Harvard University courses

This intensive, immersive course is designed for graduate-credit students with strong writing skills and an interest in becoming fiction writers but little formal experience, students who would like to develop a solid foundation in story and scene structure…

This course introduces the fundamentals of Kali Linux, a powerful operating system used for penetration testing, digital forensics, and ethical hacking. Through hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios, students learn the basics of Kali Linux installation,…

This course considers the pivotal role of the personalities of leaders who take their nations into war—or avoid such—and the military leaders who advise those individuals and execute operations once war has commenced. In others words, this course examines the…

This course deals with human behavior in a variety of organizations. Conceptual frameworks, case discussions, and skill-oriented activities are applied to each topic. Topics include communications, motivation, group dynamics, leadership, power, and…

This course is intended to give current and aspiring secondary math teachers an opportunity to become engaged in a variety of teaching-related projects. In the first part of the course, participants research a current topic in mathematics education through…

This course is a rigorous introduction to quantitative methods for students intending to study economics, finance, accounting, marketing, and management science. Examples are drawn from these areas. Topics covered include probability distributions,…

This course introduces economic, financial, and risk-based frameworks for managing complex engineering systems. Students learn to link economic theory with financial modeling, assess trade-offs, and optimize engineering investments. Key topics include…

This course provides a comprehensive overview of fundamental project management concepts, tools, techniques, and behavioral characteristics necessary for successfully launching, leading, and delivering projects in organizations. Students explore the project…

This course is meant to follow CREA E-597 , in which students built the imaginative world of their books and produced the first story or chapter of them. In this workshop, students write two additional chapters or stories, or approximately 30 pages of new…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly dominating various business functions, with marketing being no exception. From crafting advertisements to developing websites, AI impacts every aspect of creative work. Notably, AI now plays a role in strategic…

This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and…

This proseminar addresses problems and methods related to the study of government, history, and international relations. It stresses the critical analysis of sources, constructing explanatory models, standards of logical demonstration, as well as organizing…

In a world where performance and societal and environmental impacts are often seen as at odds, it is hard to imagine having the best of both worlds. This course is not just for students with business backgrounds, nor only for those who have a well-formed idea…

This proseminar introduces students to basic behavioral science research methods in psychology and anthropology. It teaches them how to read and evaluate research papers and translate their ideas into viable research projects. Topics include library and…

Self-awareness is essential on your path to authentic leadership. This course uses a variety of self-assessment tools, lectures, readings, discussions, and simulations to help us understand work styles and preferences, strengths, and goals, and how those…

The course examines the history of riots, strikes, and conspiracies in America from the 1600s to the present. This course uses readings and discussions to focus on a series of short-term events that shed light on American politics, culture, and social…

Scholarly research has the potential to transform public policy only if the research is used by policymakers. The course takes up crucial questions about how research moves from academia into policymaking, including: how do American policymakers use research…

Pharmacology rests on a set of core principles that, once understood, make the rest of field intelligible. This course builds that foundation. We cover pharmacokinetics (how the body handles drugs), pharmacodynamics (how drugs act on the body), toxicology,…

You have an idea or you have created a brilliant piece of work: a novel, a screenplay, a concept for a television series, maybe even a scripted nonfiction podcast. Now what? How do you convince others to jump on board to buy, create, collaborate, publish, or…

This tutorial helps students develop an academically strong thesis proposal. During the semester, they map critical issues of project design such as scope, background, methodology, and expected outcomes. Students are encouraged to contact their research…

This tutorial helps students develop an academically strong thesis proposal. During the semester, they map critical issues of project design such as scope, background, methodology, and expected outcomes. Students are encouraged to contact their research…

Both myth and memoir share a structure: somebody goes into the woods and comes out wiser about the ways of the world, emerging with an elixir (real or symbolic) to bring healing and hope. In sharing a memoir with readers, we share our lessons, the morals of…

This course presents students with an introduction to the major topics in neurological injury and disease. The student is introduced to the signs, symptoms, and underlying causes of a variety of conditions. Specific topics discussed include cerebrovascular…

Today's leaders must convey their messages concisely, confidently, and memorably. This course is for students to strengthen their public speaking and writing skills, and their authentic voices as professionals. We explore speechwriting, public speaking in…

This course is a survey of fundamental data structures for information processing, including lists, stacks, queues, trees, and graphs. It explores the implementation of these data structures (both array-based and linked representations) and examines classic…

Much has been written about the rise of Christian nationalism in recent years, but the tension between religion and politics has a long history in the United States. Adopting a historical lens for the first part of the course, we examine how religion has…

This course is intended for students interested in the supply-chain side of sustainable food. Of all the activities humans engage in on Earth, agriculture has the single biggest environmental impact. This course looks in detail at the supply chain of food…

The course focuses on the principles and practices of forensic investigation and analysis of information in modern organizations and distributed information systems. Topics include studies of information processes, events, time measurement, causal factors,…

Karl Marx famously wrote that with the advance of capitalist social relations, "all that is solid melts into air." Here Marx refers to the supposed power of capitalism to destroy pre-existing economic, social, and cultural orders. In the centuries since…

This section of JOUR E-140a focuses on local news. In these days of news deserts and newspaper downsizing, there is a large, and growing, number of stand-alone online and print local news outlets that are hiring reporters and editors. These are professional…

This course is a continuation of CSCI E-10a , with an emphasis on object-oriented programming using Java, one of the world's most popular programming languages. We begin with the implementation of abstract data types using classes, focusing on encapsulation…

In this course, students develop comedy sketch-writing skills by studying the work of masters of the genre and by drafting and revising the components of a professional submission packet: evergreen topical jokes, fake commercials, conceptual pieces, and…

Feature writing combines the literary craft of fiction with the fact-gathering and storytelling skills of the journalist, historian, and documentary filmmaker. These true stories can be both timely and timeless; the narrative becomes a vehicle for something…

This tutorial helps students develop an academically strong thesis proposal. During the semester, they map critical issues of project design such as scope, background, methodology, and expected outcomes. Students are encouraged to contact their research…

This course delves into the fascinating ways in which hormones influence the body's development and function. Initial lectures describe the nature of different hormones and how they exert their actions. Subsequent lectures explore how hormones regulate body…

This proseminar focuses on the research, writing, critical and analytical skills necessary to produce a successful graduate-level research project in the humanities. Attention is paid to the development of competency in close-reading and to the strategies of…

As globalization faces challenges and backlashes, the nation-state and nationalism have resurged, influencing global and local politics. This course examines why, focusing on the nature of nationalism, ethnic conflicts, the rise of populism and…

This course exposes the student to the basic principles of test construction and interpretation, including issues related to reliability and validity. Additionally, issues related to test administration, scoring, and reporting are explored, with emphasis…

This seminar focuses on the history of Sino-American relations and interactions since the Opium War (1840s). It examines these relations through the lens of major events such as the Boxer intervention, the first and second world wars, the Korean and Vietnam…

The course translates findings from academic research, particularly in positive psychology and behavior change, into attitudes, behaviors, and practices that students can adopt to have happy, fulfilling, and meaningful lives. We explore the foundation of…

This course reviews arithmetic and covers algebraic expressions and equations; their manipulation and use in problem solving; word problems; and an introduction to inequalities, absolute values, and graphing. This course features some of the same topics as…

In this proseminar, students develop the skills necessary to engage in graduate-level research in the field of museum studies. Students read classic scholarly texts in museum studies and complete short assignments designed to hone their academic writing…

Technology risk refers to any risk of financial loss, disruption, or damage to the reputation of an organization as a result of the failure of its information technology (IT) systems. This course covers the foundations of technology risk management, IT risk…

Research projects in sustainability are complex and transcend the boundaries of conventional disciplines such as economics, international relations, and sociology. Sustainability issues affect and interact with monetary stability, industrial policy, and more;…

The techniques of statistical inference for studying properties of data generating processes include method of moments, maximum likelihood estimation, Bayesian inference, and nonparametric statistics. Bayesian inference is an important approach to data…

This is an intensive course in the craft and analysis of prose from a writer's perspective. The focus of this course is to teach prose writers how to read well. Students explore the potential and possibilities of different approaches to writing, and, by the…

This is an intensive workshop in the craft of writing short fiction for students who have read widely among past and contemporary masters of short fiction and who are accomplished in the elements of prose composition (mechanics, syntax, and structure).…

This tutorial helps students develop an academically strong thesis proposal. During the semester, they map critical issues of project design such as scope, background, methodology, and expected outcomes. Students are encouraged to contact their research…

This course introduces students to the demands and conventions of academic reading and writing. It focuses on analyzing texts, building effective arguments, and using evidence and secondary source material. Instruction on the stages of the writing process,…

Motivation is an internal process that drives behavior. Understanding motivation and self-determination theory is essential for affecting change in ourselves and in others. In this course, students learn theories and empirical research regarding motivation,…