Students attending ‘Thinking: A Free Introduction’ in London. Photo: the IF Project
In the first few months of this year a small London-based charity, The IF Project, invited applications for a 10-week course at a no-fixed-abode “free university”. The course, Thinking: A Free Introduction, was free to all comers and offered university-level lectures and seminars in History, Literature and Philosophy. Those attending would not receive degrees or certificates of achievement (other than a statement of attendance if they wanted one). The objective of the course was to “challenge and empower the students to become critical thinkers”. It was pitched at those who wanted to try out university-level study, but could not or did not want to take on debt.
Some 45 Londoners of varying ages and backgrounds turned up for an introductory event. Around a dozen decided it was not for them. More than 30 people returned for the first teaching session (a lecture on literature) and almost all of them persisted with the twice-a-week sessions for the full 10 week course. Seminars and lectures attracted an average of 20-25 students per event, a high rate of retention for evening classes.
