Classes I Teach

Astronomy Professor Andrew Fraknoi in his classroom on June13, 2017. Photo by Michelle Le

I taught introductory astronomy and physics classes and labs at Foothill College, San Francisco State University, and Cañada College for four decades, and retired from teaching undergraduates in summer 2017.  For many years, I also taught weekend programs on astronomy and Einstein at the various campuses of the University of California, through its extension division.

These days, I am teaching short, non-credit astronomy classes for retired adults at the University of San Francisco’s Fromm Institute and the SF State Osher Life-long Learning Institute (OLLI).  These include such fun courses, such as:

• “Aliens in Science and Fiction”
• “A Tourist Tour of the Solar System and Galaxy”
• “The Violent Universe: Crashing Asteroids, Exploding Stars, and Hungry Black Holes”
• “Everyday Astronomy: The Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the Sky”

Sometimes I branch out and teach classes on modern physics (without math), such as “Einstein’s Theories of Relativity for Poets” and “Quantum Mechanics for Beginners.”

I first taught my introductory course, “From Mars to the Stars (and Galaxies,)” an overview of modern astronomy, at the Fromm.  Over 260 people signed up for the class, which was also videotaped for their remote learning program, FrommCast.

Here is the syllabus: http://usf.usfca.edu/fromm//Fall2017Handouts/Fraknoi%20Syllabus.pdf 

The video recording of the 8-part course is available through their FrommCast catalog

For more about OLLI (the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) at San Francisco State University: https://olli.sfsu.edu/.

The relativity class is described here: http://www.campusce.net/sfsu/course/course.aspx?C=383&pc=95&mc=&sc=

In addition, I still give a number of public talks on a variety of astronomical topics each year.