This course is part of the University of Cambridge’s MicroMasters programme in Writing for Performance and Entertainment Industries. How can you build a secure business base for your screenwriting career? What tools do you need to start your own production company? Which techniques do you need to learn in order to pitch ideas effectively to producers and directors? How important is networking in the film and TV industries, and what skills can you develop in order to do it successfully? What is a ‘writers’ room’ and how can you learn to collaborate in time-pressured environments? In this course, we will be looking in depth at how create the best commercial platform in order that your creative work may flourish in the wider world. We will be looking at business models for the writer-entrepreneur, and considering how other successful writers, animators and producers have found commercial outlets for their creative practice. Learn how to maintain your resilience and motivation within a demanding profession; find out how to create a market for your own work and how to use social media to build an outstanding professional profile. Expert networking and business skills are an important part of maintaining a successful career as a screenwriter. These are now essential skills in a diversifying global job market. You will be set reflective writing exercises over the course of the module, and you will asked to keep a brief business journal to note how your creative work may have commercial value. By the end of this module, you will have reflected on your strengths as a producer of your own work, and have learnt practical tools about how to manage your career after you have finished that script!

This course is part of the University of Cambridge’s MicroMasters program in Writing for Performance and Entertainment Industries. Ever wanted to jump up on stage and make people laugh…and then make them cry? In this course we will be looking at how to write and perform your own five-minute stand-up routine or your own performative poetry with good timing, energy, and personal charisma! We will be looking in depth at how to structure short-form performance material, as well as how to prepare physically and vocally so that you can perform live with calm and clarity. We will be engaging with the work of performance poets across the world, and looking at what attributes and writing skills are embedded in a successful stand-up script. Why do we need to stand up and speak in person, and how do we conceptualise the authority and power of the live performance? This is a comprehensive introduction to performing stand-up and performance poetry that will give beginners a strong understanding of essential concepts, as well as reinvigorate anyone who has been working in this area for a while, and who wants to find fresh energy and perspective. Learning to how to communicate most effectively with any audience gives us a good toolbox for expert communication in any professional sphere. Skill transferability, flexible thinking, and expert language abilities are now essential in a diversifying global job market - come and learn essential new skills, and have fun doing it! You will be set writing exercises over the course of the module, and you will asked to keep a brief comedy/poetry journal to note how your ideas progress and how your intuition leads you into productivity. By the end of this module, you will have completed five minutes of performable material that you are ready to try out in a venue of your choice!

Medicine is in the midst of a shift never before seen. Information and technology are advancing at rates faster than our ability to adapt. These changes, along with social forces such as the health 2.0 movement, are redefining the role of the doctor and patient. This course offers participants an engaging, never-before-seen view of medicine and healthcare. "Medicine in the Digital Age" features in-depth interviews with thought leaders in digital health, including: Dr. Eric Topol, author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine (2012) and The Patient Will See You Now (2015) Dr. Roni Zeiger, former Chief Health Strategist for Google and CEO and Co-founder of Smart Patients Dr. Peter Killoran, Biomedical informatics and EHR usability expert Fred Trotter, Data Journalist and Author of ​Meaningful Use​ and Beyond (2011) Dr. David Wetter, Director of Innovation for Behavioral Health on Mobile Data to Knowledge (MD2K) center, for NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Initiative The course is intended for a general audience and is relevant to anyone working or interested in the emerging healthcare environment. At the end of the course, participants will have the knowledge to successfully engage with the future of digital medicine. Medicine in the Digital Age maps out the challenges and opportunities facing healthcare in the networked age. We will explore the role of social media in healthcare communication, the uses of wearable technologies, the potential for big data to reshape health behaviors, the ethics of personalized medicine, and the impact of these new developments on the doctor-patient relationship. Participants will gain an understanding of the connected health revolution and tools to critically analyze this evolving ecosystem. Medicine in the Digital Age will launch a fresh conversation about what the future of medicine should be, and how we should get there. Join us! What background is required to participate in this course? No specific background is required for this course, but it is aimed at professionals who have (or would like to have) some amount of decision-making capability in their organization. This course is for leaders and aspiring leaders in healthcare and allied sectors including telecommunications, health insurance, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, device manufacturing, policy and government, investment, consulting and innovation. Is this course part of a series? Not yet, but watch for future announcements! Can I still enroll if the course has started? Yes, but look for additional announcements from course staff about assessments that will need to be completed to qualify for the RiceX Certificate. What types of certificates does RiceX offer? Upon successful completion of RiceX courses, learners will be awarded a RiceX Certificate from Rice University. How are certificates determined? Earning a certificate is determined by the individual course. Generally, learners must complete all course requirements at a level pre-determined by the course instructor to earn a certificate. What happens if I do not pass or cannot complete a course? There is no limit on the number of times you can enroll in RiceX courses. Many of RiceX courses are offered on a routine basis and you will be able to enroll in the next offering. How can I earn a certificate for the series? Some RiceX courses are part of a series. Usually you can enroll in just one course or the entire series. Often you do not have to decide to complete the full series when you begin. Participants can earn a series certificate if they satisfactorily fulfill the requirements for completing the series. What happens after I sign up? Once you have registered and paid for a course, you will receive a confirmation email from RiceX. What time is the class?' Courses materials are available 24 hours a day once the course has officially opened. Some courses include live webcasts with instructors scheduled at a specific time. The webcasts are recorded and available to participants who are not able to join. What if I have a question or concern for the instructor? You will be part of a dynamic global learning community of fellow professional participants available 24-7 to help within the framework of the honor code. Course engagement managers monitor the discussion forum and can address your questions or forward to the instructor. How can I meet/find other course participants? Every RiceX course includes a Participant Discussion Forum where you can interact with other participating professionals. The Forum is guided by an honor code. You can also connect through Google+ Hangouts and interactive activities like live webcasts that may be included in a course. Is there an exam at the end? No, there is no exam. Instead, there is a final project at the end of the course.

What does it take to inspire others, promote a novel idea, or even have a difficult conversation? How can you position yourself as a leader through inclusive communication? How do you know that the message you are intending to send is what is being received? Join Catalyst experts to explore this topic and the important role communication plays in inclusive leadership. All too often, we struggle to communicate effectively—particularly with others who are different from us in some way. This course will show you how the most effective communication utilizes the inclusive leadership mindset of Empowerment, Accountability, Courage, and Humility and guide you on how to use that mindset yourself. Through research and real-world examples, you will learn strategies to enhance your communication skills and approach. Topics will include understanding dialogue processes, debunking everyday communication myths, testing assumptions, listening, expressing yourself authentically, and communicating across differences. With short quizzes, compelling case studies, and engaging videos, you will develop knowledge in each section and share your experience with other learners. Throughout the course, you will create a plan of action to help apply the strategies learned in this course to your work and other parts of your life.

Although there are some robots you might never get to meet (or might hope you never meet), such as those sent to space, war or rescue situations, many other robots and bots are being developed to populate people's homes, the online spaces they frequent, their workplaces, and the social spaces they visit. This course explores how people communicate with robots and bots in everyday life, both now and into the future. Module 1 discusses the difficulties of defining what a robot is, as well as briefly introducing bots. Module 2 focuses on bots, chatbots and socialbots in detail, to consider how people communicate with these programs in online spaces, as well as some ethical questions these interactions raise. Robots in the home are the subject of Module 3, with a discussion of robots designed to act as personal assistants leading into some examples of assistive and care robots, as well as telepresence robots that allow people to interact with one another at a distance through a robot. Module 4 considers robots at work, from the potential of telepresence robots to enable remote operations, to robots designed to share people's workspaces, and potentially even take their jobs. One example of a public space where robots might alter people's working and social lives greatly is on the roads with the development of self-driving vehicles, robots that need to be able to communicate with their passengers as well as with other road users.

This course is part of the University of Cambridge’s MicroMasters program in Writing for Performance and Entertainment Industries. We will be looking in depth at how to build a screenplay that communicates its central meaning through strong visual images. How do we write a script containing almost no dialogue? And when we do have to use speech, what constitutes successful dialogue for the screen? How will film genre and history influence your writing? What is the difference between a tagline and a logline? How do you write an effective outline of your script for a producer to read? What is a ‘story bible’ and when do you need one? All these questions and more will be answered. We will be thinking comparatively about screenplay advice from film and TV industry gurus such as Robert McKee and John Yorke - as well as asking you to find your own habits and practices as writing methodology. We will critically analyse the work of filmmakers such as Jeremiah Mosese, Mustashrik Mahbub and Melina Matsoukas. How do our global film and TV industries reflect our social and cultural concerns and needs today? The work of James Frey ( Queen and Slim ), Michaela Coel ( I May Destroy You ) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge ( Fleabag, Killing Eve ) will inspire us to find the stories within ourselves than can change the world. Successful visual communication is a vital skill in any workplace. Visual images are the fastest way to communicate the most information possible in the shortest possible time, and a strong intuitive and strategic grasp of this process will offer you an in valuable creative toolbox for expert communication in any professional sphere. Skill transferability, flexible thinking, and expert language abilities are now essential in a diversifying global job market - come and learn essential new skills, and have fun doing it! You will be set writing exercises over the course of the module, and you will asked to keep a brief creativity journal to note how your ideas progress and how your intuition leads you into productivity. By the end of this module, you will have completed several new scenes of a screenplay, with a considered plan for the structure of the entire piece of work. You will have reflected on how social and cultural mores can become useful themes to create commercially successful work.

This course is part of the University of Cambridge’s MicroMaster’s program in Writing for Performance and Entertainment Industries. How can you utilise the innovative creative world of online digital platforms to advance and create new material as dramatic writers? We will be looking in depth at how to find an digital form that stimulates you as a writer. Do you want to write interactive gameplay ‘script’ for the video game industry? Or learn how to write soundscapes for radio drama and podcast plays? Perhaps you want to create new content for your own YouTube channel? We will be looking at how narrative skill and digital production coincide in all these mediums. We will consider successful professional examples of digital narratives; look deeply into the changing form of scriptwriting in the video game industry, as well as acquire a knowledge of how to reach a target audience online. This is a comprehensive introduction to writing and innovating digital content. Learning to write for online platforms, and how to communicate most effectively with an online audience, is now an highly transferable skill for any profession. Digital expertise, flexible thinking, and expert storytelling abilities are now essential in a diversifying global job market - come and learn essential new skills, and have fun doing it! You will be set writing exercises over the course of the module, and you will asked to keep a brief creativity journal to note how your ideas progress and how your intuition leads you into productivity. By the end of this module, you will have completed several pieces of script in a range of digital mediums of your choice.

This five-week course will help you identify reliable information in news reports and become better informed about the world we live in. We will discuss journalism from the viewpoint of the news audience. Together, we will examine the following topics: What makes news? The blurred lines between news, promotion and entertainment. Why does news matter? Social sharing and the dynamics of the news cycles. Who provides information? How to evaluate sources in news reports. Where is the evidence? The process of verification. When should we act? Recognizing our own biases. How do we know what we know? Becoming an active news audience. If you are interested in becoming a more discerning news consumer, please join us and sign up today.

Strong leadership is regarded as one of the best predictors of organizational success and critical human capital required for career progression in almost every organization. However, leadership is also a highly complex and often misunderstood phenomenon. It‘s hard to define, but we all know good and bad leadership when we see it. This course will equip aspiring leaders with an understanding of what leadership is and how an individual can develop the skills required to become an effective leader in their organization. Taught by instructors and presenters with decades of business and not-for-profit leadership experience, you will learn the difference between leadership and management, the importance of understanding others and building empathy and relationships, and gain a better understanding of the different leadership styles you may encounter throughout your career. Learn through a series of engaging videos, interviews, case studies, written reflections, peer feedback, and other self-insight activities. Our instructors and faculty will help you identify your own values and ethics as a leader, and most importantly, build your self-efficacy, your confidence and belief in your own ability to achieve intended results.

Are you finding it difficult to start the conversation, or find the right words when communicating in English? Do you know how to start and end conversations in a polite way? Do you want to learn more about American, British, Canadian, Australian, South Korean, Colombian, and Chinese cultures? If so, you’ve come to the right course! 语言最重要的功能就是交流。在交流中我们要知道如何开始一个对方感兴趣的话题，回答别人的提问，自然、流畅地完成一个对话。本课程选取了8个主题，由50多位来自美国、英国、加拿大、澳大利亚、哥伦比亚、中国的老师及各个年龄段的学生，在真实的场景中，用最地道的表达和最纯正的英语，带你谈论日常生活、学习的方方面面。 本课程分为八个单元，每个单元有一个主题，分别是： 1、个人信息的介绍与交换 2、我们的家人和朋友 3、饮食与用餐 4、英语学习的目的和方法 5、假日活动和难忘的经历 6、兴趣爱好 7、情感表达 8、保持健康 每个主题由十余组对话和小组讨论，外籍老师的中西方文化差异介绍，中国老师的重点词汇、句型讲解，听力理解练习和口语测试构成。通过学习和练习，你将可以和讲英语的朋友们自如地交谈、讨论与主题相关的任何问题。本课程的学习方法有很多。英语学习者可以在反复地听和跟读对话的过程中，不断积累语言素材，和你身边的朋友或同课程的学习者进行对话练习；英语教师可以选用本课程中适合的主题，组织学生进行听说训练，组织高效课堂。也许你不能理解每段对话的全部内容，只需听懂大意，随着课程的进展，你听懂的内容会越来越多。让我们一起实现一次英语听说的飞跃吧。 本门课程在制作过程中得到了香港伟新教育基金和Google公司的资助，特此鸣谢。