The Science of Well-Being

Length: 19 hours

Adapted from Yale's most popular course in history, The Science of Well-Being helps you understand what makes people happy, why your brain is so bad at prioritizing mentally healthy activities, and even how to track your moods. You can read a review of The Science of Well-Being here, as well as an interview on how to be happier with Yale Professor and leading positive psychologist Laurie Santos.

Dog Emotion and Cognition

Length: 22 hours

This Duke course explores the relatively new study of dog psychology — including what recent research suggests dogs think and feel about us and how we can use this knowledge to strengthen our relationships with them.

Compassionate Leadership Through Service Learning with Jane Goodall and Roots & Shoots

Length: 10 hours 

Jane Goodall and Roots & Shoots, a youth action program of the Jane Goodall Institute, gives you the resources and blueprint to mentor young people in leading change in their communities by using community mapping, collaborating with stakeholders, and designing practical solutions in this course.

Mountains 101

Length: 18 hours 

Welcome to a broad and interdisciplinary overview of the mountain world. It focuses on the physical, biological, and human dimensions of mountain places in Alberta, Canada, and around the world. Students study the geological origins of mountains; the importance of biodiversity and water cycles; the cultural significance to societies around the globe and how that's changed over time; and how mountains are used, protected, and impacted by a warming climate today. 

At the end of each lesson are also Tech Tips — how to pick the best shoes, make good decisions in avalanche terrain, and more.

In the Studio: Postwar Abstract Painting

Length: 27 hours

Take a look into the process and works of New York School artists — Willem de Kooning, Yayoi Kusama, Agnes Martin, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Ad Reinhardt, and Mark Rothko — to better understand what a studio practice is and how creative ideas develop. Students come away with a keener eye for the physical qualities of paint, learning from readings that provide historical and cultural contexts for post-WWII works. 

Students can also participate in the studio exercises if they'd like and are encouraged to share any works on the discussion boards.

Ron Finley Teaches Gardening MasterClass

Length: 2 hours

Activist and gardener Ron Finley was once issued a citation (and, eventually, a warrant) for planting a garden on a curbside strip of dirt outside his home in South Central, LA — a food desert. Now, Finley teaches gardening as an aspect of protest and revolution — including how to grow your own food, avoid killing your plants, and find your gardening community. You can read a review of the course here.

Mindware: Critical Thinking for the Information Age

Length: 13 hours

Curious about how to make better, easier judgments and choices? This course uses basic concepts from statistics, probability, scientific methodology, cognitive psychology, and cost-benefit theory to help you do just that — whether it's used to pick one product versus another or critique coverage of scientific research. Concepts are briefly introduced and then demonstrated through a variety of examples.

Star Trek: Inspiring Culture and Technology

Length: 7 weeks

In this Smithsonian course, delve into how "Star Trek" affected audiences around the world through its intersections with history, race, gender, sexuality, technology, society, and ethics. Students hear from experts, watch show and film clips, debate fellow fans, and explore their own theories using critical analysis and object exploration.

Stealing Art: How Thieves Do It, and How They (Sometimes) Get Caught

Length: 1 hour

Taught by Robert Wittman, a world-renowned FBI agent, this class examines the history of art theft and other art crimes such as frauds and forgeries. Wittman gives an overview of the problem and the annual loss, as well as details the 2020 Van Gogh heist and how the painting could possibly be recovered.

Power and Responsibility: Doing Philosophy with Superheroes

Length: 25 hours

Learn about core philosophy through the lens of superhero narratives in this SmithsonianX and Harvard Extension School course. Using examples like Superman's embrace of truth and justice to Wonder Woman's peace efforts, Professor Christopher Robichaud of the Harvard Kennedy School dips into everything from metaphysics and epistemology to moral relativism. 

Note: This course is archived, which means you can review the course content but it is no longer active.

Psychological First Aid

Length: 6 hours

Learn how to provide psychological first aid to people in an emergency using the RAPID model (Reflective listening, Assessment of needs, Prioritization, Intervention, and Disposition) in this course developed in tandem with Johns Hopkins Open Education Lab.

RAPID can be helpful in settings that range from mass disaster venues to workplaces and can help deal with the psychological aftermath of occurrences such as accidents, robberies, suicide, homicide, or community violence.

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