Humanities Courses

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

Explore the ethical controversies of financial markets.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Prepare your student for college-level writing now.

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

Learn how businesses thrive and grow while simultaneously solving some of the world's biggest challenges in this course from Harvard Business School (HBS) Online.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

Build a foundational understanding of AI concepts with this course from Harvard Business School (HBS) Online.