Online courses directory (19947)

This is an advanced course that aims to build vocabulary competence and improve oral communication through the study and discussion of topics related to cultural aspects in Lusophone societies, primarily from current issues in Brazil. It is designed to give students extensive experience in Portuguese and emphasizes skill development and refinement in the area of critical reading and writing in Portuguese.

Accelerated Introductory Portuguese for Spanish Speakers covers the basics of Portuguese grammar and presents selected cultural aspects of the Lusophone world, with special emphasis on Brazil. Designed as an intensive introductory course equivalent to Portuguese I and II, it is a Portuguese course for native speakers of Spanish or speakers of other languages who have a native-like command of Spanish.

This course examines cultural performances of Asia, including both traditional and contemporary forms, in a variety of genres. Students will explore the communicative power of performances with attention to the ways performers, media, cultural settings, and audiences interact. The representation of cultural difference is considered and how it is altered through processes of globalization. Performances are viewed live when possible, but the course also relies on video, audio, and online materials as necessary. There are no prerequisites for this course and it is taught in English.

This class addresses important, current debates in media with in-depth discussion of popular perceptions and policy implications. Students will engage in the critical study of the economic, political, social, and cultural significance of media, and learn to identify, analyze, and understand the complex relations among media texts, policies, institutions, industries, and infrastructures. This class offers the opportunity to discuss, in stimulating and challenging ways, topics such as ideology, propaganda, net neutrality, big data, digital hacktivism, digital rebellion, media violence, gamification, collective intelligence, participatory culture, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, etc., from historical, transcultural, and multiple methodological perspectives.

The systems we built in Course 2 become real as they morph into tax reporting obligations. This course provides an overview of U.S. income, consumption, and employment taxes, and connects the U.S. tax system requirements to tools we use in a professional creative practice.

This class will provide an understanding of the camera settings and gear that is used in professional DSLR and mirrorless video production. We will cover the basics of camera systems and lenses, including achieving perfect exposure and great color, and will also dig into lighting and camera support. This course will lead you through a smooth transition from still photographer to video professional.

Architecture Theatre in their many forms have explored narrative design in a spatial context. In this course we will look at what we can learn from these disciplines as they relate to the current state of mixed reality. We will talk to award winning mixed reality creators about how they have had to adjust and evolve to create for mixed reality.

In this three-day workshop, students will get a broad introduction to global health issues. We will look at one particular non-governmental organization in India that works to improve health across the lifespan by empowering existing community resources to provide appropriate physical, psychological and social therapies, focusing on child development, adolescent and youth health, mental health, and chronic disease. This workshop equips student to explore novel ideas and technologies with an inspiring and ground-breaking Indian NGO.

Fulfills the Sloan Innovation Period (SIP) elective requirement. SIP occurs at the midpoint of each semester providing students with an intensive week of experiential leadership learning, as well as exposure to groundbreaking faculty work. It allows students to engage in intellectual exploration outside the classroom. SIP degree requirements include core courses in ethics and leadership as well as electives.

D-Lab Health provides a multidisciplinary approach to global health technology design via guest lectures and a major project based on fieldwork. We will explore the current state of global health challenges and learn how to design medical technologies that address those problems. Students may travel to Nicaragua during spring break to work with health professionals, using medical technology design kits to gain field experience for their device challenge. As a final class deliverable, you will create a product design solution to address challenges observed in the field. The resulting designs are prototyped in the summer for continued evaluation and testing.

Economic, religious, gender, and ethnic differences must be negotiated every day in the urban arena. When tensions and conflict escalate into violence, the urban space becomes the battlespace in which these tensions are negotiated. This course examines urban development challenges in conflict cities through multiple disciplinary perspectives on urban conflict. This course also reviews literature that focuses on when violence and cities intersect. Students will learn about policy innovations, and study potential planning, design, and policy solutions.

This course covers the history and aesthetics of French cinema from the advent of sound to present-day. It treats films in the context of technical processes, the art of narration, directorial style, role of the scriptwriter, the development of schools and movements, the impact of political events and ideologies, and the relation between French and other national cinemas.

Taught in English, the films are screened with English subtitles. Students may complete written assignments in French.

How are math, art, music, and language intertwined? How does intelligent behavior arise from its component parts? Can computers think? Can brains compute? Douglas Hofstadter probes very cleverly at these questions and more in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, "Gödel, Escher, Bach". In this seminar, we will read and discuss the book in depth, taking the time to solve its puzzles, appreciate the Bach pieces that inspired its dialogues, and discover its hidden tricks along the way.

This course presents six sessions in which the student continues to expand their knowledge of piano technique, repertoire and musical concepts, including eighth notes, treble C pentascale, G pentascales, sharps and flats and intervals of 4ths, 5ths and 6ths. Each session contains a video lecture presented by the Instructor, piano practice assignments and graded assignments that include a quiz about music terms, theory and/or ear training and a video assessment of the student playing selected piano technique and repertoire. The course also includes a graded assignment for two concert reviews, which can be completed at any time during the course, and a final exam in which the student will perform a memorized piece of music of the Instructor’s choice for an audience.

This class is a deep dive from photography to videography, and shows you how to think in motion. Many of the core concepts carried over from still photography are the same, but putting your camera and scene in motion opens up a new world of possibilities and demands. You will learn how to add motion where there is none, and to control focus, light and sound.

As the name suggests, Sound Essentials covers an entirely new dimension that can make or break your video work. Sound carries emotion, and can have an enormous impact on your story. The tools, the terminology and the language of sound production often feel foreign to photographers, but this class will provide a thorough foundation which will get you recording professional sound in no time.

This is a discussion-based, interactive seminar on the development of information and communication technology in Sub-Saharan Africa. The students will seek to understand the issues surrounding designing and instituting policy, and explore the possible ways in which they can make an impact on information and communication technology in Africa.

This pass/fail seminar should be a fun setting where we can all enjoy a love of good books together. Students will read approximately one novel every two weeks, and the class will discuss each novel in a relaxed and interactive setting, with attention to whatever themes and issues interest them most about each book. We will read a wide mixture of classic and contemporary novels written by women, including: Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth; Toni Morrison, Jazz; Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway; Alice Walker, The Color Purple; Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre; Sheri Reynolds, The Rapture of Canaan; Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice; and Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar. Recurrent issues likely to be discussed include: gender, race, and class; romance, love, and marriage; depression and suicide; and conception, childbirth, and parenthood.

This course is primarily a literature seminar. We will use American literature as a lens through which to examine different passing tropes. It will provide an introduction to queer, gender, and critical race theories for science and math majors. We will read such works as Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom, Incognegro, and Focault's A History of Sexuality, to name just a few.

This class is divided into a series of sections or "modules", each of which concentrates on a particular large technology-related topic in a cultural context. The class will start with a four-week module on Samurai Swords and Blacksmithing, followed by smaller units on Chinese Cooking, the Invention of Clocks, and Andean Weaving, and end with a four-week module on Automobiles and Engines. In addition, there will be a series of hands-on projects that tie theory and practice together. The class discussions range across anthropology, history, and individual development, emphasizing recurring themes, such as the interaction between technology and culture and the relation between "skill" knowledge and "craft" knowledge.

Culture Tech evolved from a more extensive, two-semester course which formed the centerpiece of the Integrated Studies Program at MIT.  For 13 years, ISP was an alternative first-year program combining humanities, physics, learning-by-doing, and weekly luncheons.  Culture Tech represents the core principles of ISP distilled into a 6-unit seminar. Although many collections of topics have been used over the years, the modules presented here are a representative sequence. 

This seminar is designed to be an experimental and hands-on approach to applied chemistry (as seen in cooking). Cooking may be the oldest and most widespread application of chemistry and recipes may be the oldest practical result of chemical research. We shall do some cooking experiments to illustrate some chemical principles, including extraction, denaturation, and phase changes.