Mr. Bernanke, one of the most powerful men in Washington, has agreed to moonlight as a college professor, delivering four lectures on central banking over the next two weeks. He also will read some student papers.

It is not a typical use of a Fed chairman’s time. But Mr. Bernanke, who has greatly expanded the central bank’s role in the nation’s economic policy, is looking for ways to raise and improve its public profile, too.

The Fed is concerned that it is neither loved nor understood by many Americans, and that public anger could lead to constraints on its powers.

Mr. Bernanke has appeared twice on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” and held town-hall meetings with college students and military personnel. Since last year, he has held news conferences after selected meetings of the Fed’s policy-making committee. Under his leadership, the Fed has increased the availability of information about its internal deliberations. Earlier this month, the Fed began a Twitter feed.

Mr. Bernanke spoke Tuesday about the history of monetary policy in the United States, including the Fed’s creation in 1913, and its role in causing the Great Depression. He framed much of this history as a critique of the gold standard, which was dropped in the early 1930s in a decision that mainstream economists regard as obviously correct, hugely beneficial and essentially irreversible.