A set of instructional videos paired with a simple assessment. Learners that get a passing score are awarded a digital badge.

Topics covered:

Speaking Professionally
Communicating Digitally
Nonverbal Communication
Understanding How to Listen

This course is an exploration of visual art forms and their cultural connections for the student with little experience in the visual arts. It includes a brief study of art history, and in-depth studies of the elements, media, and methods used in creative thought and processes. It is the only resource I have found that approximates techniques, media, and an overview of different processes that is usually the first half of a printed text on art appreciation or an introduction to art. This is geared toward an undergraduate, lower-level student population. The art history survey is inadequate, but combined with another source, like Boundless' art history, this can be a complete text for an Art 100 course.

This course will help to define abnormal and normal behaviors and to group these abnormal phenomena into 'disorders.' It will cover the basic concepts surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal psychological phenomena. The student will investigate the characteristics, epidemiology, controversy, and treatment of individual disorders. The student will begin by defining normal versus abnormal behavior and reviewing the historical context in which abnormal psychology emerged, then discuss the major theories or paradigms associated with abnormal psychology, the classification system used to differentiate and define disorders, and the research methods often utilized in the study of abnormal psychology. Upon successful completion of this course the student will be able to: describe the historical context from which the current conceptualization of abnormal psychology has evolved; identify and describe the main theoretical perspectives/paradigms which have influenced the field of abnormal psychology; identify and differentiate the classification of psychological disorders; evaluate treatment approaches; explain the major research findings for each group of disorders and how they add to our knowledge of the causes and treatment of psychological disorders. (Psychology 401)

This course is a review of the fundamental concepts of accounting. The focus is on financial statements that a firm prepares each year. How entries are recorded in accounts to capture all economic activity of the firm is explained. How accounts are organized and what transactions are entered there, are studied. Year-end entries and the accrual method of accounting are described.

After completing this review course the student should have an adequate understanding of
- how the financial position of a firm is represented in its financial statement
- how most common transactions are handled
- why the accrual method of accounting is useful to reflect the financial position of the firm
- the importance of organizing an accounting system that meets the needs of the firm
- what the income statement and balance sheet represent

This course is a review of concepts of how accounting is designed to help management make its most important financial decisions. It starts by reviewing the principles that should guide accounting in order to serve the purpose for which accounting is designed. Accounting for different business forms is contrasted. Analytical approaches for decisions related to the cost of production, volume and investment are introduced. The emphasis is on the ability of the accounting function to provide the needed information for the firm to remain profitable.

This course is about the electronic properties of materials and contains lectures about scattering, transport in metals, phonons and superconductivity.

This course will introduce the student to the art and architecture of Africa from a Western art historical perspective. This course will emphasize the role of art as manifested in the lifestyles, spiritualities, and philosophies of particular African societies, while also broaching aesthetic principles and the study and display of African art. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: demonstrate an understanding of transitions in the national geography of the African continent from the 17th century to the present; demonstrate an understanding of the ethnic diversity and distinct cultural traditions among people of Africa; identify and discuss materials and techniques employed in the creation of a range of African artistic and architectural works; discuss the functions and meanings of a range of African art forms; identify traditional styles and forms strongly associated with particular cultural groups. (Art History 304)

Our human society consists of many intertwined Large Scale Socio-Technical Systems (LSSTS), such as infrastructures, industrial networks, the financial systems etc. Environmental pressures created by these systems on Earth‰ŰŞs carrying capacity are leading to exhaustion of natural resources, loss of habitats and biodiversity, and are causing a resource and climate crisis. To avoid this sustainability crisis, we urgently need to transform our production and consumption patterns. Given that we, as inhabitants of this planet, are part of a complex and integrated global system, where and how should we begin this transformation? And how can we also ensure that our transformation efforts will lead to a sustainable world? LSSTS and the ecosystems that they are embedded in are known to be Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). According to John Holland CAS are "...a dynamic network of many agents (which may represent cells, species, individuals, firms, nations) acting in parallel, constantly acting and reacting to what the other agents are doing. The control of a CAS tends to be highly dispersed and decentralized. If there is to be any coherent behavior in the system, it will have to to arise from competition and cooperation among the agents themselves. The overall behavior of the system is the result of a huge number of decisions made every moment" by many individual agents. Understanding Complex Adaptive Systems requires tools that themselves are complex to create and understand. Shalizi defines Agent Based Modeling as "An agent is a persistent thing which has some state we find worth representing, and which interacts with other agents, mutually modifying each other‰ŰŞs states. The components of an agent-based model are a collection of agents and their states, the rules governing the interactions of the agents and the environment within which they live." This course will explore the theory of CAS and their main properties. It will also teach you how to work with Agent Based Models in order to model and understand CAS.

This course will introduce the student to the history of the Atlantic slave trade from 1500 to 1900. The student will learn about the slave trade, its causes, and its effects on Africa, Europe, and the Americas. By the end of the course, the student will understand how the Atlantic slave trade began as a fledgling enterprise of the English, Portuguese, and Spanish in the 1500s and why, by the mid-eighteenth century, the trade dominated Atlantic societies and economies. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: think analytically about the various meanings of 'slave' and 'slavery' during the age of the Atlantic slave trade; identify and describe the 'triangular trade' and define the Atlantic World; identify and describe the logic for enslavement of Africans by Europeans; identify and describe the African ethnic groups enslaved by Europeans and those captives' New World destinations; identify and describe the early slaving voyages of the Portuguese and Spanish. Students will also be able to describe how the Dutch and English later inserted themselves into the trade; identify and describe the expansion of the plantation complex in the New World in the 1600s and its impact on the Atlantic slave trade; identify and analyze the rise of European empires and the parallel expansion of the Atlantic slave trade; identify and analyze slavery within African societies. They will also be able to identify and describe the trans-Saharan slave trade and the Red Sea/Indian Ocean slave trade; identify and describe the nature of the African slave market and principal slaving ports in western Africa; analyze and describe New World slave societies and their impact on the Atlantic slave trade; identify and describe the 'Middle Passage' of the Atlantic slave trade; identify and describe the causes for the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in the nineteenth century; analyze and interpret primary source documents that elucidate all aspects of the Atlantic slave trade. (History 311)

This course surveys art of America from the colonial era through the post-war 20th century. The student will consider broad stylistic tendencies in various regions and periods and examine specific artists and works of art in historical and social contexts, with emphasis on the congruent evolution of contemporary American multi-cultural identity. Overarching issues that have interested major scholars of American art and its purview include the landscape (wilderness, Manifest Destiny, rural settlement, and urban development); the family and gender roles; the founding rhetoric of freedom and antebellum slavery; and notions of artistic modernism through the 20th century. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Understand the historical (geographic, political) formation of the present United States of America; Be familiar with renowned influential American artists from the 18th through the 20th century; Be conversant in common stylistic designations used in Western art of the 17th through 20th centuries; Recognize subjects and forms in American art through history that mark its distinction; Be able to engage specific images, objects, and structures from different critical perspectives to consider their functions and meanings. (Art History 210)

This course covers American Government: the Constitution, the branches of government (Presidency, Congress, Judiciary) and how politics works: elections, voting, parties, campaigning, policy making. In addition weęll look at how the media, interest groups, public opinion polls and political self-identification (are you liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican or something else?) impact politics and political choices. Weęll also cover the basics in economic, social and foreign policy and bring in current issues and show how they illustrate the process.

In this class we will practice skills in reading, analyzing, and writing about fiction, poetry and drama from a select sampling of 20th Century American Literature. Through class discussion, close reading, and extensive writing practice, this course seeks to develop critical and analytical skills, preparing students for more advanced academic work.

This course will cover American political thought from the nation's founding through the 1960s, exploring the political theories that have shaped its governance. As there is no one philosopher or idea that represents the totality of American political thought, the student will survey the writings and speeches of those who have had the greatest impact over this period of time. Much of the study required in this course is based on the original texts and speeches of those who influenced political thought throughout American history. The student will learn and understand the impact that their views and actions have had on the modern American state. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: describe the religious and political origins of the American political system; explain how Enlightenment thinkers, such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Baron de Montesquieu, influenced the political philosophies of American founding fathers; analyze how the colonial American experience shaped many of the core values represented in American government and expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; compare and contrast the differing opinions on the role of the government that the founders expressed; trace the development and evolution of the concepts of 'states rights' and 'federal (national) supremacy'; connect the observations of De Tocqueville in Democracy in America to the concepts of equality, individuality, and civic engagement in American political discourse; examine the evolution of race in the American political system (from slavery to the 2008 election of Barack Obama); discuss the changes in the political role of women in America from its colonial days to the present; connect the concept of 'American Exceptionalism' to the industrial revolution, capitalism, and imperialism; analyze the roots of reform in the Progressive Era and their impact on modern political discourse; explain major principles of American foreign relations over time; assess the purpose and impact of ĺÎĺĺĺŤAmerican war rhetoricĄ_ĺĺö over time; differentiate between 'liberal' and 'conservative' political beliefs in modern American government; illustrate how the political turmoil in the 1960s greatly shaped contemporary American political discourse; evaluate the current political discourse as represented in the 2008 and 2010 elections. (Political Science 301)

The ĺÎĺ_ĺĚĄ_American Renaissance,ĺÎĺ_ĺĚĺÎĺ a period of tremendous literary activity that took place in America between the 1830s and 1860s represents the cultivation of a distinctively American literature. The student will begin this course by looking at what it was in American culture and society that led to the dramatic outburst of literary creativity in this era. The student will then explore some of the periodĺÎĺ_ĺĚĺ_s most famous works, attempting to define the emerging American identity represented in this literature. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: discriminate among the key economic, technological, social, and cultural transformations underpinning the American Renaissance; define the transformations in American Protestantism exemplified by the second Great Awakening and transcendentalism; list the key tenets of transcendentalism and relate them to romanticism more broadly and to social and cultural developments in the antebellum United States; analyze EmersonĺÎĺ_ĺĚĺ_s place in defining transcendentalism and his key differences from other transcendentalists; analyze competing conceptualizations of poetry and its construction and purpose, with particular attention to Poe, Emerson, and Whitman; define the formal innovations of Dickinson and their relationship to her central themes; describe the emergence of the short story as a form, with reference to specific stories by Hawthorne and Poe; distinguish among forms of the novel, with reference to specific works by Hawthorne, Thompson, and Fern; analyze the ways that writers such as Melville, Brownson, Davis, and Thoreau saw industrialization and capitalism as a threat to U. S. society; develop the relationship between ThoreauĺÎĺ_ĺĚĺ_s interest in nature and his political commitments and compare and contrast his thinking with Emerson and other transcendentalists; analyze the different ways that sentimentalism constrained and empowered women writers to critique gender conventions, with reference to specific works by writers such as Fern, Alcott, and Stowe; define the ways that the slavery question influenced major texts and major controversies over literature during this period. This free course may be completed online at any time. (English Literature 405)

ASL I is an introduction to the naturally existing language widely used by Deaf people in North America. Since ASL is a visual-gestural language, students will need to develop unique communication skills. These consist of using the hands, body, face, eyes and space. In order to achieve progress in this class, it is important to become comfortable communicating with your whole body and listening with your eyes.

ASL II is a sequential course following ASL I, which continues to build knowledge of the naturally existing language widely used by Deaf people in North America. Since ASL is a visual-gestural language, students will need to continue to develop unique communication skills. These consist of using the hands, body, face, eyes and space. In order to achieve progress in this class, it is important to become comfortable communicating with your whole body and listening with your eyes.

ASL III is the third quarter of the first year study of American Sign Language (ASL) and the people who use it. ASL III will enhance the use of ASL grammar and consist of concentrated efforts to develop the studentęs expressive and receptive skills. The course will continue to provide insights into Deaf Cultural values, attitudes and the Deaf community. Now learning more abstract concepts of the language, ASL III students will be able to: narrate events that occurred in the past, ask for solutions to everyday problems, tell about life events, and describe objects. Students will also be able to: demonstrate intermediate finger spelling competency, generate complex ASL structures with intermediate vocabulary knowledge, execute a wide variety of grammatical principles, including classifiers and inflections, adapt to different sign language registers, dialects and accents, and create opportunities to interact with members of the Deaf community.

An introductory course in analog circuit synthesis for microelectronic designers. Topics include: Review of analog design basics; linear and non-linear analog building blocks: harmonic oscillators, (static and dynamic) translinear circuits, wideband amplifiers, filters; physical layout for robust analog circuits; design of voltage sources ranging from simple voltage dividers to high-performance bandgaps, and current source implementations from a single resistor to high-quality references based on negative-feedback structures.

This course is an introduction to the major methodologies used by art historians. Although not a history of art history per se, it is organized in a roughly chronological order that traces major methodological developments within the discipline from the birth of art history in the nineteenth century through the late twentieth century. The course will also examine how artworks are displayed in modern art museums. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Explain what art historians study and what kinds of questions they ask about works of art; Identify major art historical methodologies and their associated theories and theorists; Write a critical summary of a piece of art historical scholarship; Explain the major aspects of the methodological approaches outlined in this course and how they relate to the philosophical, historical, and social context in which they first appeared; Explain how different methodologies can be used to analyze works of art; Compare and contrast major art historical methodologies; Use different art historical approaches to interpret, analyze, and write about works of art. (Art History 301)

This course serves as an introduction to the major artistic and architectural traditions of Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Near East. This course will explore how artifacts and monuments can be used to study the history and culture of the ancient world. It is divided into two units that chronologically focus on the art, architecture, and archaeology of each region. The first unit examines Ancient Egyptian tombs, monuments, and art from the Early Dynastic (c. 3100-2650 BCE) through the Roman (30 BCE- 4thcentury CE) periods. The second unit focuses on Ancient Near Eastern artistic and architectural traditions from the late Neolithic (c. 9500-4500 BCE) through the conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE) by Alexander the Great. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Identify major ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern architectural sites, monuments, and works of art; Identify the general characteristics of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern art and recognize the names and characteristics of the major art historical time periods of each region; Describe how art and architecture can be used to understand the politics, history, and culture of Ancient Egypt and the Near East; Explain ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern cosmology, conceptions of the afterlife, and kingship, as well as their relationship to architectural sites, monuments, and works of art. (Art History 201)