Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences

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

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

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

Embark on a global journey to explore the past, present, and future of world literature.

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.

Explore the birth of modern China with a focus on the time between the fall of the Qing and the end of World War II.

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

Increase your quantitative reasoning skills through a deeper understanding of probability and statistics, with the engaging “Fat Chance” approach that’s made this course a favorite among learners worldwide.

An in-depth look at the 1854 London cholera epidemic in Soho and its importance for the field of epidemiology.

Explore the risks and rewards of data privacy and collection.

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

Explore China’s imperial period, with a focus on the Song dynasty and the role of the exam system in government.

Think critically about social questions such as education policy, upward income mobility, and racial disparities, and understand how big data can answer these questions as well as impact policies that lead to improved outcomes around the world.

Taught by Harvard Professor Michael Sandel with insights from actor Michael B. Jordan

Explore the ethical controversies of financial markets.

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

Gain an understanding of history, museum studies, and curation by looking at, organizing, and interpreting art, artifacts, scientific curiosities, and the stuff of everyday life.

Develop skills in digital research and visualization techniques across subjects and fields within the humanities.

Data Science and AI Principles is a Harvard Online course that gives you an overview of data science and AI systems with a nearly code- and math-free introduction to prediction, causality, visualization, data wrangling, privacy, ethics.

Learn about China’s origins, its integral early thinkers, and competing states and schools of thought.

An overview of modern Chinese history, including the fall of the Qing and the end of imperial China.

Gain a foundational knowledge of American constitutional democracy while crafting your own civic voice and identity.

Led by Harvard Instructors and historians, you will discover China’s return to power through political, social, and economic growth in relation to other countries.

Learn how the Manchus conquered the Qing and established the last of the imperial dynasties.

Explore the risks and rewards of data privacy and collection.

Learn about Beethoven’s monumental 9th Symphony and forms of orchestral music.

Study Baroque and Classical opera through Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Mozart’s Don Giovanni

Examine how cultures of the ancient world defined themselves through literature and how their vision of literature contributes to our understanding of civilization, culture, and literature today.

Taught by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. with insights from actor and singer Cynthia Erivo

Learn about Christianity through a study of its sacred scriptures. We will explore how diverse Christians have interpreted these writings and practiced their teachings over a 2000 year, global history.