Schools

Wesleyan's Free Online Classes Accepting Registration

The Middletown liberal arts university joins dozens of educational institutions from around the globe that offer free college-level courses year round.

Human behavior is the subject of a free online course offered by Wesleyan University in Middletown — part of hundreds of massive open online courses that make up the Coursera panopoly of classes.

Princeton, Duke, Rice, Rutgers, Stanford, Tel Aviv, Sapienza of Rome and Yale universities are just some of the many institutions globally that teach a wide array of classes on subjects like jazz improv, the Holocaust, exercise physiology, virology, history of humankind, climate change, and disaster preparedness.

“Social Psychology” will be offered by Wesleyan Professor of Psychology Scott Plous starting Aug. 12 — and anyone is eligible to register. 

Plous explains the class as the "scientific study of how people think about, influence and relate to one another. ... How do friendships and romantic attractions work? How can we promote peace, social justice and sustainable living?"

Journal articles and textbook chapters, most made available by the publishers to Coursera enrollees, are suggested supplemental readings for students, and lectures are available in video form online.

Other classes offered by Wesleyan online, according to the Wesleyan University newsletter blog, include: “The Modern and the Postmodern,” (begins July 29) taught by President Michael Roth; “The Ancient Greeks,” (Sept. 2) taught by Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek, professor of classical studies; and “The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound and Color,” (Sept. 16) taught by Scott Higgins, associate professor of film studies.

“Analysis of a Complex Kind” will be taught by Professor Petra Bonfert-Taylor, beginning Oct. 21.

“Analysis of a Complex Kind,” will be taught by Petra Bonfert-Taylor, professor of mathematics, beginning Oct. 21.

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