Online courses directory (447)

What are science, technology, and innovation? How do science, technology, and innovation inform our understanding of developments in the social sphere? How have these domains evolved in the Chinese context? In this course, we will examine these issues and attempt answering these and many other questions!

This course is the second in a trilogy of short courses. In this part, we apply some of the concepts we covered in Part I to study the development of science and technology in Chinese society, particularly in light of the influence the Industrial Revolution in the West has had on China’s technological development.

This course is the third in a trilogy of short courses. In this final part, we integrate what we have learned in the previous two parts to investigate the evolution and implications of Chinese government policies designed to promote scientific and technological progress. Based on this, we will attempt to sketch a picture of the future of science and technology in China.

¡Claro que todos podemos potenciar nuestra creatividad a través de procedimientos, rutinas y protocolos sencillos! El participante desarrollará su talento creativo para aportar soluciones originales y generar ideas y productos en el ámbito en que se desenvuelve y en la vida cotidiana.

Learn how maritime archaeology investigates our changing relationship with the world’s oceans and seas, from 2.5 million years ago until today.

This course addresses a number of fundamental questions in European cultural history centered on the book as both material as well as cultural and social object. Touching on a variety of different physical formats, the course explores questions of authorship, production, manufacture, distribution, and reading of books, as well as their restriction and periodic prohibition. The course makes use of the University's large special collections holdings and students carry out extended individual projects using these holdings. The final unit of the course is devoted to the fundamental changes in print culture being fostered by the Internet and hypertext, with examination in particular of the University of Michigan's evolving role in the novel enterprise of electronic book circulation. Course Level: Graduate This Work, SI 633 - A Cultural and Material History of the Book from Pre-Gutenberg to Post-Google, by dmalicke is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

This course provides an opportunity for students to examine information seeking and use in geographic communities. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach to explore: 1) selected community information needs & use situations (everyday life problem solving, community problem solving, citizenship, civic engagement and participation); 2) factors that influence community information use including the roles of community information organizations & institutions; 3) models of community information provision. The course starts with a brief historical introduction. Students will have opportunities to examine in more detail topics of especial interest to them. Course Level: Graduate This Work, SI 645 / SI 745 - Information Use in Communities, by Joan C. Durrance is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.

Sociology is the scientific study of society. As such, it closely examines human interactions and cultural phenomena, including topics like inequality and urbanization and the effects of these on groups and individuals. To do their work, sociologists rely on a philosophy of science called positivism, which you will study in Unit 1. The philosophy of positivism asserts that authentic knowledge, or truth, can only be gained through empirical observations. In other words, we need to be able to experience our observations or use scientific measurement with a form of sensory experience, as opposed to using faith-based or emotional experiences. Another central concept to sociology is that of the sociological imagination. The sociological imagination allows sociologists to make connections between personal experiences and larger social issues. For example, did you know the U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world? In order to understand this trend, sociologists use scientific methods…

Ever wonder why people do what they do? This course offers some answers based on the latest research from social psychology.

This course examines interpersonal and group dynamics, considers how the thoughts, feelings, and actions of individuals are influenced by (and influence) the beliefs, values, and practices of large and small groups. Learning occurs through a combination of lectures, demonstrations and in-class activities complemented by participation in small study groups and completion of homework assignments.

Sociology examines individuals in their social contexts.

Psychology 102 takes a look at why we behave the way we do , and applies that information to the classroom setting. This is valuable to students of psychology and education alike.

Dr. Wind Goodfriend and Dr. Melissa Hurst combine classic psychological theories and experiments with practical applications for classroom teachers. These bite-sized video lessons are accompanied by free, self-grading quizzes for self-assessment. Watch the videos, test your knowledge, and then let us know what you think using the thumbs up/thumbs down buttons on the top right-hand corner of each video.

This course explores the role of sports around the world, and how the games we watch and play shape identity, culture, and society.

Learn to make music with digital audio workstation software, understand the theory and history behind music production tools, and write your own computer programs to make new music and sounds.

Join us for an introduction to the major global issue of sustainability and discover how you can have a real impact on our future.

China’s past, present, and future: through history, geography, philosophies, literature, politics, economy, art, and ecology.

The meteoric rise of technologies used in our everyday life for profit, power, or improvement of an individual's life can, on occasion, cause cultural stress as well as ethical challenges. In this course, we will explore how these multifaceted impacts might be understood, controlled and mitigated.

Terrorism has gone from a persistent yet marginal security concern to one of the most important security problems of our day. There are few countries that do not suffer from some form of terrorism. Though many attempts at terrorism fail, some groups wage lengthy and bloody campaigns and, in exceptional cases, kill hundreds or even thousands in pursuit of their ends.

This course on terrorism will explore the nuances involved in defining terrorism, the nature of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other important groups, the effectiveness of different counterterrorism tools, terrorist recruiting, counterterrorism and the rule of law, the political context in the Middle East, and the terrorist use of technology.

For those interested in a more extended version of the course, the full 7-section course Terrorism and Counterterrorism is available here.

"The Age of Sustainable Development" gives students an understanding of the key challenges and pathways to sustainable development - that is, economic development that is also socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. NOTE: Course will launch at noon on September 9, 2014.

The American Revolution entailed some remarkable transformations--converting British colonists into American revolutionaries, and a cluster of colonies into a confederation of states with a common cause--but it was far more complex and enduring than the fighting of a war. As John Adams put it, "The Revolution was in the Minds of the people... before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington"--and it continued long past America's victory at Yorktown. This course will examine the Revolution from this broad perspective, tracing the participants' shifting sense of themselves as British subjects, colonial settlers, revolutionaries, and Americans.