Online courses directory (19947)

This subject examines the unique culture that developed in the United States after World War II. The dawn of the nuclear age and the ensuing Cold War fundamentally altered American politics and social life. It also led to a flowering of technological experimentation and rapid innovation in the sciences. Over the course of the term, students will explore how Americans responded to these changes, and how those responses continue to shape life in the US today.

Explore the archaeology of the most heavily fortified frontier in the Roman Empire, its people and their lives.

How do we move things with electricity? How do the parts inside your computer work? Find out in Electrify.

This hands-on course introduces you to science-based skills through simple and exciting physics, chemistry and biology experiments

This two-part course is for primary and secondary school teachers who are preparing to tackle the new computing curriculum.

Learn about the key principles and debates in journalism and enact the role of a journalist in the context of an escalating story.

What is a city? What shapes it? How does its history influence future development? How do physical form and institutions vary from city to city and how are these differences significant? How are cities changing and what is their future? This course will explore these and other questions, with emphasis upon twentieth-century American cities. A major focus will be on the physical form of cities - from downtown and inner-city to suburb and edge city - and the processes that shape them.

The class Web site can be found here: The City.

At its greatest extent the former Soviet Union encompassed a geographical area that covered one-sixth of the Earth's landmass. It spanned 11 time zones and contained over 100 distinct nationalities, 22 of which numbered over one million in population. In the 74 years from the October Revolution in 1917 to the fall of Communism in 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, its leaders and its people, had to face a number of difficult challenges: the overthrow of the Tsarist autocracy, the establishment of a new state, four years of civil war, a famine, transition to a mixed economy, political strife after Lenin's death, industrialization, collectivization, a second famine, political Show Trials, World War II, post-war reconstruction and repression, the "Thaw" after Stalin's death, Khrushchev's experimentation, and Brezhnev's decline. Each of these challenges engendered new solutions and modifications in what can be loosely called the evolving "Soviet system."

This course provides an introduction to the politics and theories surrounding the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It introduces the basics of nuclear weapons, nuclear strategy, and deterrence theory. It also examines the historical record during the Cold War as well as the proliferation of nuclear weapons to regional powers and the resulting deterrence consequences.

This is a discussion-based interactive seminar on the two major issues that affect Sub-Saharan Africa: HIV/AIDS and Poverty. AIDS and Poverty, seemingly different concepts, are more inter-related to each other in Africa than in any other continent. As MIT students, we feel it is important to engage ourselves in a dynamic discussion on the relation between the two - how to fight one and how to solve the other.

SP.255 is a lecture, discussion, and project based seminar about the physics of rock climbing. Participants are first exposed to the unsolved problems in the climbing community that could be answered by research and then asked to solve a small part of one of these problems. The seminar provides an introduction to engineering problems, an opportunity to practice communication skills, and a brief stab at doing some research. This seminar explicitly does not include climbing instruction nor is climbing/mountaineering experience a prerequisite.

Understanding the nature and value of play through the course of our lives, across cultures and communities.

Together with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Professor Jonathan Bate explores Shakespeare, his works and the world he lived in.

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 is a hands-on introduction to statistical data analysis that emphasises fundamental concepts and practical skills.

Learn how to use English for study at university or college and develop your writing skills, vocabulary and grammar.

This seminar is made possible through a collaboration between Radius and the Philosophy section of MIT. This course provides an opportunity to explore a wide range of ethical issues through guided discussions that are geared to equip students for ongoing reflection and action. Lectures and discussions with guest faculty, as well as attendance at on-and off-campus events, expose students to ethical problems and resources for addressing them. The course also encourages students to work collaboratively as they clarify their personal and vocational principles.

Topics vary each term and reflect the interests of those enrolled.

This course highlights the properties and behavior of low-temperature plasmas in relation to energy conversion, plasma propulsion, and gas lasers. The course includes material on the equilibrium (energy states, statistical mechanics, and relationship to thermodynamics) and kinetic theory of ionized gases (motion of charged particles, distribution function, collisions, characteristic lengths and times, cross sections, and transport properties). In addition, the course discusses gas surface interactions (thermionic emission, sheaths, and probe theory) and radiation in plasmas and diagnostics.

This course explores the diverse ways that people teach and learn—in different countries, in different disciplines, and in different subcultures. We will discuss how theories of learning can be applied to a variety of hands-on, in-class learning activities. We compare schooling to other forms of knowledge transmission from initiation and apprenticeship to recent innovations in online education such as MOOCs. Students will employ a range of qualitative methods in conducting original research on topics of their choice.

International Women’s Voices has several objectives. It introduces students to a variety of works by contemporary women writers from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and North America. The emphasis is on non-western writers. The readings are chosen to encourage students to think about how each author’s work reflects a distinct cultural heritage and to what extent, if any, we can identify a female voice that transcends national cultures. In lectures and readings distributed in class, students learn about the history and culture of each of the countries these authors represent. The way in which colonialism, religion, nation formation and language influence each writer is a major concern of this course. In addition, students examine the patterns of socialization of women in patriarchal cultures, and how, in the imaginary world, authors resolve or understand the relationship of the characters to love, work, identity, sex roles, marriage, and politics.