How to Change the World (Coursera)

Offered by Wesleyan University,
How to Change the World (Coursera)

How can we use the things we share in common to address some of the most challenging problems facing the world? This course examines issues concerning poverty, the environment, technology, health care, gender, education and activism to helps us understand better how to initiate positive change.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
What are Social Goods? From the Commons to Moral Revolutions
Discussion about what our social good is, how we define it and how it can be sustainably used.

WEEK 2
Poverty and Development
Discussion about poverty and the relationship of poverty to philanthropy and to foreign aid, actions taken to mitigate the effects of poverty, of major theorists and economists working in this area and , also, a new approach to this subject through randomized experimentation.

WEEK 3
Climate Change and Sustainability
Discussion about political and economic ramifications of climate change, including how to think big about sustainability

WEEK 4
Disease and Global Health Care
Discussion about health care and poverty, considering major challenges that disease presents around the world and the global role of healthcare

WEEK 5
Women, Education and Social Change
Discussion of gender issues and the upward mobility of women, across business and education.

WEEK 6
Looking Back, Looking Foward
Reflections on where we have been and where we are going

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Teaching Impacts of Technology: Relationships (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, San Diego

Teaching Impacts of Technology: Relationships (Coursera)

In this course you’ll focus on how “smart” devices have changed how we interact with others in personal ways, impacting how we stay connected in our increasingly mobile society. This will be done through a series of paired teaching sections, exploring a specific “Impact of Computing” in your typical day and the “Technologies and Computing Concepts” that enable that impact, all at a K12-appropriate level.

Jun 17th 2026
4 Weeks
ICT in Primary Education: Transforming children's learning across the curriculum (Coursera) Coursera
University of London

ICT in Primary Education: Transforming children's learning across the curriculum (Coursera)

Why and how are teachers integrating ICT (Information and Communication Technology) into primary education? In this course we analyse examples from schools in different parts of the world, and bring professional teachers, headteachers and policymakers together to share their best ideas and inspiring stories. The materials in the course are based on studies carried out for the UNESCO Institute of IT in Education, Moscow.

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Primeros Auxilios Psicológicos (PAP) (Coursera) Coursera
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Primeros Auxilios Psicológicos (PAP) (Coursera)

Este curso on-demand (ABIERTO, se puede cursar en cualquier momento), impartido en castellano por la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona y el Centro de Crisis de Barcelona, está destinado a entrenar en la aplicación de primeros auxilios psicológicos (PAP) a personas afectadas por situaciones altamente estresantes, abarcando tanto emergencias cotidianas (incidentes críticos estadísticamente frecuentes que afectan de manera muy intensa: un accidente de tráfico, una hospitalización, una agresión o la muerte traumática o repentina de una persona, etc.) como emergencias comunitarias y/o masivas (sucesos infrecuentes, que afectan a muchas personas o a una comunidad entera y que sobrepasan con mucho lo que sucede habitualmente en ella: una catástrofe natural, un accidente ferroviario o aéreo o un atentado).

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Sexualidad...mucho más que sexo (Coursera) Coursera
Universidad de los Andes

Sexualidad...mucho más que sexo (Coursera)

La mayoría de las personas, en algún momento de la vida, hemos experimentado inseguridad para hablar acerca de sexualidad con niñas, niños, estudiantes, pareja o colegas. Al finalizar este curso serás capaz de hablar de la sexualidad de manera clara, directa, usando información actualizada y sin sentimientos de vergüenza.

Jun 15th 2026
4 Weeks
Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Abstraction, Methods, and Lists (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, San Diego

Computational Thinking for K-12 Educators: Abstraction, Methods, and Lists (Coursera)

How do gamers cause things to happen when they hit buttons on their controller? How does the computer keep track of gamer's scores? This class teaches the concepts of nested loops, events, and variables. For each concept, we'll start by helping you connect real-world experiences you are already familiar with to the programming concept you are about to learn. Next, through a cognitively scaffolded process we'll engage you in developing your fluency with problem solving with nested loops, events, and variables in a way that keeps frustration at a minimum.

Jun 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Information & Digital Literacy for University Success (Coursera) Coursera
The University of Sydney

Information & Digital Literacy for University Success (Coursera)

This Specilaization is aimed at preparing students for undergraduate study in an English-speaking university. The course equips you for full participation and engagement with your studies by building awareness and understanding of the core values and expectations of academic culture, and providing you with practical strategies to apply to your studies. In this course, you will learn how to develop your Information & Digital Literacy Skills to help you achieve success in your university studies.

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Assessing Achievement with the ELL in Mind (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Assessing Achievement with the ELL in Mind (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn how to design assessments around the needs of your ELL students and their language level. You will learn how to incorporate language and content requirements for both formative and summative assessment types. You will learn to assess your ELL students through the use of project and task-based assignments.

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Medical Technology and Evaluation (Coursera) Coursera
University of Minnesota

Medical Technology and Evaluation (Coursera)

Innovations in medical technologies are one of the leading areas of economic growth in the world. Whether new technologies take the form of pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, information technology of some combination of these innovations, the opportunities for both private enterprise and social welfare are substantial. However, these innovations are not without cost, and require reimbursement from either a privately or publicly financed health care delivery system to enter the marketplace.

Jun 15th 2026
4 Weeks
Engaging ELLs and Their Families in the School and Community (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Engaging ELLs and Their Families in the School and Community (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn how to better and more successfully engage your ELL(s) and their families in the school and community. You will learn how to engage your ELL student in the classroom setting as well as in various aspects of the school including extracurricular activities and the inner workings of the school and education system. You will also be introduced to strategies for engaging the families of your ELL students in the school community and the wider community of your city and state.

Jun 15th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Securing Investment Returns in the Long Run (Coursera) Coursera
University of Geneva

Securing Investment Returns in the Long Run (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn about the famous dichotomy between active and passive investing, how to appropriately measure and analyze investment performance and what the future trends in the investment management industry are. You will first learn about absolute and relative performance, risk-adjusted returns and how to decompose investment performance. The focus will then shift to the two main categories of investment vehicles, active and passive funds, and what they entail in terms of expected performance.

Jun 15th 2026
4 Weeks