Gone are the days when you could only see dreams of studying at Harvard University. Now Harvard University has launched several free online courses which are quite beneficial for students across the globe. These courses can be accessed through the edX learning platform. While there are 67 free online courses in total, this article deals with the 12 best courses among them:
- CS50: Introduction to Computer Science
This is one of the most popular free courses that Harvard university provides and it consists of concepts like abstraction, encapsulation, security, software engineering, web development, data structures, resource management, etc. It is designed for a broad understanding of programming and will make you familiar with languages like C, PHP, SQL, CSS, HTML, Javascript Plus, etc. This is an 11 week-long course which demands 10-20 hours of your week. It is self-paced so you can enjoy the course without compromising your daily routine.
2. CS50’s Introduction to Artificial intelligence using Python
This course can be named the most beneficial free course offered by Harvard University because of the fast-paced advancement in technology in the modern world. This course will make you familiar with the concepts of graph search algorithms, classification, optimization, machine learning, reinforcement learning, etc. You will also be taught about the ideas like game-playing engines, handwriting recognition, machine translations, etc. It is a 7 week-long course and is also self-paced though it demands 10-30 hours a week.
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3. CS50’s Web Programming with Python and Javascript
In this course, you will learn about diverse programming languages like HTML, CSS, Git, Python, Django, SQL, Javascript, etc. It is also a quite exciting course that will make you understand concepts like scalability, database design, and user experience. You will also be given projects like learning and writing the use of APIs, creating UIs, etc. It is a 12-week long course and requires 6-9 hours of your time in a week and is self-paced.
4. Data Science: Machine learning
This is a part of Harvard’s Professional Certificate Program in Data Science and you will learn many skills fundamental to machine learning. Assignments and projects will also be given for machine learning algorithms, principal component analysis, and regularisation through building a system for movie recommendation. The duration of this course is 8 weeks and requires 2 to 4 hours per week. This is one of those courses that are self-paced.
5. Shakespeare’s life and work
This is a very interesting course that will take you on a journey through the life of Shakespeare, using critical tools to analyze Shakespeare’s work both in theory and verbal and the significance of his works in the modern era. It will also cover topics like the contemporaries of Shakespeare, the politics of modern performances, his life as an actor, and the first play that he performed. This is a 4-week long course and requires a commitment of 5 to 7 hours of your week.
6. Japanese books: from manuscripts to print
This course will take you through the experience of reading various formats in which books are made in Japan. It includes exploring the materials of the scrolls, albums, and books in Japan through the ages. This will also include the epic Tales of Genji from the 11th century in every conceivable format, scrolls, albums, and books to the modern era. The duration of this course is 9 weeks and the time commitment required is 1 to 2 hours per week.
7. ChinaX cook club: 5 authors, 5 books, 5 versions of china
This course covers China’s historical and cultural transformations the dramatization of the country in the five best books of China. This course will be taught by Harvard faculty member David Wang and its scope is discussion, reading, analysis to explore the issues concerned with Chinese people. This course involves 5 outstanding books of Chinese literature: China in 10 words by Yu Hua, Red Shorgum by Mo Yan, Lenin’s kisses by Yan Lianke, Waiting by Ha Jin, and The song of everlasting sorrow by Wang Anyi. The time taken by this course is 5 weeks and requires 1 to 2 hours of your week or you can also pace it according to your timetable.
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8. Masterpieces of world literature
This is another amazing course specially devised for literature geeks that take you on a tour of the famous literary works of the world to date and how they have given rise to tensions, conflicts, and connections among neighbouring regions. This curse includes literary masterpieces like Homer- the Odyssey, the 1001 nights, Voltaire – Candide, Orhan Pamuk- My name is red, Salman Rushdie and Jhumpa Lahiri, Murasaki Shikibu- Tale of Genji, and many others. This course has a duration of 12 weeks and will take 5 to 7 hours of your week.
9. Religious literacy: traditions and scriptures
This includes the beliefs and rituals of different religions and helps you acquire a deeper understanding of how internally diverse are the religions, how is it impacted in the evolving time, and the different values of religions imbibed in the modern world. The traditions will be read with the help of different scripture from various aspects like sexuality, gender, science, power, violence, authority, etc. This course has a duration of 9 weeks and requires a time commitment of 5 to 10 hours per week.
10. The Ancient Greek Hero
This course will provide a vivid description of the hero cult of Greek literature and how the heroes were an object of worship in ancient Greece. It will cover the most beautiful works of Greek literature right from the 8th century BCE to the end of the 3rd century BCE. Headed by Harvard professor Gregory Nagy, this course will provide a close glance at different epics and lyrics like the Homeric Iliad, Odyssey, and tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, songs of Sappho and Pinar, and many more. This is a 17-week long course and instructor-led and will demand 5 to 8 hours of your week.
11.Contract law: from trust to promise to contract
This course led by one of the world’s best authorities on Contract law, Harvard Professor Charles Fred, provides you with the profound knowledge of the principles of a contract, and other units like the interpretation of a contract, agency, partnerships, cooperation, and government regulation. It will also provide you with the knowledge of the intent to create legal relations, morality, the distinction between gifts and bargains, and common pitfalls like mistakes, frauds, one-sided promises, etc. This is an 8 week-long course and demands 3 to 6 hours of your week.
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12. Bioethics: Law, Medicine, and Ethics of Reproductive Technology & Genetics
The content within this course includes how legal reasoning is to be applied to questions related to parenthood, reproduction, and other issues involving human genetic material. This is also such a course that is not only beneficial for law students, prospective law students, medical professionals as well as general people who are interested. The duration of this course is 10 weeks with 2 to 3 hours per week.
There are 97 other courses also available on the Harvard University website and you can avail yourself of whichever course you like.
