Free Courses

Discover Handel’s Messiah in this installment of First Nights, which will explore five masterpieces of western music.

Access to healthcare services is critical – but is it enough?

Explore the reunification of China under the Tang with a focus on aristocratic culture — from poetry to calligraphy to literature.

Learn about successful collaborations between families and educators and why they lead to improved outcomes for students and schools.

Learn to forecast the weather just by looking out your window.

Learn probability, an essential language and set of tools for understanding data, randomness, and uncertainty.

Learn how to create, read, update, and delete data with relational databases.

A human-centered approach to the fundamentals of cell biology with a focus on the power plants of the cell - mitochondria.

Explore how entrepreneurs build successful businesses by moving technology from lab to market.

Mobilize people to tackle tough problems and build the capacity to thrive through the dangers of change

Learn what is involved in using data wisely to build a culture of collaborative inquiry. 

Join Harvard faculty in this online course to discover the physical history of the Jewish bible.

Learn about Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, one of the first operas ever written.

Learn about Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, an iconic Romantic symphony that ushered in an era of narrative “program music.”

Join Harvard Medical School faculty Dr. Luana Marques to use applied psychology to build personal resilience with five science-driven skills.

Combine literary research with data science to find answers in unexpected ways. Learn basic coding tools to help save time and draw insights from thousands of digital documents at once.

Learn about the Qin and Han dynasties, and how Buddhism and ideas of self-realization influenced the medieval period.

Discover what makes your brain tick in this third course in our introductory series in neuroscience.

A focus on several techniques that are widely used in the analysis of high-dimensional data.

Learn to process and convert raw data into formats needed for analysis.  

Examine how great modern writers capture the intricacies of our globalized world and how their works circulate within that world to find their own audiences.

An overview of divination systems, ranging from ancient Chinese bone burning to modern astrology.

Use the case study method to study China from the rise of Deng Xiaoping to the present.

Learn the principles guiding humanitarian response to modern emergencies, and the challenges faced in the field today.

Learn the significance of electrochemistry, understanding how electrical, chemical, and mechanical energy are linked.

An introduction to basic statistical concepts and R programming skills necessary for analyzing data in the life sciences.

A quantitative introduction to the energy system and its environmental impacts.

Examine the inner workings of the three branches of the U.S. Federal Government

Learn to use R programming to apply linear models to analyze data in life sciences.

A gentle introduction to programming that prepares you for subsequent courses in coding.