Love teaching?
Love your discipline or area of expertise?
Not so happy with the state of the university?
Had bad luck in the academic job market?
Looking for an awesome side hustle teaching what you love?
Get in touch!
Dark Times Academy is founded on the idea that teaching and learning should be joyful activities that help us create vibrant learning communities. Community education has been a core part of how we live together for centuries and we operate very much within that tradition. Our goal is offer low-cost classes, taught by fairly paid teachers, while giving everyone involved a bright spot of light in hard times. Education is how we connect, how we grow, and how we build a world worth living in.
What about money, the thing I need to live?
Basically, if you teach a class with 15 students and we charge $400 for it, you get about $2000. That is far more than any other community education option offers.
No one is going to get rich doing this (including us!) but our business model relies on splitting course income with instructors. The more students you have, the more you get paid–our model relies on profit splitting. Our goal is to eventually support 4 full-time stable middle class lives from this venture–ourselves, an administrative assistant, and a marketing person. And send the rest of the money to our instructors. We don’t have (or want!) investors and we don’t plan on selling the business.
What do you offer your teachers, other than money?
You control your own course material, set your schedule, and show up and teach. We help provide library support, technology, and enrollment management. We will market together to try to attract the right number of students to meet your pedagogical and financial needs.
How to pitch!
Send us an email via the contact page and we will be in touch. Just let us know who you are, what you want to teach, and when you were thinking to offer the course. No need to be formal about it, let’s talk and see what works!
Learn with us!
Check out our current offering here and check back often to see what’s new!
Our courses aren’t like most other online courses–we prioritise connection and community as a core part of how we learn together. This means we offer in-person teacher-led weekly sessions as a core part of each course.
In addition to the weekly class, our courses also include:
- Short weekly pre-recorded lecture from your instructor or a guest lecturer
- A curated weekly list of readings, podcasts, and videos.
- A Signal group chat for you to chat, share resources and ideas, and connect with your instructor and fellow learners.
Some courses also have an option for a final project for you to really dive deep and create something awesome.
Courses vary in length, depending on the topic and the instructor’s preferences. Most are between 4-8 weeks in length.