Jumpstart your learning in 2025 with 16 intro courses from MIT
By Katherine Ouellette
The new year is the perfect time to start learning a new subject. Explore how memory works, whether AI can achieve consciousness, music recording techniques, and more with these 16 introductory courses from MIT Open Learning.
Science courses
- Introduction to Biology: Discover the secret of life through the basics of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, recombinant DNA, genomics, and rational medicine.
- General Chemistry I: Atoms, Molecules, and Bonding: Explore the world at the molecular level by examining chemical structure and bonding from a quantum mechanical perspective.
- Introduction to Mechanics: Kinematics and Dynamics: Build foundational knowledge about the “how” and “why” of motion in this calculus-based physics course.
- Science of Learning and Memory: Learn how the human brain stores, retrieves, and forgets information with topics like how we learn, classical conditioning, and amnesia.
Technology courses
- Minds and Machines: Dive into philosophy of the mind by exploring consciousness, reality, AI, and more.
- Driving Innovation with Generative AI: Equip yourself with the knowledge and skills to navigate cutting-edge generative AI business solutions.
Engineering courses
- Programming for the Puzzled: Learn the basics of computer programming through puzzles that can be solved by algorithms.
- Introduction to Quantum Computing: Explore the history, applications, and implications of quantum computing with hands-on experience.
Arts and humanities courses
- Introduction to Asian American Studies: Literature, Culture, and Historical Experience: Examine how the roles of immigration, World War II, and societal issues contributed to contemporary Asian American identity and culture.
- Introduction to Comparative Politics: Analyze why democracy emerges and survives in some countries rather than in others, how political institutions affect economic development, and how American politics compares to that of other countries.
- Music and Technology: Recording Techniques and Audio Production: Gain a practical and theoretical understanding of music recording and audio production, including techniques for microphones, editing, mixing, and mastering.
- Principles of Microeconomics: Dive into the fundamentals of microeconomics including topics like supply and demand, market equilibrium, consumer theory, and more in this undergraduate level course. (Looking for a high school level course instead? Try AP® Microeconomics.)
- What is Capitalism?: Explore the academic debates, anthropological studies, and implications of capitalism, including how contemporary capitalism plays out in people’s daily lives from family businesses to consumer shopping malls to Wall Street.
Math courses
- Calculus 1: Single Variable Calculus: Master the calculus of derivatives, integrals, coordinate systems, and infinite series through fundamental computational skills.
- Calculus 1B: Integration: Learn how to compute an integral and use calculus to model real-world phenomena.
These courses are available through MIT OpenCourseWare, MITx, and MIT xPRO, which are part of MIT Open Learning. OpenCourseWare offers free, online, open educational resources from more than 2,500 courses that span the MIT undergraduate and graduate curriculum. MITx offers high-quality massive open online courses adapted from the MIT classroom for learners worldwide. xPRO provides professional development opportunities to a global audience via online courses and blended programs.
Jumpstart your learning in 2025 with 16 intro courses from MIT was originally published in MIT Open Learning on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.