Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Explore what makes cities energizing, amazing, challenging, and perhaps humanity’s greatest invention.

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.

Learn about the rich and diverse beliefs and practices of Buddhists across time and place. Experience Buddhism through its scriptures, both relationally as well as academically.

This course examines the Sikh scripture from a doctrinal and historical perspective by providing an overview of Sikh teachings as well as the historical context within which the scripture evolved and became canonized.

Explore the ways in which CRISPR is disrupting sectors across the economy with Harvard VPAL.

Explore the impact of the conquest dynasties and the world of the Ming.

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.

Study Japanese scroll art as text and as "little movies" that immerse the viewer through visual narration. 

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.

Apply tools of single-variable calculus to create and analyze mathematical models used by real practitioners in social, life, and physical sciences.

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.

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

Learn the fascinating history of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, one of the most challenging and rewarding ballets ever written.

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

The culmination of the MicroBachelors® program.

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.

Explore the underlying structures of everyday arguments and develop the tools to communicate effectively.

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

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.

Prepare your student for college-level writing now.

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

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.

Gain critical communication skills in writing and public speaking with this introduction to American political rhetoric.

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.

Learn about the Quran, the central sacred text of Islam, through an exploration of the rich diversity of roles and interpretations in Muslim societies.

Explore Higher Education Teaching and its practices offered by Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Learn to create a collaborative, engaging learning environment.

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.

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