It’s easy to say that you’re ready to change the world, but how do you get started? Even if you don’t have a specific cause or mission in mind, expanding your education and understanding of the world will give you a solid foundation for your ultimate adventures. These 100 awesome open courses, ranging from health and medicine to engineering to religion to policy making to media will get you on your way.

Health

Learn about public health issues, the culture of mental health care, and more.

1. Health Issues for Aging Populations: Understand the factors that make us age, and the social factors of aging itself. [Johns Hopkins]
2. Global Tobacco Control: This course wonders what a world without tobacco addiction would be like. [Johns Hopkins]
3. Challenging ideas in mental health: This course asks tough questions regarding mental illness, including the boundaries of mental illness, risk factors and how the business of mental health operates. [The Open University]
4. Population Change and Public Health: Understand how population dynamics impact public health issues, reproductive health, and more. [Johns Hopkins}
5. Ethics of Human Subject Research: As medical research becomes more advanced, make sure you know which lines can be crossed and which are controversial. [Johns Hopkins]
6. The boundaries of care: Become a better caregiver when you learn about the culture and ethics of residential living care. [The Online University]
7. Sexual Health, HIV/STI, and Human Rights: This course covers everything from STI prevention to reproductive health rights. [Johns Hopkins]
8. Quantitative Physiology: Organ Transport Systems: Use this course to help you develop new systems for transplanting and transporting organs. [MIT]
9. Family Planning Policies and Programs: This course isn’t just health related: it takes into consideration social, economic, educational and business factors as well. [Johns Hopkins]
10. Case Studies in Terrorism Response: Learn how to prepare communities and companies for a quality response program to a terrorist attack. [Johns Hopkins]

Environment

Discover how innovation, public health, economics and politics shape our view of the environment in crisis.

11. Food Production, Public Health and the Environment: Learn about the different food production systems that result in malnutrition, obesity, toxic food items, and more. [Johns Hopkins]
12. Environmental Conflict and Social Change: Discover the different perceptions of nature around the world. [MIT]
13. Environmental Policy and Economics: Find out how the government can get involved in environmental issues. [MIT]
14. Managing Coastal Environments: To protect the coastlines from erosion, pollution and natural disasters, you’ll first have to understand how these ecosystems operate. [The Online PHD Universities]
15. Design for Sustainability: Change the world through eco-friendly, sustainable design. You’ll learn about two basic methodologies here. [MIT]
16. Environmental Health: Discover the causes of major environmental health issues. [Johns Hopkins]
17. Role of Science and Scientists in Collaborative Approaches to Environmental Policymaking: This course highlights the ways in which scientists are working with government to change the world. [MIT]
18. Working with our environment: an introduction: Here you will learn how to work with, instead of against, nature. [The Open University]
19. Nature and the Built Environment: In this course, you’ll learn how nature is perceived in different societies, and how today’s globalization movement affects natural resources. [Notre Dame]
20. Sustainable Energy: Learn how renewable energy is harnessed and used in this course. [MIT]

Science and Engineering

From aerospace engineering to introductory chemistry, these science and engineering classes will broaden your knowledge of how the world works.

21. Aircraft Stability and Control: This aerodynamics class teaches fundamentals in aircraft design. [MIT]
22. Statistical Physics I: Learn how to record and compute probability for magnetism and other phenomena. [MIT]
23. Introduction to Bioengineering: With a foundation in bioengineering, you’ll be able to contribute to projects in systems biology, cellular biology and more. [MIT]
24. Introduction to Experimental Chemistry: This freshman-level class introduces students to hands-on chemistry experiments and experiences. [MIT]
25. Science: Superheroes to Global Warming: This physics course aims to explain how science plays a role in many mysteries. [UC Irvine]
26. Infant and Early Childhood Cognition: Study how the brain develops in this course. [MIT]
27. Protein Folding Problem: Anyone who’s interested in DNA or cell systems will benefit from this course. [MIT]
28. Physics of Atmospheres and Oceans: Study the mechanics and systems that form atmospheric winds, ocean currents and more. [MIT]
29. Climate Physics and Chemistry: In this class, you’ll learn about the factors that determine climate and climate change. [MIT]
30. Gene therapy: Learn more about this controversial study from this course. [The Open University]

Politics and Economics

You can’t change the world if you don’t understand its driving forces. These political science and economics classes cover identity and race, terrorism, policy making, law, and more.

31. Law and Society: Learn how these two forces affect one another. [MIT]
32. Globalization, Migration and International Relations: Discover the different ways in which our global communities are intertwined. [MIT]
33. Ethnicity and Race in World Politics: This course teaches students how to think, plan for and react to opposing notions of identity. [MIT]
34. Terrorism, Peace and Other Inconsistencies: Consider the nature of peace and terrorism in this course. [Notre Dame]
35. Yochai Benkler on the new open-source economics: This lecture by Yochai Benkler uses open source technology platforms as an example for how human organization is evolving. [TED]
36. Special Topics in Economics: The Challenge of World Poverty: Discover ways to solve the poverty problem from an economist’s point of view. [MIT]
37. Ashraf Ghani on rebuilding broken states: This talk first discusses the general principles that need to be explored to mobilize capital, and then branches off to consider how Afghanistan is being rebuilt. [TED]
38. Economics and Psychology: Consider how economic emotions and thought processes like fairness, rationality and loss-aversion are intertwined. [MIT]
39. Sustainable Economic Development: Here you will go over the applications that could possibly lead to sustainable economic growth. [MIT]
40. Climate Change: Economics, Science and Policy: Uncover the policies, scientific research and economic factors involved in the global climate change controversy. [MIT]

Society and Culture

In order to help people change, you have to understand what motivates them. Review these course materials for insight into materialism and consumer culture, communication, sexuality, business culture, and a lot more.

41. American Consumer Culture: Discover the motives for, impact of and future of American materialism. [MIT]
42. Foundations of Western Culture II: Renaissance to Modernity: Review the movements of the Renaissance through modern times to gain some insight into our world today. [MIT]
43. Anthropological Theory: Learn how to study the past and influence the future of society through this class. [MIT]
44. Communicating Across Cultures: Learn how to be an effective and persuasive activist, manager, political figure or traveler in this course. [MIT]
45. Cultural Anthropology: Study the evolution of language, ancient civilizations and human institutions here. [Utah State]
46. Identity and Difference: Study the ways in which a person feels connected to and independent of society. [MIT]
47. An Introduction to Modern Indian Culture and Society: India continues to grow as a powerful economic, business and political force. Take this course to understand its history and modern culture better. [MIT]
48. An introduction to business cultures: Study the unique dynamics of business institutions. [The Open University]
49. Introduction to Asian American Studies: Literature, Culture and Historical Experience: Better understand this influential, growing population in the United States. [MIT]
50. Gender, Sexuality and Society: Consider how sexuality is a driving force in social identity. [MIT]
51. War and American Society: Examine the psychological, cultural, economic and identity-driven responses to war in America. [MIT]
52. Islamic Societies of the Middle East and North Africa: Religion, History and Culture: Economically, politically and socially, an understanding of Islamic and Middle Eastern culture is vitally important today. [Notre Dame]
53. Human Origins and Evolution: Here you will consider human biological evolution as well as cultural evolution. [MIT]
54. Media in Cultural Context: Popular Readerships: By examining book clubs, mass-produced fiction and popular magazines, you’ll be able to study low-brow and high-brow culture. [MIT]
55. Violence, Human Rights and Justice: Understand how the modern world reacts to political violence. [MIT]
56. Individuals, Groups and Organizations: This theory and applications class explores organizational behavior, performance and adaptation. [MIT]
57. Personal finance: Debt and borrowing in its wider context: Examine the factors that have made debt "become a part of everyday life." [The Open University]
58. ‘Shrinking’ the economy: Is it really just mind over matter? Dr. Robert Hoffmann discusses the possibility that we may have "talked ourselves into recession." [University of Nottingham]
59. Does prison work?: Consider whether or not alternative rehabilitation options would be worth it. [The Open University]
60. Introduction to Latin American Studies: Discover how influential Latin American culture is in a global context and within the U.S. [MIT]

Religion and Philosophy

Learn how religion and philosophy continue to evolve and shape our view of how society should operate.

61. Anthropology of Religion: Discover religion as a cultural phenomenon. [Utah State]
62. Medicine, Religion and Politics in Africa and the African Diaspora: This course examines opposing perceptions of illness and medicine, as Western applications interfere with traditional African philosophies. [MIT]
63. Religion today: themes and issues: Discover the religious and spiritual issues that are predominant in today’s culture. [The Open University]
64. Politics and Religion: Consider how politics and religion impact one another. [MIT]
65. Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives: Discover the moral, ethical and spiritual values that drive liberal Americans and conservative Americans. [TED]
66. Myth, Ritual and Symbolism: After taking this course, you may understand why traditional religious practices are so important to certain groups. [MIT]
67. Latino Theology and Christian Tradition: Here you will study the development of Latino Christianity and its place in the U.S. [Notre Dame]
68. Ancient and Medieval Philosophy: In order to understand more modern philosophies, you need to have a solid base in ancient and medieval studies. [Notre Dame]
69. Problems of Philosophy: This course cultivates each student’s own ability to critically analyze philosophical considerations. [MIT]
70. Philosophy: the nature of persons: Consider notions like freedom, resentment, free choice, and more. [The Open University]

Media and the Arts

From music to photography, these media and arts classes offer up important information in research, identity and development.

71. Jose Abreu on kids transformed by music: Understand how music and the arts are vitally important to the development of intelligent, independent, responsible kids. [TED]
72. Writing and Experience: Exploring Self in Society: This course examines the process of creating a sense of self in writing. [MIT]
73. Modern Art and Mass Culture: Consider how modern art effects progress and change in advertising, consumerism, caricature and more. [MIT]
74. Photography and Truth: In Photography and Truth, you’ll consider photography as a medium for recording anthropological research data. [MIT]
75. Understanding Television: Study the TV as a cultural form in this class. [MIT]
76. Depiction of terrorism in film and television: This podcast explores how people form their point of view of terrorism by watching movies instead of the news. [University of Nottingham]
77. Producing Films for Social Change: Learn the process for creating a film that aims to change the world. [Tufts]

Technology

Technology is one of today’s most vital tools for progressing into the future. Understand how technology impacts daily life here.

78. Philip Rosedale on Second Life: The founder of Second Life talks about how virtual reality is moving technology and society. [TED]
79. Ray Kurzweil on how technology will transform us: Inventor and entrepreneur Ray Kurzweil predicts that by 2020, our brains will be controlled by nanobots. [TED]
80. Technology Dynamics for Sustainable Innovation: Learn how technology is leading the charge in innovation. [TU Delft]
81. Information Technology and the Labor Market: Plan for a reconstruction of the labor market after taking this course. [MIT]
82. Learn and Apply HTML: You can’t change the world without knowing how to build a web page. Let this course teach you the basics. [Utah State]
83. New Media Literacies: In New Media Literacies, you’ll learn about social media networking transmedia navigation, and more. [MIT]
84. Internet Technology in Local and Global Communities: Learn how an Internet connection can transform a community. [MIT]
85. Understanding Online Interaction: Learn how to create effective, communicative web pages and resources. [Utah State]
86. Information Law and Policy: Take this class to understand technology ethics and legal issues, like copyright protection, misappropriation of data, and more. [UC Berkeley]
87. Ambient Intelligence: Discover the nature of human-computer interaction. [MIT]

Education

These education courses consider the future of learning.

88. Liz Coleman’s call to reinvent liberal arts education: Listen to Bennington president Liz Coleman praise the idea of a cross-disciplinary education. [TED]
89. Michelle Obama’s plea for education: First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to a London girls’ school about the importance of education. [TED]
90. Why teach art?: Learn why it’s important to teach art in school. [The Open University]

Miscellaneous

From rhetoric to corporate ethics to wealth, these engaging courses will help you better understand how to change the world.

91. Foundations of Language and Communications: This course covers rhetorical awareness, writing and reasoning, reading comprehension and other skills necessary for someone interested in effective communication. [Western Governors University]
92. Alex Tabarrok on how ideas trump crises: Economist Alex Tabarrok believes that globalization isn’t causing rifts–it’s actually causing us to be a more reconciled world. [TED]
93. Human-Animal Relationships: Study the various intriguing relationships that humans and animals share, from an ethical, cultural, public health and familial context. [Tufts]
94. Doing the right thing: corporate social responsibility in a global marketplace: Study the unique ethical dynamics of corporate culture. [University of Nottingham]
95. Managing Innovation and Entrepreneurship: As the business world continues to foster entrepreneurial pursuits, learn how to manage smaller institutions and big ideas. [MIT]
96. Tim Ferriss: Smash fear, learn anything: Learn how to ignore fear and take risks. [TED]
97. Communication for Managers: Learn how to effectively communicate messages to all kinds of people. [MIT]
98. Resolving Public Disputes: Gain valuable skills for conflict resolution on a large scale. [MIT]
99. The Art and Science of Negotiation: This class teaches strategies for negotiation and persuasion. [MIT]
100. Food and Power in the Twentieth Century: This interesting study of wealth and power in the 20th century also explores the development of food storage and production techniques. [MIT]

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