The best math class I ever took was probability, where the professor worked history of the field and famous historical examples into his lectures. It helped tha

The best math class I ever took was probability, where the professor worked history of the field and famous historical examples into his lectures. It helped that probability has a colorful past, but the right motivation really brings things to life. Also, for self-teaching, I've found some math books that are setup to be in the form "Topic A with Applications to Topic B." If I care about B, such a book will typically does a good job motivating A, even if it isn't the purest introduction to the area. I can always read a book that is a more canonical intro to A later.