Harvard University courses

From corporate giants to small businesses, the optimization of supply chain techniques and operations practices plays a critical factor in establishing a competitive advantage. This course introduces the concept of supply chain management and identifies…

This course discusses what we understand of the universe, guided by those who have shaped our understanding. Each week, we use as a springboard one or more key papers by Albert Einstein, Roger Penrose, Stephen Hawking, Alan Guth, and others, and discuss the…

This course critically examines arguments, analytical frameworks, and potential solutions for major controversies in international politics. What are the sources of state failure? How is the global system of states evolving? How should ethics be understood…

Biotechnology offers exciting and promising prospects for healing the sick and relieving suffering. But exactly because of their impressive powers to alter the workings of body and mind, the dual uses of the same technologies make them attractive also to…

One of the broad goals of data science is examining raw data with the purpose of identifying their structure and trends, and deriving conclusions and hypotheses from the latter. In the modern world awash with data, data analytics is more important than ever…

This course examines Africana philosophy as a field of study practiced by professional philosophers of African descent and non-African philosophers. The course focuses on fundamental dimensions of Africana philosophy: history, method, logic, epistemology,…

Far-right movements have, in recent years, gained striking momentum across Europe. From France's anti-immigrant National Front and neo-Nazis in Germany to efforts to rehabilitate Francisco Franco and Benito Mussolini in Spain and Italy, forces of extreme…

This course provides an overview of macroeconomic theory and the role and effects of governmental macroeconomic policy. We apply these ideas to understand some of the current debates about the US macroeconomy, such as the impact of tariffs and the causes of…

This course examines the design and development of new therapeutic products. Students learn through case-based studies of product development for pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, and combination therapies. The course describes the steps of…

This course provides an introduction to web development by way of the essential language and runtime environment that powers modern web interfaces. Through a series of examples and projects, students learn basic programming concepts while building an…

This course aims to introduce students to the world of data science and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies via articles published in the <i>Harvard Data Science Review</i>, a global forum disseminating everything data science and data science for…

This intensive course provides a comprehensive introduction to modern Ukrainian language and culture for those who would like to speak Ukrainian or use the language for reading and research. Designed for students without any previous knowledge of Ukrainian,…

Waste materials are often unavoidable by-products of most human activity and are defined as something to be discarded as unusable or unwanted. Rapid economic growth, urbanization, and increasing population have resulted in an increase in resource consumption…

This course is designed for students who wish to build upon the skills developed in <a href="/search/?p=EXPO%2025" data-action="result-detail" data-group="code:EXPO 25" >EXPO S-25</a> in order to produce more advanced research and writing in the social…

This course is designed for people with little or no background in Japanese. We cover lessons 1-12 of the <i>Genki 1</i> textbook and lessons 13-16 of <i>Genki 2</i>. This fast-track introductory course aims to develop a basic foundation in the four skills of…

This course helps business professionals improve their writing so they are better equipped to accomplish their educational and professional goals. Students consider how essential forms of business writing—memos, cover letters, proposals, presentations, and…

This course examines decision-making through the lens of business strategy across three critical phases: the past, present, and future. In the first segment, we journey back in time to scrutinize historical business decisions. We analyze pivotal moments like…

This advanced fiction-writing course focuses on writing thrillers—dark, engrossing, and suspenseful plot-driven stories involving the push and pull between protagonist and antagonist. The course is intended for students who want to write a thriller novel; it…

This course serves as a first encounter to the history, culture, and heritage of the Romans and their world. The course focuses on the period from the foundations of Rome in the archaic period down to the Arab conquest of the eastern Mediterranean and North…

This beginning course introduces the fundamentals of the German language typically taught in one semester. The main goal is functional competence in German, including the vocabulary, grammar, and cultural knowledge to be able to interpret oral and written…

We are now in the twenty-first century: why do we still have so much prejudice about bodies that differ from the so-called norm? What, indeed, is the norm and why is it so important to us? In this course, students are introduced to fat studies and disability…

This course investigates the history of stigmatized diseases and conditions that predominantly affect—or are most commonly associated with—women. We examine the stigma around hysteria, breast cancer, menopause, abortion, obesity, and depression, among other…

This course begins with Friedrich Schiller's <i>Aesthetic Letters</i> and the idea that aesthetic experience is essential to moral development. From there, we explore the present: what happens to morality, depth, and imagination when life is lived as…

Popular culture is one of the strongest tools we have for thinking through social phenomena outside of the conventions of academic writing. Television series such as <i>Black Mirror</i> can provoke our thinking on topics like alienation and racism; popular…

An intensive introduction to basic music theory and musicianship, covering notation, keys, rhythm, meter, intervals, counterpoint, melody, chords, harmonic progressions, and small forms. Assignments include workbook exercises, music analysis, composition, ear…

This course provides instruction in writing for students considering careers or advanced study in the natural, computational, or applied sciences. Through critical reading of key examples of the genres of scientific literature, students study how scientific…

To succeed in the future, managers must develop the resources and capabilities needed to gain and sustain advantage in competitive markets—traditional and emerging. The way in which organizations attempt to develop such competitive advantage constitutes the…

This course covers disaster preparedness and response, as well as possible prevention and mitigation of volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, fires, landslides, hurricanes, famines, pandemic diseases, meteorite impacts, and climate fluctuations. The…

This course examines how contemporary Indigenous writers and writers of color deploy monstrosity as a powerful tool for critiquing systems of oppression and imagining decolonized futures. Through close reading of horror literature, Gothic fiction, and…

Exploring the wild, worldwide web of informal vernacular culture being created, transmitted, and adapted by online communities, this course examines the powers, potentials, and peculiarities (and dangers) of digital life in relationship to community-building,…

More than 400 years ago, William Shakespeare wrote plays for a theater in London he named The Globe. Today, Shakespeare's plays are a global phenomenon—performed, studied, and enjoyed across the world in many languages and multiple media. How did this happen?…

In this course, we explore the psychology of attribution—the methods our brain use to understand others—and how others use their brains to understand us. Throughout, we build a deep understanding of how we think of others compared to ourselves and learn…

This intensive course provides a comprehensive introduction to modern Russian language and culture for those who would like to speak Russian or use the language for reading and research. Designed for students without any previous knowledge of Russian, the…

What does freedom mean? And, if meaning is created through action, how is freedom practiced? This course explores America's most cherished ideal—freedom—as it has manifest in practice. Students examine major forms of freedom practice—from privacy to speech,…

This course helps business professionals improve their writing so they are better equipped to accomplish their educational and professional goals. Students consider how essential forms of business writing—memos, cover letters, proposals, presentations, and…

This course offers a hands-on introduction to the digital media landscape, exploring the tools, technologies, and strategies shaping how stories and information are shared online today. Students learn how content creators and media organizations build…

Taylor Swift has become the world's most famous pop star for many reasons, but first and last through her songwriting. We look at her career, life, albums and songs, from all her eras (even the Showgirl era) as literary creations. We consider songs (as…

This course is an introduction to differential and integral calculus in one variable. The course begins with a study of limits and derivatives, and culminates with the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus as well as some integration techniques. The topics covered…

The course begins with a review of geometry and then proceeds with a treatment of algebra. We cover algebraic expressions and equations, both linear and quadratic, and their manipulation and use in problem solving. From there, we look at word problems;…

This course approaches the Nazi persecution of European Jewry from several disciplinary perspectives. Initially, we explore the topic historically, using a variety of historical materials dealing with the history of European anti-semitism, German history from…

This course provides an opportunity to discuss diverse theories of globalization and global justice via perspectives from sociology, economics, political science, anthropology, geography, history, and the emerging literature from civil society. The course…

In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to navigate across differences is critical for successfully interacting and connecting with people shaped by different values, beliefs, and experiences, whether as a leader, educator, employee, policymaker,…

Are human rights expanding or contracting worldwide? In this course, we trace the global spread of human rights rhetoric over time and compare it to human rights practices. We also focus on current challenges to human rights respecting gender relations,…

When students study optimization in mathematics courses, they often learn about calculus-based approaches for continuous optimization. However, many problems of practical societal interest (such as optimal scheduling of flights) can be framed as discrete…

This course takes place during the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Men's World Cup 2026, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The majority of matches are played in the United States, with Boston serving as one of the…

This course invites students to wrestle with some of the most fraught questions of American political and cultural life: how does our society remember Jim Crow and the civil rights movement? How ought it? As scholars of public memory have long argued,…

Is there such a thing as women's writing, and how can it be defined and analyzed? What does being Mexican mean? Is Mexicanness a specific quality, a geography, or an identity, or does it take multiple forms? This course proposes a re-reading of the Mexican…

The need to develop personal finance literacy is an increasingly important issue worldwide, especially in the wake of the latest financial shocks and the current pandemic crisis. The large majority of households do not possess the basic knowledge of financial…

This course is designed to foster a deep understanding of neurodiversity and equip students with the knowledge, skills, and tools to create inclusive and supportive environments for individuals with diverse neurological profiles. Students embark on a…

This course explores the global business challenges caused by worldwide advancements in digital technology across multinational corporations, industries, and governments. The course comprises two tracks: global business trends and strategies, and digital…