Free Humanities Courses

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Learn how to better understand the rich and complex ways that religions function in historic and contemporary contexts.

Reimagine global health problems with some of the leading global health thinkers and actors through a case-based biosocial framework.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

An exploration of the haunting figure at the heart of one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Learn about the rich diversity of Hindu sacred texts – hymns, narratives, philosophical thought – and their interpretations.

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