Online Social Science Courses & Certifications

The Why Religion Matters: Religious Literacy, Culture and Diversity online course helps you to explore the history of religion and why it has played an essential part in the lives of people for centuries. Most importantly, it gives you a deep dive into how religion affects political and personal decisions. In today’s world, understanding this is potent to comprehend global challenges we face involving religion. 

Furthermore, the FutureLearn Why Religion Matters: Religious Literacy, Culture and Diversity programme involves learning about religious diversity and religious literacy within societies and their traditions. The programme starts with learning why religion is essential to make sense of international conflicts and domestic policy decisions.  

Besides, the Why Religion Matters: Religious Literacy, Culture and Diversity programme by Futurelearn provides case studies to discover and explore Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, and many other indigenous religions. The curriculum not only teaches contemporary context but also brings forth the modern perspective.

How were Shakespeare's plays printed and performed four centuries ago? Why does his work still inspire us? How has Shakespeare's image changed over time? Well, the Shakespeare: Print and Performance course by FutureLearn was developed to answer these questions and more.  The programme is a four-week study into the glorious works of Shakespeare, and how it was adopted in the print and theatre medium.

The course is curated by King's College London in partnership with the British Library and Shakespeare's globe. It is designed to help you explore how Shakespeare's works continue to manifest themselves in contemporary storytelling and drama. Moreover, Shakespeare: Print and Performance online course also includes input from renowned curators, academics, publishers, theatre directors, musicians, and actors. Each of them provides their personal opinion about the global icon's early modern world works.

You will also get access to some exclusive, priceless manuscripts, made available to you by the British Library. Throughout the course, you will be engaging in scholarly discussion with the diverse learning community and will be able to draw from everyone's experiences. By opting for the “upgrade” access option of the FutureLearn Shakespeare: Print and Performance programme, you can also get a course completion certificate.

The Postcolonial Literature online programme is a free elective course offered by Swayam in partnership with IIT Kanpur. The course is aimed towards postgraduate English literature students from any college or university. The robust course syllabus involves various crucial literary texts that emerged in the 1980s by significant writers such as Raja Rao, Chinua Achebe, Joseph Conrad, Jhumpa Lahiri and some literary critics.

Furthermore, the Postcolonial Literature certification falls under the English studies and Humanities and Social Sciences categories. The elective course will run for four weeks and help you navigate some complex concepts and theories that are a part of postcolonial literature. Also, the programme is curated by IIT Kanpur and is delivered by its department of English Literature.

At the end of the Postcolonial Literature certification course, you will have a thorough understanding of postcolonial studies and the rich texts that left their literary imprints on the history of world literature.

Essence Of Hinduism teaches the two facets of Hinduism. On the one hand, there is historical Hinduism's aim to strike a balance between a worldly and spiritual way of living. The Hinduism of the Gita, the Upanishads, and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, which is the pinnacle of Ahimsa, as well as pure worship of one immanent, formless, imperishable God is the opposite one. The main virtue of ahimsa has been attempted to be rationalized away by our people as being exclusive to Sannyasis.

The Essence Of Hinduism Training explains how living things are subject to the laws of nature and vulnerable to growth and decay. The variations in the seasons have an impact on this enormous tree called life (soul), which was once one and unbreakable at the base. 

The Essence Of Hinduism Certification Course is more than just being a sacred religion that practices sacred and pure methods. It's a way of life and subsequently, it leads to personal self-realization and enlightenment.

All students get Essence Of Hinduism Certification by Amrita University or Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (AVV) 

Water, Society, and Sustainability certification is a course for one month that is held directly using the Swayam platform. The course curriculum is designed by the 2 institutions NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur to help understand the global water scenario. The world consists of a number of people who do not have access to safe and clean water. Candidates will learn about certain lessons from small-scale community water conservation practices. 

Water, Society, and Sustainability training for the course exhibits all the characteristics across technology, water, society, and science The course is located at the intersections across the water, technology, science, and society towards a sustainable future. The context is important for understanding and addressing the need for water beyond the technical, and physical attributes of the water shapes designed by the society. Also, the students will be understanding the challenges associated with water like availability, severe drought, or floods. The certificate that is showered at the end of the course modules, assignments and an examination will be supported across different commerce industries.

The Agile Leadership Principles and Practices program is a self-paced course for four weeks, where students learn about the powerful Agile leadership style. Students will pick up on agile applications and principles that exist in the industry.

Learners will study how this new leadership style redistributes and redefines team roles. Other topics included in the Agile Leadership Principles and Practices syllabus are decision science, negotiation techniques, lean decision-making tools, and emotional intelligence (EQ). The University of Maryland, College Park- a preeminent public research university offers this online course.

Professor John Johnson from the university teaches the Agile Leadership Principles and Practices training program. He also instructs the edX finalists awarded course “Agile Project Management Professional Certification Programme,” which comes as an associated program. 

Additionally, students can receive up to 10 Professional Development Unit (PDU) credits recognized by the Project Management Institute (PMI). This advanced course based on engineering allows students to gain a verified certificate after paying a nominal fee.

The candidates interested in brushing up their skills can enrol in the Foundations for Transforming Teaching and Learning about Native Americans certification and learn about the impact of problematic narratives. Different ways to recognize this impact have been covered in the course. For the course, the candidates will join the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Assignments, projects, and modules have been designed by the experts to help the participants have a grab on the topic. The Foundations for Transforming Teaching and Learning about Native Americans online course is based on a three-part live webinar series. Modules have been designed to help candidates know the topic.

After the completion of the course, the candidate shall be awarded a certification if they chose the enrolment by paying the course fee. The certificate shall help the candidates get a hike in salary and better jobs in any organization. The candidates can share the certificate on LinkedIn for broader exposure. Also, the students can audit the programme for a limited duration free of cost. 

Understanding Gender Inequality certification is a short online course. The course is a joint venture of the University of Exeter and FutureLearn. Since gender inequality is a very important challenge in today’s society that is the reason empowerment of women, and equality of gender is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By giving just 3 hours to this course on a weekly basis, will allow the participants to gain knowledge of why inequality of gender happens, what are the aftereffects of it, and how can one get rid of this.

Understanding Gender Inequality certification syllabus involves understanding this concept at work, in the family, and in the context of media. This course will guide students about what has been done till date to address gender inequality, and what must be done in the coming years.

Understanding Gender Inequality training is held for a month and allows students to track what exactly is their learning progress. Since the learning content is a mix of short videos, articles, audio, and practical drills so the students can be motivated without getting bored.

The ‘Gender justice and workplace security’ online course is organized to enable students to develop their understanding of aspects of gender justice such as gender equality and other significant laws that have been drafted over the years to support the position of women in society. This National Program for Technology Enhanced Learning(NPTEL) course is provided by Swayam and the course of study is designed to be completed in four weeks.

The course instructor for this elective course for the undergraduate level students is Prof. Dipa Dube from the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. The students of this program will gain a comprehensive knowledge of gender-based concepts and theories in the context of a workplace.

The ‘Gender justice and workplace security’ online training program ensures the participants of the course with a course certificate and credit points after finishing the program with the assessments according to the qualifying criteria. This management studies program is approved by the All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE).

The media is a powerful tool for promoting social justice. The Activism and Citizen Journalism through Media programme will provide valuable information and guidance to individuals for using media to create awareness for social causes. Individuals will learn how to practise ethical and safe media practices.

Activism and Citizen Journalism through Media by edX will provide in-depth information on how to identify a newsworthy story and how to create and assess the impact it creates. It will also guide you on how to zero-in on appropriate platforms to publicise a story. This is a short-term course with a duration of four weeks.

Activism and Citizen Journalism through Media is an introductory course in Communication and requires no prerequisites to join. It is the result of a collaboration between edX and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wit University), Johannesburg. The educators consist of an experienced panel of faculty from Wits. The course also offers a verified certificate for students who successfully complete the course.

Ergonomics Workplace Analysis certification is an elective course that is introduced on Swayam by the institutes NPTEL and IIT Guwahati and is held for a 4 weeks period. The meaning of Ergonomic workplace analysis is basically a process in which the ergonomic risk factors are evaluated with the help of several validated tools. When these risk factors get identified and evaluated, people can give recommendations for minimizing the factors that foster the development of musculoskeletal disorders which are work-related. When these disorders get improved the compensation cost, employee turnover, and absenteeism. This course helps in all the above-mentioned topics.

Ergonomics Workplace Analysis training will in the process of ergonomic analysis of workplace help an ergonomist to evaluate the environment of physical work or psychosocial risk factors like genetic risk factors that can lead to the development of musculoskeletal disorder that is work-related. 

FutureLearn's Global Studies: Cultures and Organizations in International Relations course stresses the importance of global cooperation between people despite our cultural, environmental, and institutional differences. The world is wonderfully diverse, but the difference comes with conflict. This ideological conflict is discussed in the duration of this comprehensively designed course. 

In Global Studies: Cultures and Organizations in International Relations online course, learners can explore cultures and organizations worldwide and evaluate their beliefs about the 'clash of civilizations'. This online course will help examine whether the world we live in is becoming more liberal and how.

Furthermore, the Global Studies: Cultures and Organizations in International Relations certification programme is a short course that you can quickly complete in four weeks. The curriculum covers important topics, including intercultural negotiations, nationalism, tradition, conflicting ideologies, and cultural distinctions. 

Enrol in this course if you are interested in culture and global politics, and earn a certificate upon completion. 

The Issues in Bioethics certification course is designed for students to introduce them to bioethics by exploring a few contemporary issues. This certification course offers a comprehensive curriculum that covers all the aspects of bioethics such as its importance and historical evolution. The course duration is 4 weeks. 

Students gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of various aspects such as important theoretical frameworks, issues in clinical ethics and research ethics. The Issues in Bioethics certification by NPTEL provides the required knowledge and skills in the application of healthcare technology and ethical issues to the students by the leading industry experts in the field.

Also Read: Free Life Science Courses & Certifications

The Ethics certification course is a 4-week course that will be beneficial for students of all disciplines such as Social sciences, Humanities, Law, Business Management and Philosophy. The certification course covers the comprehensive curriculum like the basic concepts of the discipline of Ethics and the historical evolution of the discipline.  

The students get the opportunity to examine some important theoretical frameworks. The Ethics certification by NPTEL provides students with in-depth knowledge of analysing some of the ethical challenges faced by society and humanity in general in the contemporary world. This course is designed for UG and PG students and the intended audience is Humanities, Law, and Management students.

Also Read: Media Ethics And Law Certificate Courses

The Global Financial Crisis online course is brought to you by Coursera, in association with Yale University. Professors Timothy F. Geithner and Andrew Metrick from Yale School of Management are the instructors for this course.  Professor Timothy F. Geithner has served as the former US Secretary of the Treasury. 

Together, they discuss and survey the causes, events, aftermath, and policy responses to the recent global financial crisis. The Global Financial Crisis certification course also discusses diverse ways to anticipate, avert, and deal with financial crises in the future.

Furthermore, the Global Financial Crisis programme consists of pre-recorded video lectures, most of which are less than 10 minutes long. There are suggested readings, quizzes, and slides for revision at the end of each module. 

Students can complete the course in approximately 64 hours and purchase a completion certificate at the end. This certificate can be shared with their LinkedIn profiles or attached to their physical CV/Resume. 

The Korean Economic Development Certification Course is a massive open online course that deals with the analysis of the Korean economy. The 100% online with a flexible schedule is available on the Coursera platform. Through the course, learners will be able to study the economic policies of the Korean government and compare them with other developing countries.

The Korean Economic Development Training will be led by Doo Won Lee, a Professor of the School of Economics at Yonsei University. The course will be delivered through expert video lectures, reading materials, and practice exercises to test the progress of learners. After completing all course lessons and the assessments, learners will get The Korean Economic Development Certification by Coursera.