12 Weird Online Classes You Did Not Know You Could Take

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Online colleges allow people around the world to study their favorite topics without leaving the comforts of home. While most would choose to study the basics, these online colleges offer courses that probably wouldn’t be found in the average course catalogue.

Quantum Mechanics for Everyone (Georgetown)

Some think that the discussion of quantum mechanics is something reserved for physicists. In this free online course, you can learn the basics of this branch of physics without having to do any complicated math. One lessen even covers how you can see something in the dark without a flashlight. Science!

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Death (Yale)

This Yale philosophy course that can be taken online whether or not you’re an enrolled student, doesn’t shy away from the fact that we’re all going to die. Instead, it hypothesizes on whether the end of this life isn’t the end of life entirely.

The New Nordic Diet - from Gastronomy to Health (University of Copenhagen)

In this course, Dr. Arne Astrup aims to teach others the importance of gastronomy and environment on food and health from the point of view of the Nordic countries, where people take their local ingredients very seriously.

Furniture Making (MIT)

Tired of buying the bookshelf from IKEA that everyone else has? Learn through this free online course about furniture design, history and different woodworking techniques. By the end, you’ll be able to build yourself a completely unique piece of furniture.

Kitchen Chemistry (MIT)

Some people need to know the "why?" behind their perfectly cooked steak or chewy chocolate chip cookie. This free MIT course uses cooking to illustrate the chemical principles that occur when we’re making everyday meals.

"Everything I Know" by Buckminster Fuller (YouTube)

Buckminster Fuller was a legendary architect, author, designer and MENSA member, and this YouTube lecture series is a look into the inner workings of the brain that came up with 28 U.S. patents.

Topics in Comparative Media: American Pro Wrestling (MIT)

Most people think that wrestling is just two dudes body slamming each other over a folding table, but it actually has a storied history that you’ll learn about in depth in this free MIT course.

Listening to Music (Yale)

This sounds like it’s a pretty basic topic, but the ability to truly hear music and understand all of its parts is the goal of this free online course.

Bits (Harvard)

A bit is the smallest unit of data on a computer and this free video course teaches you that information, like digital images and music, is actually a property that can be used to shape policy and laws.

The Science of Happiness (UC Berkeley)

This course uses research-backed activities to nurture joy and, according to the course’s website, illustrate "that happiness is inextricably linked to having strong social connections and contributing to something bigger than yourself."

Faith and Finance (Boston University)

It seems like money and spirituality don’t mix, but during this free 12-week course, you’ll learn methods that will lead you to make more ethically and theologically informed financial decisions.

Street-Fighting Mathematics (MIT)

In a very tongue-in-cheek way, this course teaches things like dimensional analysis and extreme-cases reasoning to help you when you’re trying to block a punch or take a leap in your day-to-day life.