Ignorance! provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how people think about unknowns, how they deal with them, and even how certain kinds of ignorance are enshrined in cultures and social institutions. We’ll be taking you on a tour through ignorance in all its varieties and guises. Ignorance is everyone’s business. Ignorance is relevant to every discipline and profession, and to everyday life, both at work and at play. No matter what domain you study or work in, this course will have something to offer to you. We will explore questions about ignorance such as the following: Where does ignorance come from? How do we impose it on each other, and even on ourselves? And why? We usually think about ignorance as a bad thing, but when can it be preferable not to know something? What uses do people have for ignorance? What roles does ignorance play in social interaction, group relations, institutions, and law? Can ignorance sometimes be a virtue? When can ignorance be good or bad for us? How can we harness the unknown for learning, discovery, and creativity? How can we make good decisions under ignorance? Your understanding of ignorance will be expanded via online games, discussion forums, opportunities to find out what your own “ignorance profile” is, additional readings, and Wiki materials. There also will be discussion threads specifically for those of you who want to apply understandings about ignorance to complex social and environmental problems. Knowing more about ignorance will help you to manage it and work with it. It also will help you in dealing with the unexpected, with complex problems, and even wicked problems. “无知！”这门课提供了一个全面的框架以了解人们如何思考未知事物，如何处理未知事物，以及某些无知如何被纳入文化和社会制度。 我们将带你浏览所有种类和伪装下的无知。 无知和每个人都有关，与每一门学科、职业以及日常生活的工作和娱乐都息息相关。 无论你的学习或职业属于什么领域，你都可以从这门课程中得到收获. 我们将探讨有关无知的如下问题：无知从何而来？我们是如何将其强加于彼此甚至是我们自己？这又是为什么？我们通常认为无知是一件坏事，但是在哪些时候不知道太多反而是一件好事呢？人们如何利用无知？无知在社会互动、团体关系、制度和法律中扮演什么角色？无知有可能在某些时候成为一种美德吗？无知在什么时候对我们是好事，什么时候是坏事？我们如何利用未知事物来促进学习、新发现和创造力？ 我们如何在无知的情况下做出好的决定呢？ 你对无知的理解将通过网络游戏、论坛、探索自己的“无知个人资料”的机会、附加阅读和维基资料获得扩展。课程里还将有专门针对那些希望将无知理解应用于复杂的社会和环境问题的讨论组。 深入了解无知将有助你管理和对待它。 它也将帮助您处理意想不到的，复杂的，甚至是邪恶的问题。

Have you ever wondered what causes mental illness, or why we react to stress the way we do? Or what to expect as you get older? Clinical psychology is the study of psychological disorders and the treatments designed to improve the day-to-day lives of people suffering from them. The focus of the course will be on common psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia, and the symptoms of each. We will also discuss the underlying role of stress and how it affects people mentally and physically. We will also consider more general issues and theories around personality and intelligence. You should take this course if you want to better understand psychological disorders and how we can treat them.

Taught by lauded Harvard professor Michael Sandel, Justice explores critical analysis of classical and contemporary theories of justice, including discussion of present-day applications. Topics include affirmative action, income distribution, same-sex marriage, the role of markets, debates about rights (human rights and property rights), arguments for and against equality, dilemmas of loyalty in public and private life. The course invites learners to subject their own views on these controversies to critical examination. The principal readings for the course are texts by Aristotle, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls. Other assigned readings include writings by contemporary philosophers, court cases, and articles about political controversies that raise philosophical questions.

We often think that theology divides us since, we assume, theology is based on the beliefs of particular communities. At the same time, while we’re witnessing significant shifts in the demographics of religious belonging, interest in questions of a theological nature remains high. Humans have long looked to their own experiences for insight into God and God’s ways. This heritage awaits your exploration: writings by Jews, Christians, and Muslims that take up a range of human experiences (friendship, life in society, suffering, pleasure, nature’s relation to us) as theologically productive. We enrich this heritage with modern knowledge--from biology, psychology, philosophy--in viewing the human being as object of theological reflection. In this sense, you’ll discover theology as a scholarly conversation binding together all inquiring minds.

This class engages students in a transdisciplinary conversation about representations of HIV/AIDS: in science writing, journalism, visual art, literature, drama, and popular culture. We believe that scientists and cultural critics can learn valuable lessons from one another, even as they create their own responses to HIV/AIDS. Today, over 30 years since the first scientific reports of HIV/AIDS, the pandemic remains a major health concern throughout the world. But, rays of hope have led to speculation that an AIDS-free generation may be possible. In such a timely moment, it is essential for us to connect across the "two cultures" as we consider the social and scientific implications of HIV/AIDS. Courses offered via edX.org are not eligible for academic credit from Davidson College. A passing score in a DavidsonX course(s) will only be eligible for a verified certificate generated by edX.org.

Have you ever wondered about how museum, library, and other kinds of historical or scientific collections all come together? Or how and why curators, historians, archivists, and preservationists do what they do? In Tangible Things , you will discover how material objects have shaped academic disciplines and reinforced or challenged boundaries between people. This course will draw on some of the most fascinating items housed at Harvard University, highlighting several to give you a sense of the power of learning through tangible things. By “stepping onto” the storied campus, you and your fellow learners can explore Harvard’s astonishing array of tangible things—books and manuscripts, art works, scientific specimens, ethnographic artifacts, and historical relics of all sorts. The University not only owns a Gutenberg bible, but it also houses in its collections Turkish sun dials, a Chinese crystal ball, a divination basket from Angola, and nineteenth-century “spirit writing” chalked on a child-sized slate. Tucked away in storage cabinets or hidden in closets and the backrooms of its museums and libraries are Henry David Thoreau’s pencil, a life mask of Abraham Lincoln, and chemicals captured from a Confederate ship. The Art Museums not only care for masterpieces of Renaissance painting but also for a silver-encrusted cup made from a coconut. The Natural History Museum not only preserves dinosaur bones and a fish robot but an intact Mexican tortilla more than a century old. In the first section of the course, we will consider how a statue, a fish, and a gingham gown have contributed to Harvard’s history, and you will learn the value of stopping to look at the things around you. In the next section, we will explore some of the ways people have brought things together into purposeful collections to preserve memory, promote commerce, and define culture. Finally, we will consider methods of rearranging objects to create new ways of thinking about nature, time, and ordinary work. Along the way, you will discover new ways of looking at, organizing, and interpreting tangible things in your own environment. HarvardX requires individuals who enroll in its courses on edX to abide by the terms of the edX honor code. HarvardX will take appropriate corrective action in response to violations of the edX honor code , which may include dismissal from the HarvardX course; revocation of any certificates received for the HarvardX course; or other remedies as circumstances warrant. No refunds will be issued in the case of corrective action for such violations. Enrollees who are taking HarvardX courses as part of another program will also be governed by the academic policies of those programs. HarvardX pursues the science of learning. By registering as an online learner in an HX course, you will also participate in research about learning. Read our research statement to learn more. Harvard University and HarvardX are committed to maintaining a safe and healthy educational and work environment in which no member of the community is excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination or harassment in our program. All members of the HarvardX community are expected to abide by Harvard policies on nondiscrimination, including sexual harassment, and the edX Terms of Service. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact [email protected] and/or report your experience through the edX contact form .

This course, part of the Public Library Management Professional Certificate program, explores strategies for developing effective grant proposals and for engaging the community in crowdfunding campaigns. In this course, you will mock up a crowdfunding campaign and create a grant proposal for a local or state-level funding source.

The last century ushered in significant progress. Philosophers, scientists, artists, and poets overthrew our understanding of the physical world, of human behavior, of thought and its limits, and of art, creativity, and beauty. Scientific progress improved the way we lived across the world. Yet the last century also brought increased levels of war, tyranny, and genocide. Man pushed boundaries of good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice – and people lost faith in values. Now, thinkers and leaders are reconstructing theories of value and creating institutions to embody them. Join this thought-provoking, broad-sweeping course as it draws intriguing connections between philosophy, art, literature, and history, illuminating our world and our place in it. Before your course starts, try the new edX Demo where you can explore the fun, interactive learning environment and virtual labs. Learn more.

In this course, part of the Public Library Management Professional Certificate program, we’ll explore the nuts and bolts of creating a strategic plan by reviewing and reflecting on the strategic plans of a variety of library types. Strategic planning is a strategy for setting an organization’s goals, vision, and desired future. You’ll learn how library leaders, in partnership with trustees, library boards, and/or municipal leadership, use strategic planning to set long-term goals as well as identify the necessary funding priorities, staffing needs, and other elements needed for success. You’ll also learn how an effective strategic plan is more than mere paperwork: it is an ongoing planning, action, and reflection process that can engage all stakeholders in a common set of expectations and action steps for the future.

Can writing change your world? Writing with power about personal, social, and political issues can change minds, introduce solutions to old problems, and help you become a more engaged participant in public life. Everyone has issues that matter deeply to them, whether they are: Personal--such as defining the goals and ideas that are important you, Local--such as the governance of the public library or enactment of local laws and propositions, National--including critical political and social issues being decided on a larger scale, or Global--challenges facing the planet from perspectives of social and ecological change. In Writing for Social Justice, you will learn the importance of word choices in writing for different genres in order to reach your audience. Specifically, you will learn to: keep a personal journal to help you identify issues and ideas that matter in your world write letters to public officials that will capture attention without being dogmatic or offensive craft opinion articles that take opposing positions into account, while using critical thinking and effective strategies for successfully arguing logically for your own ideas optionally, develop and maintain a blog or podcast of your writing in order to reach a wider audience There will be short example readings included in the course, which will serve as models of different persuasive genres. You will also share your writing with other students in the course, getting and offering feedback on assignments.