Free Humanities Courses

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

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

Learn the music and cultural impact of three canonical operas from the 1800s: Les Huguenots, Das Rheingold, and Otello.

Explore Chinese history and culture from the perspective of the individual through philosophical texts, literary works, and art.

Explore the Maoist period of China, from the Communist Party to the death of Mao and the reopening of China.

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

An exploration of the dynamics of contemporary China using the tools of close reading, discussion, and analysis.

Learn how to read William Shakespeare's plays through his biography, Elizabethan and Jacobean history, and modern performance.

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.

This introduction to moral and political philosophy is one of the most popular courses taught at Harvard College.

Learn how early American politics informed the U.S. Constitution and why its promise of liberty and equality has yet to be fully realized.

Traces Albert Einstein’s engagement with relativity, quantum mechanics, Nazism, nuclear weapons, philosophy, the arts, and technology.

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

Learn how American women created, confronted, and embraced change in the 20th century while exploring ten objects from Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library.

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

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

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.

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

Learn how global warming impacts human health, and the ways we can diminish those impacts.

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.

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

Learn about the forces in American politics that seek to influence the electorate and shift the political landscape.

An exploration of the magnetic and ambivalent character of Shylock in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

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

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

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

An introduction to the study of bioethics and the application of legal and ethical reasoning.

Explore acts of storytelling in Shakespeare’s Othello alongside world-class artists who interpret Othello’s story in new forms and contexts today.

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.