of the Future by William Cronon
• Why White People Are Called ‘Caucasian’ by Nell Painter
• From Thomas Jefferson to Forrest Gump: How the Mall in Washington Became the Nation’s Most Venerated Civic Space by Michael Kammen

Stanford Graduate School of Business (via YouTube)

• Think Fast, Talk Smart: Communication Techniques by Matt Abrahams
• Top 10 Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs (panel discussion)
• Three Secrets All Inspiring Messages Share by Carmine Gallo

Talks at Google (via YouTube)

• Repurposing a Century Old Collection for a New Millennium by Alaka Wali
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Radiolab by Jad Abumrad
• Museum Legs: Why do People Get Bored and Tired in Art Museums? by Amy Whitaker
• Opportunity and Discrimination in WWII Shipyards by Betty Soskin ( the country’s oldest active park ranger, serving at the Rosie the Riveter World War II/Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California)

There are many more available online—have you found a video online that’s been particularly helpful to you or your historic site?  Please share them in the comments.