Free Social Science Courses & Certifications

The Strategies and Models for Sustainability Certification course is a subset of the discipline of sustainability science that helps students acquire a deep understanding of the topic. The course will equip students in achieving socially acceptable economic development with the help of both scientific and technological tools.

The Strategies and Models for Sustainability Online Course is a 4 credit course offered by Swayam. The course is taught for a period of 12 weeks by expert professors from Indira Gandhi National Open University. The course will provide a comprehensive and theoretical understanding of the social, economical and ecological aspects of sustainability along with its basic principles and features.

The Strategies and Models for Sustainability Training course provides valuable insights into the working of sustainable development in the rural sphere. The course discusses the existing sustainable development models in India in the form of case studies, allowing them to critically view the functioning of different models and their contribution to nature. The final assessment is made through assignments and an end-term examination.

The Challenge to Sustainable Development Certification Course is a massive open online course that discusses the vital threats to attaining sustainable development. The course will make learners aware of the crucial environmental changes taking place around the world and their potential causes and consequences.

The Challenges to Sustainable Development Online Course is a 4 credit course offered by the Swayam portal. The course is coordinated by Dr. Deeksha Dave; Dr. Y.S.C. Khuman, Assistant Professors at the School of Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.

The Challenges to Sustainable Development Course is particularly apt for people working in the field of sustainable development. The course will help them understand the scope for alternative methods to reduce the socio-cultural and ecological impacts of the conventional models of development.

The course on Designing and Running Randomised Evaluations by MITx is a part of the MicroMasters track. During the course, you will get graduate-level knowledge of randomised controlled trials (RCT), including step-by-step training in how to design and implement an RCT in the field. Using this policy-relevant study, you can boost your ability to draw causal inferences and conduct impact evaluations.

The Designing and Running Randomised Evaluations MicroMasters programme comes under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Data, Economics and Development Policy (DEDP) department. The curriculum uses material from MIT’s JPAL lab, used by social science researchers from all over the world. 

Besides, Designing and Running Randomised Evaluations by edX provides a professional and academic credential to candidates who complete this course. You can use this credential to gain an accelerated and cheaper Master’s degree from MIT or add it as a professional qualification to your CV. Learn from esteemed Nobel Laureates through an intensive approach involving quizzes, lectures, case studies and exams in this course. 

The course Reading Religious Conversion, served by edx aims to make us learn about the functions of religious communities. In this course, we will go through each section every week, starting from an introduction to the world of conversion. Women 's conversion, conversions between religions, what are the myths associated with conversions.

 All these will be covered under a time period of 12 weeks, where each pursuer needs to dedicate their 4-8 hours of every week to advance efficiently and quickly. You can also cap the timings according to your will and flexible time. Any graduate-level student or professional who has a clear knowledge and understanding of historical events can opt-in for this course. And after successful completion of the course, every student will receive an official certificate which will help to increase your job prospects. Certificates provided to the candidates will be signed by the instructors and there will be a logo of the institution.

The ‘Appreciating Linguistics: A typological approach’ online course is developed for the students to study the language forms and functions, the process of language acquisition, and the description of natural language. This course will focus on the different languages and their linguistic attributes along with the grammatical implications. This free online certification course is provided by the Swayam online portal in association with the National Program for Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL).

The course instructor for this online program is Prof. Anindita Sahoo teaching linguistics at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. The elective program for the undergraduate level students is categorized under the humanities and social sciences domain and enables the students to gain a comprehensive understanding of the concepts through the online classes aided by videos, lectures, and other online resources.

The ‘Appreciating Linguistics: A typological approach’ online certification course offers the students the course certification with credit points after successfully completing the program according to the qualifying standards.

The Literature, Culture, and Media certification by Swayam is a part of the NPTEL scheme that provides free learning programmes for interested individuals. This course's curriculum aims to introduce participants to the intersections of literature, culture, and media through an interdisciplinary framework. Literature, culture, and media are responsible for generating new ideas and perspectives in the consumers and play a massive role in determining identities.

The Literature, Culture, and Media certification syllabus will touch upon and highlight some of the new forms of media that have reinvented and transformed the literary forms. Theoretical approaches and literary criticisms such as Marxism, Feminism, and Deconstruction will further explain some of the literary phenomenon and cultural aspects of popular culture.

Additionally, the Literature, Culture, and Media certification course by Swayam is suitable for all individuals interested in learning about the subject. No prior knowledge is required for enrollment. Further, the 12-week learning course falls under the Humanities and Social Science category.

Swayam’s Introduction to World Literature online course introduces its candidates to the vast world of writings, produced in various languages, cultural contexts, and nations. While the program doesn’t claim to cover all time periods and every single one of their literary traditions, it does aim to familiarise learners with the English Language’s representative texts, available today. This short, 12-week training belongs to the English Studies’ and ‘Humanities and Social Sciences’ categories, set at the postgraduate level. 

An elective program, the Introduction to World Literature certification syllabus covers numerous vital learnings. These include classics such as Don Quixote, Beowulf, Indian literature from the likes of Tagore, Kamala Das, short stories, American literature like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker’s Everyday Use, critical theory, women writers, contemporary authors, and more. What’s more, IIT Madras’s renowned educator, Professor Merin Simi Raj, teaches this in-depth curriculum. 

Furthermore, the Introduction to World Literature program also furnishes course-end certificates to interested learners who sit for Swayam’s proctored exams. Upon clearing all the certification criteria and clearing the assessment, students can earn themselves an e-verifiable certificate to display their acquired knowledge in this subject.

Literary criticism is the analysis, study and interpretation of a literary text or school of thought. It is a medium for the critic to explain and defend her judgement and evaluation of a text and provide the readers with some relevant biographical and historical information. This enriches the reader’s understanding of a literary work and helps them appreciate it more. Literary Criticism (From Plato to Leavis) by Swayam is an attempt to provide students with an understanding of the subject by analysing some significant texts.

The Literary Criticism online course is an AICTE approved Faculty Development Programme (FDP). The training is designed by the accomplished faculty of IIT Madras. The course curriculum will take you on a journey through different literary works that have been studied and analysed for decades for their brilliance and relevance.

In addition, the Literary Criticism certification by Swayam includes a digital certificate verified by NPTEL at the end of the course for those who qualify for the certification exam. Candidates can verify their certification online.  The programme belongs to the English literature studies domain.

Literature and Life Certification are designed and structured in such a way that it helps learners make sense of their own lives through the prism of literature and get a better understanding of the relation of literature to life.

A selection of essays, poems, plays, and short stories from British, American, and Indian literature will be examined in Literature and Life Classes in order to understand and appreciate the complex but fragile human relationships at various levels, including the individual, family, society, business, politics, etc.

All students get a Literature and Life Certification from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) under the Swayam Initiative by the Government of India. 

Elements of Literature and Creative Communication Certification is ideal for those who are interested in tasting the nectar of literature. Because literature is directly related to life and keeping that broad vision in mind makes students aware of the finer sensibilities of human existence.

Elements of Literature and Creative Communication Classes intend to teach the students by introducing them to literature, which represents profound and beautiful expressions of mankind, we hope to help them better comprehend and enjoy life. It includes carefully chosen readings of drama, fiction, and poetry. 

All students get an Elements of Literature and Creative Communication Certification from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) under the Swayam Initiative by the Government of India. 

Contextualizing Gender Certification will analyze an outline not only of how the concept of gender has evolved and advanced over the last 50 years, but also of how ideas about gender are changing in complex ways and how they are reflective of the new ways of gender identification, contextualized meaning, and gender nonconformity. 

Contextualizing Gender Classes aim to introduce students to an interdisciplinary framework that enables them to explore and theorize the contextualized meaning and the intersectional nature of gender and culture. Gender is analyzed in a variety of ways, including as an institution, ideology, and process that organizes daily life.

All students get a Contextualizing Gender Certification from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) under the Swayam Initiative by the Government of India. 

The Feminism: Concepts and Theories programme is a 12-week-long online course designed to explain notions related to feminism. During this course, you will examine the growth, journey and entire history of the feminist movement. You will develop a vision to look at the ‘emotion’ that is characterised as a one-dimensional movement. 

The Feminism: Concepts and Theories training by IIT Madras aims to explore the feminist theory through written works, ethnography and case studies. This programme will also describe how gender works as a strong force in the world. Development of feminism through the years will be discussed in great detail.

The last four weeks of the Feminism: Concepts and Theories certification course will include lectures from various experts. These people belong to multiple areas of expertise such as writing, filmmaking, painting, and individuals who deal with questions of gender in many ways. This e-learning course is brought to you by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

As a noble initiative by the Government of India to achieve access, quality, and equity in education policy, Swayam has brought the Twentieth-Century Fiction programme as an engaging and comprehensive course for English and Cultural Studies graduates and postgraduates. Throughout the course, learners will experience the best teaching-learning resources; even the less privileged can avail themselves online learning from top IIT Madras faculty in their own comfortable spaces.

Twentieth-Century Fiction certification syllabus has been distributed over twelve weeks where learners can learn at their pace and examine along with the faculty the interplay between imperialism, embodiment, identity, and other related issues and nineteenth-century and twentieth-century fiction, wherein they will read stories, poems, and more. A calculated and thorough study of selected literary texts and their corresponding cultural contexts will help learners draw a vivid picture whilst exhaustive learning of fiction, representation, and reality.

The course is highly interactive and falls ideal for Humanities and Social Sciences students as well. Moreover, as per the UGC (Credit Framework for online learning courses through SWAYAM) Regulation 2016, certain universities might even designate the course as one from which credits can be transferred to the academic record of students.

Swayam’s BSW-41: Understanding Tribals online programme is a core diploma-level course and falls under the humanities and social sciences category. It is a four-credit, 12 weeks long curriculum, designed and organised by experts in the field, and will be instructed by Dr N. Ramya.

The BSW-41: Understanding Tribals course structure comprises 12 units which are divided into three blocks. It involves in-depth information about the evolution of tribal studies concerning India, including the study of Indian as well as international tribal communities. 

The programme will help you attain fluency in the numerous areas related to tribals such as evolution, perception, tribal territories, constitutional provisions for tribals, international conventions, tribal education, healthcare, nutrition, and much more.

Swayam uses renowned national coordinators such as AICTE, NCERT, UGC, IIMB, IGNOU, etc. to cross check their course material and revise it to the standards of any university course across India. As a result of this, the BSW-41: Understanding Tribals diploma programme’s credits are transferable and have the advantage of being verified by a Government-initiated body.

The BSW-43: Tribals of South and Central India online programme is a four-credit diploma-level course in the humanities and social sciences category. It is instructed by a public health professional and social worker, Dr G. Mahesh. The course is designed by experts and divided into three blocks, comprising a total of 14 units which will take 12 weeks to complete.

Moreover, the BSW-43: Tribals of South and Central India diploma course is structured to teach every aspect of the tribal population native to the south and central parts of India. Candidates will have robust knowledge about the distinctive characteristics and features involved in the practices, culture, beliefs, livelihood, social organisation, etc. of these tribals.

Swayam has ensured extraordinary study material by appointing national coordinators to verify the syllabus. With this assurance, the credits obtained in BSW-43:Tribals of South and Central India online training are entirely transferrable. They also have the same significance as any other four-credit university or college courses.

Swayam offers the BSW-44: Tribals in North and Northeast Region of India online course to expand the current knowledge of candidates about tribes native to the north and north-eastern section of India. This is a diploma-level theory course in the humanities and social sciences category and carries four credits. There are a total of 12 units devised by experts in the field.

The units of the BSW-44: Tribals in North and Northeast Region of India diploma training are segmented into three blocks which provide an in-depth understanding of the culture, existence, historical roots, and the impact of globalisation on these tribal communities.

Candidates will be educated on an array of topics related to the north and north-eastern tribes, such as religious beliefs, language, displacement, migration, among others.

The BSW-44: Tribals in North and Northeast Region of India programme is instructed by Prof Rose Nembiakkim, while IGNOU has approved the syllabus. Besides, since Swayam is a government-led initiative, the course is available for free.

The Anthropology of Current World Issues course by edX empowers candidates to better understand the world around them, by looking at it through an anthropological lens. They will see how this methodology, as a discipline, can shine a new light on current world issues. Learners will also understand how to look at issues like material culture, migration, and indigeneity, from different perspectives.

The University of Queensland’s Anthropology of Current World Issues training programme will also challenge learners to reflect on their perspective when thinking about the aforementioned current world issues. It will encourage them to contemplate how they look at the world and how there are differences and commonalities between people.

With the Anthropology of Current World Issues online certification, participants will follow renowned anthropologists from various parts of the world, meet the people they work with, and explore the current-world problems they are working on, as they find their place in the world.

This extensive programme will help students become skilled professionals in forming anthropological understandings within just nine weeks to absorb today’s pitfalls worldwide. There are two modes for learners to enrol in the course; paid and free modes. The free mode gives the learners only limited access to the course.  

The Natural Hazards certification course throws light on the phenomena of natural disasters. Processes like land-level changes, ground deformations, event recurrence intervals, sedimentation patterns, and the associated environmental and depositional changes are discussed. The course is spread over eight weeks and falls under the domain of civil engineering. 

The Natural Hazards online training lets students explore the different types of natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, and storms, etc. Through this activity, they will understand the natural hazards caused by disasters in the associated landscapes. This elective course has also been approved by the AICTE. 

The Natural Hazards certification syllabus also includes how different regions like floodplains, mainland, hilly terrains, coastal areas, etc., feel the impact of the disasters. The course concludes with dedicated lectures on the various measures and approaches to assess and mitigate these natural hazards properly. The training is offered by Professor Javed N Malik and Prof. Santiswarup Sahoo who are specialises in active tectonics and paleoseismology.

The ‘Energy Economics And Policy’ online course is delivered to focus on the various aspects of energy that affect the producers and consumers of energy. This course enables students to discuss the application of the principles of the economy. It is about the concept of energy as a resource and its relevance with the environment and climate to analyze the policies governing energy supply. This certification program is provided by Swayam and the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) for a period of eight weeks.

The free online course is an elective program for undergraduate and postgraduate level students. The tutor for this massive open online course is Prof. Shyamasree Dasgupta from the school of humanities and social sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi. The classes of this course are offered through video, lectures and assessed by weekly assignments and a final certification exam. 

The ‘Energy Economics And Policy’ certification course enables students to get a course certificate and credit points by the end of this course. 

The Economic Growth and Development program is an introductory-level course that aims to teach you significant ideas related to economic development and growth. You will study theories, concepts, indices, and debates about economic growth and development. This eight-week-long online course is developed by the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.

During the Economic Growth and Development certification course, you will become familiar with many topics like economic development indices, inclusive growth, distinctions between underdeveloped and developed countries, contemporary controversies on economic growth versus development, and more. 

The Economic Growth and Development online course will discuss many major models and theories of economic growth, such as the Solow growth model, the Big Push theory, Harrod-Domar model, Schumpeter’s analysis, and the critical minimum effort’s thesis. You will also learn about the gender development index, multidimensional poverty index, and gender empowerment measure.

Indian economy is one of the top five emerging economies in the world. Thus, it becomes an interesting topic of study for both economics and non-economics students. While for the former category, the study will accentuate their academic knowledge, the latter will be benefitted by the understanding of the mechanism of the economy for general awareness, if not anything else.

Understanding economic activities in a lucid manner can be challenging and finding the right course which covers all the essential aspects of the same could be another challenge. Indian Economy: Some Contemporary Perspectives programme has been designed for undergraduate students to help them gain a conceptual foundation of the functioning of India's mixed economy, historical developments and ongoing reforms. 

Through Indian Economy: Some Contemporary Perspectives certification syllabus, learners can make a mindmap of the evolution of the Indian economy since independence while witnessing periods of India’s economic development. It would discuss tax, industrial, financial and agricultural reforms while dealing with Indian banking sector crisis. Students would analyse along with the faculty recent policy initiatives and will have the opportunity to examine additional resources like economic survey issued by the Ministry of Finance and relevant research reports from leading organisations

IIT Kharagpur has developed the Managerial Economics programme to teach modern microeconomic theory at the UG/PG level. You will study the behaviour of households and firms and the interaction between the two to understand the interaction in different market structures.

Moreover, Managerial Economics certification syllabus has been purposefully crafted over eight weeks to cover crucial topics of management studies besides the foundational ones. The primary coursework includes weekly lectures, assignments, and a proctored exam towards the course end.

You will learn how different agents like consumers and producers interact in the economy and how various interventions impact the market scenario. Other significant concepts covered in the Managerial Economics course are demand & supply, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly, and cost curves.

There will also be a proctored exam when the programme ends. You can take the exam to obtain the Managerial Economics certificate from Swayam, which will help you land lucrative managerial positions in banks and public policy organisations, among others.

The Indian Business History online course covers the periods of Indian history from the 17th century to the 21st-century business economy developments. The evolutionary perspective of Indian business history will be covered. The nature of Indian business policies will be analyzed and its historical background will be shown to the candidates. India’s relations with foreign countries and how they shaped the Indian economy will also be analyzed. 

Students from diverse backgrounds can learn from this course. The program is a government initiative wherein the entire program can be completed in 8 weeks. The program is offered via Swayam. Being a free learning programme, the people from weaker sections can get benefitted from the programme. The Indian Business History certification can be shared via Facebook, Linkedin, and other methods. The certification can be shared to gain new professional networks. The certification will benefit research-based work needs, career growth and academic recognition.

Philosophical Foundations of Social Research program indulges in the nature of social science inquiry. The course covers many topics, such as the philosophy of science, ontology, epistemology, and applications in different areas. At the end of the course, participants will be familiar with the plurality of views in the intellectual community, applications of the philosophy of science in social sciences, analyze issues in social sciences, and practice scholarly discussions. 

Philosophical Foundations of Social Research certification is an elective course in humanities and social sciences with no enrolment fee or prerequisites. It is an online undergraduate/postgraduate course that any interested candidates can join. The course is the result of a collaboration between IIT Guwahati and NPTEL. This AICTE approved FDP course will be taught by professor Sambit Mallick. 

Philosophical Foundations of Social Research is an eight-week-long course with an e-certificate available for candidates. Participants will be given periodic assignments to evaluate their progress. A list of books is also available on the website for any additional studying.

Roadmap for Patent Creation online course deals with the process of patenting and will equip you with the knowledge to protect your innovative ideas. The curriculum dives into the basics of patenting and explains the procedure of filing for a patent. If you have any brilliant ideas that you wish to patent, then this is an extremely useful course for you.

Furthermore, the Roadmap for Patent Creation certification is provided by Swayam in collaboration with IIT Kharagpur. The faculty at IIT Kharagpur has compiled this comprehensive course and will be delivering it in the form of video lectures. The programme is multidisciplinary and falls under 'Law' and 'Patents and Intellectual Property Rights'.

After finishing the Roadmap for Patent Creation program, you will get the option of taking the proctored exam to determine whether you are eligible for the course certificate. The e-certificate can be printed and attached to your CV. You can also add it to your professional profile on job portals.

The ‘Globalization and Culture’ online course is offered for the students to build their understanding of the concept of ‘Globalization’ and its impact on society, culture, and the world as a whole. This course enables students to understand the multi-dimensional perspective of globalization such as capital markets, new media, and other technologies of communication. This is a free learning course provided by the Swayam online platform and the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL). 

The faculty for this training program is Prof. Anjali Gera Roy from the department of humanities and social sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. The students of this course will be able to discuss and analyze the theoretical and practical aspects of Globalization through videos, lectures, weekly assignments, and the final exam.

The ‘Globalization and Culture’ online certification course enables students to gain a certificate and credit points at the end of this elective course recognized by the All India Council for Technical Education.

The course has been offered by Vidyasagar University, one of the best educational institutions in India. It has been brilliantly designed by experts of the sector to focus firstly on details and the actual functioning of Political Science and aims to clarify and strengthen the basics for the candidates first.

The course, Introduction to Political Theory, has been made a 43 module programme which will be spanned over roughly two months or eight weeks. It studies the different political theories and the functions of a state. The programme also goes into detail about the philosophies and the ideas behind Liberty, Equality, Justice, Sovereignty and more.

The contents of the course go on to discuss the topics in depth to make even the smallest of doubts to clear to the candidates. It gives the applicants an overall comprehension of the political processes of not only the modern era but that from ancient ages as well.

This massive online open course on ‘Consumer Psychology’ is a study of the determinants and influencing aspects that lead consumers into buying certain products or goods from the markets. It is a discussion of psychological reasons that persuade a consumer into the market and an analysis of the consumer behavior and actions. This online certification course is provided by the education platform Swayam in association with the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL). 

This is an undergraduate level program that is categorized into humanities and social sciences with psychology are conducted for eight weeks through the online platform. The course curriculum is delivered through videos, online resources, books, and references. 

The ‘Consumer Psychology’ online certification program equips students with the E-certificate and credit points after completing the course of study in this All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE) approved program. This training is conducted by Prof. Naveen Kashyap, an associate professor of Psychology from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.

In the Language and mind certification course, the students will be learning about language under three broad perspectives. They will be studying about the ways of pairing the syntax and lexicon to formulate the languages. The candidates in the Language and mind certification syllabus will be dealing with the set of rules and the word formation structures and will also learn the ways to define them and formulate them to generate words in language. The eight week online certification course will be covering details pertaining to- Sounds, Features of sounds, Vowels/consonants, Places and manners of articulation, D structure, Binding theory, Constraints, Passive morphology and NP movement and other topics that are related directly or indirectly to language and mind. In the programme, the students will be familiarized with the relationship that exists between the human mind and language. The session will further be helping the students to understand the concept of langue as a special purpose with respect to cognitive ability.