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- Founded by Harvard and MIT, edX has thousands of free online classes and paid certificate programs.
- Harvard University offers more than 140 free online courses through the online learning platform.
- Below, you can find 30 of the most interesting ones, from computer science to poetry.
Founded by Harvard and MIT, edX is a popular online learning platform and nonprofit working to democratize learning. Obstacles like steep tuition and location are no longer barriers when classes are available online for free or for affordable prices.
The platform's 2,500+ online courses are free to audit, and many of the courses are sourced from the world's top universities, including MIT, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, the University of Michigan, NYU, and more.
Of all the courses, about 145 are from Harvard - spanning subjects from public health and history to programming and poetry.
You can audit these classes for free or opt to pay $50-$200 for features like graded homework and certificates of completion that you can add to your resume or LinkedIn profile.
38 of the most interesting free online Harvard courses (with descriptions provided by edX):
edX
Learn to use machine learning in Python in this introductory course on artificial intelligence. You can read more about Harvard's online computer sciences courses here.
Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public SpeakingedX
Gain critical communication skills in writing and public speaking with this introduction to American political rhetoric. You can read a review of the course here.
Leaders of LearningedX
Explore and understand your own theories of learning and leadership. Gain the tools to imagine and build the future of learning.
Remote Work Revolution for EveryoneKetut Subiyanto/Pexels
"In Remote Work Revolution for Everyone," you will learn to excel in the virtual-work landscape. You will learn how to build trust, increase productivity, use digital tools intelligently, and remain fully aligned with your remote team.
Technology Entrepreneurship: Lab to MarketedX
Explore how entrepreneurs build successful businesses by moving technology from lab to market.
Data Science: R BasicsedX/Facebook
Build a foundation in R and learn how to wrangle, analyze, and visualize data.
Statistics and RedX
An introduction to basic statistical concepts and R programming skills necessary for analyzing data in the life sciences.
JusticeTim Mossholder/Pexels
This introduction to moral and political philosophy is one of the most popular courses taught at Harvard College.
The Path to Happiness: What Chinese Philosophy Teaches us about the Good LifeedX
Why should we care about Confucius? Explore ancient Chinese philosophy, ethics, and political theory to challenge your assumptions of what it means to be happy, live a meaningful life, and change the world.
Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbesalvarez/Getty Images
In "Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbes," explore the roles that microbes play in the production, preservation, and enhancement of diverse foods in a variety of culinary traditions, and learn about the history of food fermentations.
Backyard Meteorology: The Science of WeatherAndre Furtado/Pexels
Learn to forecast the weather just by looking out your window.
Child Protection: Children's Rights in Theory and PracticeArchie Binamira/Pexels
Picture suggestion: happy kids (if photos show kids as poor or at risk, maybe avoid stock photos that mainly show POC in that lens, since that can happen often with these stories)
Learn how to protect children from violence, exploitation, and neglect through law, policy, and practice in a human rights framework.
Religion, Conflict and PeaceedX
Explore the diverse and complex roles that religions play in both promoting and mitigating violence.
Pyramids of Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art and ArchaeologyMouad Mabrouk/Pexels
Explore the archaeology, history, art, and hieroglyphs surrounding the famous Egyptian Pyramids at Giza. Learn about Old Kingdom pharaohs and elites, tombs, temples, the Sphinx, and how new technology is unlocking their secrets.
Humanitarian Response to Conflict and DisasterLisa Fotios/Pexels
Learn the principles guiding humanitarian response to modern emergencies, and the challenges faced in the field today.
The Health Effects of Climate ChangePixabay/Pexels
Learn how global warming impacts human health, and the ways we can diminish those impacts.
Introduction to Family Engagement in EducationedX
Learn about successful collaborations between families and educators and why they lead to improved outcomes for students and schools.
Introduction to ProbabilityedX
Learn probability, an essential language and set of tools for understanding data, randomness, and uncertainty.
Using Python for ResearchedX
Take your introductory knowledge of Python programming to the next level and learn how to use Python 3 for your research.
Masterpieces of World LiteratureedX
Embark on a global journey to explore the past, present, and future of World Literature.
Data Science: Inference and ModelingedX
Learn inference and modeling, two of the most widely used statistical tools in data analysis.
Lessons from Ebola: Preventing the Next PandemicThisIsEngineering/Pexels
Understanding the context for the Ebola outbreak: What went right, what went wrong, and how we can all do better.
Prescription Drug Regulation, Cost, and Access: Current Controversies in ContextPixabay/Pexels
Understand how the FDA regulates pharmaceuticals and explore debates on prescription drug costs, marketing, and testing.
CitiesX: The Past, Present, and Future of Urban LifeBurst/Pexels
Explore what makes cities energizing, amazing, challenging, and perhaps humanity's greatest invention.
Fat Chance: Probability from the Ground UpedX
Increase your quantitative reasoning skills through a deeper understanding of probability and statistics.
Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter SciencePixabay/Pexels
Top chefs and Harvard researchers explore how traditional and modernist cooking techniques can illuminate basic principles in chemistry, physics, and engineering. Learn about elasticity, viscosity, mayonnaise, baking, and more.
CS50's Understanding TechnologyedX
This is CS50's introduction to technology for students who don't (yet) consider themselves proficient in using computers or understanding computer science. You can read more about Harvard's online computer sciences courses here.
Improving Your Business Through a Culture of HealthedX
Learn how a Culture of Health can transform your business to improve the well-being of your employees and company, while increasing revenue.
The Opioid Crisis in AmericaAnna Shvets/Pexels
Learn about the opioid epidemic in the United States, including information about treatment and recovery from opioid addiction.
Women Making History: Ten Objects, Many StoriesedX
Learn how American women created, confronted, and embraced change in the 20th century while exploring 10 objects from Radcliffe's Schlesinger Library.
MalariaX: Defeating Malaria from the Genes to the GlobePixabay/Pexels
How can we eradicate malaria? Explore cutting-edge science and technology, and examine policies needed, to control and eliminate malaria.
American Government: Constitutional FoundationsCristopher Rubow/Pexels
Learn how early American politics informed the US Constitution and why its promise of liberty and equality has yet to be fully realized.
US Political Institutions: Congress, Presidency, Courts, and BureaucracyAaron Kittredge/Pexels
Examine the inner workings of the three branches of the US Federal Government.
Citizen Politics in America: Public Opinion, Elections, Interest Groups, and the MediaElement5Digital/Pexels
Learn about the forces in American politics that seek to influence the electorate and shift the political landscape.
Practical Improvement Science in Health Care: A Roadmap for Getting ResultsEVG photos/Pexels
Learn the skills and tools of improvement science to make positive changes in health, healthcare, and your daily life.
CS50's Mobile App Development with React NativeedX
Learn about mobile app development with React Native, a popular framework maintained by Facebook that enables cross-platform native apps using JavaScript without Java or Swift.
*This course is currently archived, but it is still available to audit.
Saving Schools: Reforming the US Education SystemMihai Vlasceanu/Pexels
An overview of the past, present, and future of the United States public K-12 education system.
*This course is currently archived, but it is still available to audit.
Poetry in America: ModernismedX
Reading works by Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes, Marianne Moore, William Carlos Williams, and Wallace Stevens, among others, learn how American Modernist poetry departed from past traditions and past forms.
*This course is currently archived, but it is still available to audit.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-free-online-courses