Humanities Courses

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

Learn about the key beliefs and practices of Judaism through an examination of its sacred texts and their interpretation.

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

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.

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

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

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

Build a viable, valuable tech venture that can profitably scale in this course from Harvard Business School (HBS) Online.

Explore the ethical controversies of financial markets.

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.

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.

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

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.

Prepare your student for college-level writing now.

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

Power and Influence for Positive Impact, a Harvard Business School (HBS) Online course, helps individuals develop their own power to gain influence and make an impact.

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

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

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

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

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 fundamental principles that guide ethical decision-making within health care environments: patient autonomy, the obligation to do good, the obligation to avoid harm, and justice.

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

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

Join the first Harvard University–affiliated continuing education course in sports cardiology and gain practical, case-based insights that empower you to deliver evidence-driven care to athletes and active individuals across every level of performance.

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.

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

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

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