Friday, January 31, 2014

MOOCs: A Brief History of Humankind in Coursera

Two weeks ago I finished this great Coursera course by Dr. Yuval Noah Harari from Hebrew University of Jerusalem:

"This course surveys the entire length of human history, from the evolution of various human species in the Stone Age up to the political and technological revolutions of the twenty-first century to present a panoramic study on the history of Humankind; following the Cognitive, Agricultural and Scientific Revolutions, and the Unification of Humankind. Its aim was to give a brief but complete overview of the history of Homo sapiens."

You can watch this video where Dr. Harari introduces its course.

It's been the longest course I've finished in Coursera (17 weeks). It has changed my perspective on many different historical processes and human phenomena such as religion, economy or politics. The contents are very critical and sometimes even controversial but I think it's been worth it to be exposed to these ideas in order to reflect on the past and the present of humankind from a different angle.

There's also a book which discusses the contents of this course in greater depth: From Animals into Gods: A Brief History of Humankind

Thank you very much to Coursera and Dr. Harari for offering this wonderful course.

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