About WoSM Academy

WoSM Academy — Wisdom of Starving Minds — exists to democratise knowledge: free, open, rigorous courses for anyone, anywhere.

Manifesto

Minds go hungry when knowledge is locked away behind fees, borders, and gatekeepers. Many people who would love to learn never get the chance.

We believe understanding is not a luxury. The ideas that shaped computing and mathematics belong to everyone who wants to learn them.

WoSM Academy teaches these ideas rigorously and for free. Our courses are demanding because we take our students seriously, not to keep anyone out.

Learning is not a solitary act. In Conway’s Game of Life, a cell with too few neighbours starves; a cell among others lives. Minds work the same way, so we learn in company.

What you learn here is yours to keep and yours to pass on.

TODO(owner): approve or rewrite the manifesto; expand each point here if you wish

Our mission

We want to democratise knowledge. Our courses are free, so cost is never the reason someone cannot learn. They are open: anyone can join, and the materials are openly licensed. And they are rigorous: we teach ideas properly, with the depth and care they deserve.

We start with computer science and mathematics. TODO(owner): why these subjects first

The name

WoSM stands for Wisdom of Starving Minds. A starving mind is one that wants to learn and has nothing to feed on.

The image comes from Conway’s Game of Life, the cellular automaton that runs quietly in the background of this site. In Life, a cell with too few neighbours starves and disappears; a cell with enough neighbours survives. Learning works the same way, so we learn in company.

Our logo is a glider, the best-known pattern in Life: five cells that keep moving forward together, one step at a time.

People

How we work

  • Courses are taught on Moodle, at moodle.wosm.academy. This website describes the courses; Moodle is where you study.
  • Instructors are volunteers who know their subject well and want to teach it. See Teach with us.
  • Every course is reviewed before it is published: content accuracy, structure, accessibility and licence. The Director carries out the review.
  • Materials are openly licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. You can keep them, share them and adapt them, with attribution.

Transparency

WoSM Academy was founded by Ali Khudiyev, who directs it. TODO(owner): how the Academy is funded and what it costs to run — or remove this section

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