MIT offers a dozen photography classes for free via its OpenCourseWare website

MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is known across the globe as a powerhouse of technological invention and home to some of the most incredible brains in the world. A little less known is the fact that the MIT also teaches a number of photography classes, some of which have now been made available to the public.

Via the MIT's OpenCourseWare website, select photography classes are now accessible for free. The classes available include both undergraduate and graduate level courses, such as "Introduction to Photography," "Documentary Photography and Photojournalism," or "Computational Camera and Photography."

Depending on the course, the material can include introductory videos, reading lists, lecture transcripts or recordings, assignments as well as examples of finished projects by participants of the original class. While the online courses can't replace an actual MIT class -- sorry, you can't earn yourself a degree with these courses -- they're a great way to learn about various photographic topics and get inspiration.

For those also interested in other topics besides photography, OpenCourseWare has much, much more to offer. Whether you'd like to learn about entrepreneurship, aerospace engineering or particle physics, there are over 2200 MIT courses available for free -- no registration or enrollment necessary.

(via dpreview)