Online courses directory (363)

This course surveys art of America from the colonial era through the post-war 20th century.  We will consider broad stylistic tendencies in various regions and periods and examine specific artists and works of art in historical and social contexts, with emphasis on the congruent evolution of contemporary American multi-cultural identity.  We will move chronologically, more or less, with many overlaps and cross-chronological, thematic diversions that will help shape this overview and offer different perspectives on the notion of an “American art,” per se. Overarching issues that have interested major scholars of American art and its purview include the landscape (wilderness, Manifest Destiny, rural settlement, and urban development); the family and gender roles; the founding rhetoric of freedom and antebellum slavery; and notions of artistic modernism through the 20th century.  A background in the basic concepts and terms of art history and art practice, and/or American studies in other disciplines, w…

This course serves as an introduction to the pre-modern Islamic artistic traditions of the Mediterranean, Near East, and Central and South Asia.  This course is organized around the major dynasties under which Islamic art and architecture were produced.  The first unit surveys core Islamic beliefs, the basic characteristics of Islamic art and architecture, and art and architecture created under the patronage of the Umayyads (632-750) and the Muslim rulers of Spain.  The second unit focuses on the artistic and architectural innovations of the Abbasids (738-1250) and Seljuks (c.1040-1157), as well as the regional rulers of Anatolia and the Maghreb.  The third unit looks at the art and architecture of three successive Islamic dynasties based in Egypt: the Fatimids (909-1171), Ayyubids (1171-1250), and Mamluks (1250-1517). Unit 4 examines the art and architecture of the Ilkhanid (1256-1353) and Timurid (c. 1370-1507) dynasties in Iran and Central Asia.  The final unit presents the art and architecture of thr…

This lab course supplements BIO101 [1]: “Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology.”  Although we cannot virtually replicate a true lab experience, this “lab” will allow you to become familiar with scientific thinking and techniques and will enable you to explore of some key principles of molecular and cellular biology. The material in this lab supplement directly relates to the material covered in the lecture and reading portion of the course.  While the lecture and reading portion focuses on big-picture concepts, here we will focus more on visual understanding, manipulation, and practical use of your knowledge.  In each unit, you will work through tutorials related to important scientific concepts, and then will be asked to think creatively about how your knowledge can be put to practical or experimental use. There are also activities devoted to learning important techniques in scientific study, including microscope use, DNA extraction, Polymerase Chain Reaction, and DNA microarrays.  A…

In this course, we will study the art of Classical Antiquity.  The different units of the course reflect the main chronological stages in art development in Ancient Greece and Rome, from the coming together of the Greek city-state and the emergence of “geometric art” (around 900 B.C.) to the fourth century A.D. shift that took place within Roman culture and art due to the growing influence of Christianity.  We will begin by underlining the unity of our subject matter: Rome not only conquered Greece, but it assimilated Greece’s cultural and artistic accomplishments.  In fact, much of what we know of Greek art today we learned through Roman copies. We will also explore the development of Greek architecture, sculpture, and painting up to the Hellenistic period, when Greek art began to influence new parts of the globe through the conquests of Alexander the Great.  We will also study the ways in which naturalism and idealism came together as Greek art developed over time.  Next, we will turn our atten…

In common conversation, we often use the phrase “contemporary art” to refer to current artistic productionthe art being produced today.  However, in the art history field, the phrase denotes a specific period of art and artistic practice starting in the 1960s and continuing today.  It is characterized by a break from the modernist artistic canon and a desire to move away from the dominant Western cultural model, looking for inspiration in everyday and popular culture.  More specifically, many contemporary artworks reject traditional modernistic artistic media (such as painting or sculpture) in favor of a more collaborative, ephemeral, and multimedia approach that further blurs the boundaries between high and mass culture.  In its subject matter, this art also tends to reflect a shift away from purely aesthetic issues to more socially oriented concerns.  Finally, it is important to note that contemporary art should not be seen as a progression of different artistic styles but as series of different cu…

In this course, we will study the architecture of Ancient Rome, beginning with its origins in the eighth century BC, and continuing through the fourth century AD with the move of the Roman capital to Constantinople.  The course of lectures and readings outlined below will familiarize you with the major building methods and styles used in Roman architecture.  In addition, interior decoration (including the very important topic of Roman wall painting) will be addressed.  By the end of the course, you will be able to identify some of the most important works of Roman architecture and discuss the historical and cultural conditions that informed their production. An important theme throughout the first half of the course is the relationship between Ancient Rome and Greek and Etruscan cultures, which were highly influential in the formation of a distinctive Roman architecture.  Understanding the role that Roman architecture played in the eastern and western Roman provinces is also significant to this course,…

This course will introduce you to the fundamental principles of psychology and to the major subjects of psychological inquiry. It has been designed to not only provide you with the tools necessary for the study of psychology but to present you with a sampling of the major areas of psychology research. The course begins with a short overview of how psychology developed as an academic discipline and an introduction to a number of the principle methodologies most commonly deployed in its study. The subsequent units are arranged around broad areas of research, including emotion, development, memory, and psychopathology. We will focus on well-substantiated research and current trends within each of these categories.

This course will introduce you to the history of the world’s major civilizations from medieval times to the early modern era.  You will learn about the pivotal political, economic, and social changes that took place in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe during this period.  The course will be structured chronologically, with each unit focusing on the expansion or decline of a particular civilization or the interactions and exchanges between civilizations.  The units will include representative secondary and primary source documents that illustrate important overarching political, economic, and social themes, such as the transformation of western Europe during the Renaissance, the emergence of a more inclusive world economy, and the impact of early European exploration and colonization.  By the end of the course, you will understand how many different civilizations evolved from isolated societies into expansive, interconnected empires capable of exerting global influence.

This course will present a comparative overview of world history from the 17th century to the present era.  You will examine the origins of major economic, political, social, cultural, and technological trends of the past 400 years and explore the impact of these trends on world societies.  This course will be structured chronologically and thematically, with each unit focusing on a significant historical subject.  The units will include representative primary-source documents and images that illustrate important overarching themes, such as the emergence of modern nation-states, the economic and technological interactions between Western and non-Western peoples, the changing social and cultural perceptions about religion and the state, and the development of physical and virtual networks of information exchange. This course is designed to align with Thomas Edison State College TECEP examination. Visit the TECEP website [1], and click on “World History from 1600 to Present (HIS-126-TE)” to download t…

As you learned in BIO101 [1], the cell is the fundamental unit of life; in fact, the smallest living organisms are composed of a single cell. We have learned that, despite their small size, cells are far from simple, and we have only recently begun to understand just how complex they are. This course will present you with a detailed overview of a cell’s main components and functions. Most of the units will cover topics familiar to you from BIO101, such as mitosis or the cell nucleus, but will explore them in greater depth. The course is organized roughly into four major areas: the cell membrane, cell nucleus, cell cycle, and cell interior. We will approach most of these topics straightforwardly, from a molecular and structural point of view. [1] http://www.saylor.org/courses/bio101a/…

This course will introduce you to United States history from the end of the Civil War in 1865 through the first decade of the twenty-first century. You will learn about the major political, economic, and social changes that took place in America during this nearly 150-year period. The course will be structured chronologically, with each unit focusing on a significant historical subject. The units will include representative primary-source documents that illustrate important overarching political, economic, and social themes, such as the growth and expansion of political representation and civil rights in America, industrial development and economic change, race and ethnicity in American society, and cultural change over time. These primary documents offer you insights into the thinking of people who directly witnessed and experienced these historical developments. By the end of the course, you will understand how the United States grew from a relatively weak and divided agricultural nation into a cohesive mil…

This course will examine the history of Western art from approximately 1600 to approximately 1800a period that bridges the gap from the Renaissance to the earliest days of the Modern era. Beginning with the Baroque in Counter-Reformation Italy and concluding with Neoclassicism in the late 18th century, we will trace the stylistic developments in Europe and America through a variety of religious, political, and philosophical movements. The class begins with the Baroque, which was the immediate successor to the Renaissance and to Renaissance humanism, and we will examine this period by regions (Italy and Spain, the Netherlands, and France and England). Next, the course moves on to explore the development of two opposing styles that emerged in the 18th century: Rococo and Enlightenment art. The course culminates with Neoclassical art, its development in a politically turbulent France, and its spread into other Western cultures, including Italy, England, and the United States. Crucial to this course is the emer…

This is a survey course, and as such it can either be used by students who are looking to take just one general overview course, or for students who want to go on to more advanced study in any of the subfields that comprise the political science discipline, such as American politics, comparative politics, international politics, or political theory.  This course will survey the different ways in which political scientists study the phenomena of politics and will deepen your understanding of political life as both a thinker and a citizen.  The goal of this course is to introduce you to the discipline’s concepts, terminology, and methods and to explore instances of applied political science through real world examples. As an introductory course, POLSC101 will focus on the basic principles of political science by combining historical study of the discipline’s greatest thinkers with analysis of contemporary issues.  We will also identify and discuss the questions that perennially drive the field of polit…

In BIO101 [1], you were introduced to biology on a microscopic scale when you learned about the functions of molecules, genes, and cells.  In this course, you will learn about biological changes that happen on a very large scale, across entire populations of organisms and over the course of millions of years, in the form of evolution and ecology.  Evolution, the process by which different species of organisms have developed and diversified from their evolutionary forbears, has been a central theme in the field of biology ever since Darwin first published his theories about it.  Mounting evidence from many different branches of science all point to the fact that species have experienced a gradual but definite physical change.  In this course, we will learn about evolution and theories that stem from evolution. We will also learn about ecology, the study of the interactions between different types of organisms and their surroundings.  Changes in surroundings will force organisms to adapt and changeoften…

This lab course supplements BIO102: Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and Ecology [1].  Although we cannot virtually replicate a true lab experience, this “lab” will allow you to become familiar with scientific thinking and techniques, and will enable you to explore some key principles of evolutionary biology and ecology. The material in this lab supplement directly relates to the material covered in the lecture and reading portion of the course.  While the lecture and reading portion focuses on big-picture concepts, here we will focus more on visual understanding, application, and practical use of your knowledge.  In each unit, you will work through tutorials related to important scientific concepts and then will be asked to think creatively about how your knowledge can be put to practical or experimental use. [1] http:///courses/bio102/…

This course is designed to introduce you to the study of Calculus.  You will learn concrete applications of how calculus is used and, more importantly, why it works.  Calculus is not a new discipline; it has been around since the days of Archimedes.  However, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, two 17th-century European mathematicians concurrently working on the same intellectual discovery hundreds of miles apart, were responsible for developing the field as we know it today.  This brings us to our first question, what is today's Calculus?  In its simplest terms, calculus is the study of functions, rates of change, and continuity.  While you may have cultivated a basic understanding of functions in previous math courses, in this course you will come to a more advanced understanding of their complexity, learning to take a closer look at their behaviors and nuances. In this course, we will address three major topics: limits, derivatives, and integrals, as well as study their respective foundations and a…

This course serves as an introduction to the Buddhist artistic traditions of South, Southeast, and East Asia, as well as the Himalayas.  It is organized into four units based on the development of Buddhist schools and artistic traditions in Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, and China, Korea, and Japan.  The first unit surveys the core tenets of Buddhism, Buddhist iconography, and early Buddhist art and architecture in India.  The second unit reviews the development of Buddhist art and architecture in Southeast Asia, focusing on the patronage of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism by rulers in the modern countries of Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand.  Unit three examines the particular form of Vajrayana Buddhism and its artistic traditions that developed in the Himalayas.  The final unit traces the spread of Mahayana Buddhist art and architecture into China and later into Korea and Japan via the Silk Roads.  All four units highlight the interaction between Buddhist doctrine, art, and architecture; Bud…

The physics of the universe appears to be dominated by the effects of four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, weak nuclear forces, and strong nuclear forces.  These forces control how matter, energy, space, and time interact to produce our physical world.  All other forces, such as the force you exert in standing up, are ultimately derived from these fundamental forces. We have direct daily experience with two of these forces: gravity and electromagnetism.  Consider, for example, the everyday sight of a person sitting on a chair.  The force holding the person on the chair is gravitational, and that gravitational force balances with material forces that “push up” to keep the individual in place.  These forces are the direct result of electromagnetic forces on the nanoscale.  On a larger stage, gravity holds the celestial bodies in their orbits, while we see the universe by the electromagnetic radiation (light, for example) with which it is filled.  The electromagnetic force also makes…

This course will introduce you to the field of computer science and the fundamentals of computer programming. Introduction to Computer Science I is specifically designed for students with no prior programming experience, and taking this course does not require a background in Computer Science. This course will touch upon a variety of fundamental topics within the field of Computer Science and will use Java, a high-level, portable, and well-constructed computer programming language developed by Sun Microsystems (now Oracle), to demonstrate those principles. We will begin with an overview of the course topics as well as a brief history of software development. We will cover basic object-oriented programming terminology and concepts such as objects, classes, inheritance, and polymorphism, as well as the fundamentals of Java, its primitive data types, relational operators, control statements, exception handling, and file input /output. By the end of the course, you should have a strong understanding of the fundam…

A chronological and thematic survey of the major themes and developments in the history of Latin American art, this course traces the evolution of visual culture over approximately four millennia.  Organized into three parts, the course begins with the pre-Columbian period (1800 BC to AD 1492), moves into the years of European contact and conquest (AD 1492 to 1800), and concludes with an overview of modern and contemporary art across the Americas.  You will learn to identify and describe works of art and discuss the broader historical and social contexts in which they were produced and circulated. The first part of the course will introduce you to the major artistic achievements and archaeological record of the ancient Mesoamerican and Andean cultures: monumental architecture, urban planning, painting, sculpture, and portable arts.  The study of colonial art focuses on Mexico, Peru, and Brazil, introducing concepts of artistic hybridity and diversity, indigenous and national cultures, and transatlantic e…