University of California, Santa Cruz
Public University • US
Showing 31 courses from University of California, Santa Cruz
The History of Medicine: Philosophy, Science, and Psychology
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
"History of Medicine" provides an accessible historical and interdisciplinary perspective on medicine, focused primarily upon therapy and practice, to achieve better understanding of the scope, practice, and limits of medicine. Medicine is defined as the treatment of disease. Human attempts to understand and treat disease will be seen as evolving from the spiritual and mystical practices of the distant past, to the rational approach of the Classical World, and finally to the scientific thinking of the Renaissance and beyond. This course is appropriate for both a general audience and those entering medical and health professions.
Bayesian Statistics: Mixture Models
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
Bayesian Statistics: Mixture Models introduces you to an important class of statistical models. The course is organized in five modules, each of which contains lecture videos, short quizzes, background reading, discussion prompts, and one or more peer-reviewed assignments. Statistics is best learned by doing it, not just watching a video, so the course is structured to help you learn through application. Some exercises require the use of R, a freely-available statistical software package. A brief tutorial is provided, but we encourage you to take advantage of the many other resources online for learning R if you are interested. This is an intermediate-level course, and it was designed to be the third in UC Santa Cruz's series on Bayesian statistics, after Herbie Lee's "Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis" and Matthew Heiner's "Bayesian Statistics: Techniques and Models." To succeed in the course, you should have some knowledge of and comfort with calculus-based probability, principles of maximum-likelihood estimation, and Bayesian estimation.
Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course introduces the Bayesian approach to statistics, starting with the concept of probability and moving to the analysis of data. We will learn about the philosophy of the Bayesian approach as well as how to implement it for common types of data. We will compare the Bayesian approach to the more commonly-taught Frequentist approach, and see some of the benefits of the Bayesian approach. In particular, the Bayesian approach allows for better accounting of uncertainty, results that have more intuitive and interpretable meaning, and more explicit statements of assumptions. This course combines lecture videos, computer demonstrations, readings, exercises, and discussion boards to create an active learning experience. For computing, you have the choice of using Microsoft Excel or the open-source, freely available statistical package R, with equivalent content for both options. The lectures provide some of the basic mathematical development as well as explanations of philosophy and interpretation. Completion of this course will give you an understanding of the concepts of the Bayesian approach, understanding the key differences between Bayesian and Frequentist approaches, and the ability to do basic data analyses.
لغة البرمجة C++ لمبرمجي C، الجزء (ب)
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
هذه الدورة مخصصة لمبرمجي اللغة C ذوي الخبرة الذين يرغبون في البرمجة بلغة C++. تتطلب الأمثلة والتمارين فهمًا أساسيًا للخوارزميات والبرمجيات الموجّهة للكائنات.
Odesa, Ukraine: Jews in the Modern World
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
In this course, Peter Kenez and Murray Baumgarten, both emeritus professors at UC Santa Cruz, tell the story of the Jews of the Black Sea port of Odesa. Kenez and Baumgarten include music, literature, and history in their analysis of a city like no other. The course is for anyone with an interest in the history and culture of the Jewish people.
AI Agent Architecture with the Model Context Protocol
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
AI models today are powerful, capable of reasoning, coding, and generating text across nearly any domain. Yet when applied in real-world settings, they often fall short. They may forget instructions, hallucinate facts, or struggle to manage large-scale enterprise data. This course addresses these challenges by introducing the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a practical framework for building AI agents that are reliable, stateful, and grounded in verifiable information. Through hands-on instructions and exercises, you will learn to design and implement the architecture behind enterprise-grade AI systems, combining memory management, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and intelligent agent actions. You’ll also build a fully functional RAG pipeline, a session context service with a sliding window memory, and an agent executor capable of making dynamic decisions using external tools. By the end of the course, you’ll have the foundational, architectural skills to create reliable AI systems that go beyond simple chatbots, remember context, access up-to-date knowledge, and perform real-world actions reliably and efficiently.
Child Nutrition and Health
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
Are you passionate about shaping the future of young lives? This engaging, hands-on course dives into the critical nutritional needs of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, equipping you with the knowledge to support their growth every step of the way. First Five Years Matter Most! From the moment a child is born, their brain and body begin a rapid transformation. Neural connections spark learning, behavior, and emotional development, while bones, muscles, and immune systems demand a steady stream of nutrients to thrive. Proper nutrition during these formative years isn’t just about meals. It’s about unlocking a child’s full potential. Through the interactive activities and real-world nutrition planning exercises in this course, you’ll learn how to tailor dietary strategies to each developmental stage and design balanced, age-appropriate meals, ensuring children grow up strong, smart, and emotionally resilient. Whether you're a parent, caregiver, educator, or health professional, this course empowers you to make a lasting impact on children's lives through informed nutritional choices.
C++ For C Programmers, Part B
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course is for experienced C programmers who want to program in C++. The examples and exercises require a basic understanding of algorithms and object-oriented software.
GO Programming for Everyone: Part 2
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course provides you with new opportunities to use the Go programming language. Building on the foundational knowledge introduced in the first course "GO Programming for Everyone: Part 1", this course delves deeper into the Go programming language, offering a comprehensive understanding of its more advanced features. GO is an open-source programming language developed and supported by Google. It is easy to learn and use. In the new world we live in, coding is a universally valuable skill, whether you're a scientist, artist, or a humanist. Algorithms are everywhere, and we all have to understand how they work. Designed for learners who have completed the first course or possess basic Go programming knowledge, this course will expand your skills and enhance your ability to develop efficient, scalable applications. The estimated time commitment for this course is five hours a week for five weeks. This is primarily aimed at first- and second-year undergraduates interested in engineering or science, along with high school students and professionals with an interest in programming.
GO Programming for Everyone: Part 1
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course introduces you to the GO programming language. It is appropriate for a beginner, but especially for anyone who already knows C. GO is an open-source programming language developed and supported by Google. It is easy to learn and use. In the new world we live in, coding is a universally valuable skill, whether you're a scientist, artist, or a humanist. Algorithms are everywhere, and we all have to understand how they work. No prior knowledge of coding is needed for this course, but it helps if you have a background in C. The estimated time commitment for this course is five hours a week for five weeks. This is primarily aimed at first- and second-year undergraduates interested in engineering or science, along with high school students and professionals with an interest in programming.
C for Everyone, Part 1: Programming Fundamentals
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course is for everyone. In the new world we live in, coding is a universally valuable skill, whether you're a scientist, artist, or a humanist. Algorithms are everywhere, and we all have to understand how they work. The C language is particularly well suited as an introduction to coding: It's a tried-and-true language, and it allows you to understand computing processes at a deep level. This course is the first part of a two-course sequence. It is a hands-on introduction to programming in C, designed to guide learners step by step from the basics of syntax and data types to more advanced concepts such as control flow, functions, recursion, arrays, and pointers. Through video lessons, quizzes, programming exercises, and real debugging tasks, learners build foundational concepts and good coding practices. By the end, learners will be able to write clear C programs, debug effectively, and build the knowledge base needed for more advanced computer science and software development.
Feminism and Social Justice
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
"Feminism and Social Justice" is an adaptation of Distinguished Professor Bettina Aptheker's long-running course at UC Santa Cruz. In the course, Professor Aptheker presents a broad definition of feminism that serves to frame three significant events in the history of feminism and social justice: the Empire Zinc strike of 1951, the 1971-1972 trial of Angela Davis, and the metoo Movement.
Cyber-Physical Systems: Modeling and Simulation
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
Cyber-physical systems (CPS for short) combine digital and analog devices, interfaces, networks, computer systems, and the like, with the natural and man-made physical world. The inherent interconnected and heterogeneous combination of behaviors in these systems makes their analysis and design an exciting and challenging task. CPS: Modeling and Simulation provides you with an introduction to modeling and simulation of cyber-physical systems. The main focus is on models of physical process, finite state machines, computation, converters between physical and cyber variables, and digital networks. The instructor of this course is Ricardo Sanfelice (https://hybrid.soe.ucsc.edu), Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at the University of California Santa Cruz.
The Career Design Lab: Change your Job, Change your Life
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
If your work isn’t fulfilling, now is the time to change direction and design a life you love. This course is for people at any life stage who want a job they enjoy and a career aligned with their values. If you’re languishing at work or feel like quiet quitting is your only option, why not change careers and flourish professionally? University of California Santa Cruz life design educator Remy Franklin will guide you through the career design process from start to finish in 4-8 weeks. You will define what is important to you in life, discover your core strengths and values, sketch out several possible career paths, and learn authentic networking strategies to help you find your next professional opportunity. Along the way, you will learn insights from design thinking, positive psychology, and career coaching that will help you maintain a positive mindset and make progress with your job search. If you’re ready to change jobs and change your life, this is the course for you.
The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry is an adaptation of an on-campus course that has been co-taught by Murray Baumgarten, Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Literature Department), and Peter Kenez, Professor Emeritus (History Department), for over 20 years at UC Santa Cruz. In this course, you will explore the Holocaust from the overlapping perspectives of literature and history—through memoirs, historical documents, poetry, documentary footage, filmic representations, and novels. You will expand your knowledge of the literature of the Holocaust, Eastern and Western European Jewish communities, the origins and development of antisemitism, the establishment of labor and extermination camps, resistance movements, and the Holocaust as a problem for world history. There is more than one way to take this course: You can complete all of the activities (and earn a Verified Certificate) or only the activities that are most interesting to you. Whatever you choose to do, we encourage you to find a havruta (a study partner) in your community or in the Coursera community so that you can experience the course in a more interactive and meaningful way.
GetVirtual: How to Launch Your Online Business
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
The GetVirtual (GV) online training series teaches future entrepreneurs how to launch their first online business by providing step-by-step guidance for launching a website, building a logo and understanding the basics of online social media marketing. Course participants will gain access to GV's project management templates designed to support basic business transactions from initial client intake to invoicing. Through a sequence of activities, videos and readings, GetVirtual lessons build business IQ as well as the entrepreneurial and leadership mindsets essential to small business owners. Learners will leave the course with a customer ready website, logo and a treasure trove of customizable business templates designed to forge a successful, professional relationship with new customers.
Ecosystems of California
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course surveys the diversity, structure and functioning of California’s ecosystems through time and the ways they have influenced and responded to human activities and stewardship. Topics include ecosystem drivers such as climate, soils, and land use history; human and ecological prehistory of the state; comparative marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystem dynamics; and managed ecosystems such as range, fisheries and agriculture in California. The course also emphasizes important skills to understand as a scientist or consumer of scientific information, including data collection, natural history, and writing.
Evidence-Based Psychotherapy
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
Millions of people get psychotherapy at some point in their lives, and even more are curious about what it might entail. In this course, we answer questions that many people wonder: What tools do clinicians use to diagnose mental illness? How do they decide how to treat it? What are the most evidence-based treatments out there? And how does the field figure out which ones are “evidence-based” in the first place? As more and more people seek psychotherapy around the globe, an understanding of it is increasingly important. This course enables the public to be good consumers of psychotherapy (e.g., to select evidence-based approaches that match their own difficulties), provides useful information for people considering a career in mental healthcare, and offers the chance to gain insight into one's own psychological distress. Students will learn the principles and theory behind several psychotherapeutic approaches, with a focus on evidence-based interventions including cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Assignments include case videos and completion of evidence-based therapy-style worksheets. The course offers an introduction to the real-life practice of psychotherapy and a “behind the scenes” glimpse into how therapists develop their treatments.
Agile Software Development with Python: TDD and BDD
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
In today’s fast-moving tech world, great developers do more than just write code — they build adaptable, high-quality software that meets real user needs. This hands-on course will guide you through the essential tools and mindsets that power modern software teams. You’ll gain a deep understanding of Agile principles and the Scrum framework, learning how to iterate quickly and deliver value efficiently. Through practical Python exercises, you’ll master Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) — industry-proven practices that help you design cleaner, more reliable, and maintainable code. By the end of the course, you will be able to apply Agile and Scrum frameworks to manage real-world projects effectively, write and test Python code using Pytest and Behave, and collaborate seamlessly with developers, testers, and stakeholders through shared language and executable specifications. Whether you’re an aspiring developer or a working professional, this course empowers you to build better software, communicate more effectively, and advance your career in today’s Agile-driven industry.
C++ For C Programmers, Part A
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course is for experienced C programmers who want to program in C++. The examples and exercises require a basic understanding of algorithms and object-oriented software.
Conspiracy Planet
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course is for anyone interested in conspiracy theories. Millions of people around the world believe in conspiracy theories like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, or that AIDS was deliberately created by governments and pharmaceutical companies, or that on September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center complex was downed not by airplanes, but by a “controlled demolition” masterminded by the United States national security state. What are we to make of these claims? What do they say about our societies? How do they impact history, or reflect larger historical trends? How do we understand the context of these ideas? And how do we understand them in relation to objectively confirmed conspiracies, of which there are at least as many? How do we know when a conspiracy has really happened, and cannot simply be dismissed as a ‘theory’? We will grapple with these questions together through short videos, quizzes that will help you check your understanding of the material, discussion, and a final project in which you will create your own conspiracy theory.
Data-Driven Animation for Science Communication
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
In this course each student will create a scientific animation that tells a story with data to better communicate scientific results – along the way they will learn programming, science writing, and technical animation skills. This course trains students in data-based storytelling that promotes research and science communication for the benefit of communities and policymakers on local and global scales. Students will draft a science writing script, create custom raster and vector graphics, data visualizations, and animations in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Autodesk Maya. For their final project, students will assemble these data-driven assets into an animated video abstract.
Bayesian Statistics: Techniques and Models
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This is the second of a two-course sequence introducing the fundamentals of Bayesian statistics. It builds on the course Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis, which introduces Bayesian methods through use of simple conjugate models. Real-world data often require more sophisticated models to reach realistic conclusions. This course aims to expand our “Bayesian toolbox” with more general models, and computational techniques to fit them. In particular, we will introduce Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, which allow sampling from posterior distributions that have no analytical solution. We will use the open-source, freely available software R (some experience is assumed, e.g., completing the previous course in R) and JAGS (no experience required). We will learn how to construct, fit, assess, and compare Bayesian statistical models to answer scientific questions involving continuous, binary, and count data. This course combines lecture videos, computer demonstrations, readings, exercises, and discussion boards to create an active learning experience. The lectures provide some of the basic mathematical development, explanations of the statistical modeling process, and a few basic modeling techniques commonly used by statisticians. Computer demonstrations provide concrete, practical walkthroughs. Completion of this course will give you access to a wide range of Bayesian analytical tools, customizable to your data.
Bayesian Statistics: Time Series Analysis
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This course for practicing and aspiring data scientists and statisticians. It is the fourth of a four-course sequence introducing the fundamentals of Bayesian statistics. It builds on the course Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis, Techniques and Models, and Mixture models. Time series analysis is concerned with modeling the dependency among elements of a sequence of temporally related variables. To succeed in this course, you should be familiar with calculus-based probability, the principles of maximum likelihood estimation, and Bayesian inference. You will learn how to build models that can describe temporal dependencies and how to perform Bayesian inference and forecasting for the models. You will apply what you've learned with the open-source, freely available software R with sample databases. Your instructor Raquel Prado will take you from basic concepts for modeling temporally dependent data to implementation of specific classes of models
AI, Empathy & Ethics
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This nontechnical course provides an overview of artificial intelligence advancements and the ethical challenges we now face as we navigate the development, implementation, and ubiquitous global use of AI.
Russian History: from Lenin to Putin
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
In this course, Peter Kenez, Professor Emeritus at UC Santa Cruz, explains the events of modern Russian history and introduces its most significant actors—from Vladimir Lenin to Vladimir Putin.
Bayesian Statistics: Capstone Project
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
This is the capstone project for UC Santa Cruz's Bayesian Statistics Specialization. It is an opportunity for you to demonstrate a wide range of skills and knowledge in Bayesian statistics and to apply what you know to real-world data. You will review essential concepts in Bayesian statistics with lecture videos and quizzes, and you will perform a complex data analysis and compose a report on your methods and results.
لغة البرمجة C++ لمبرمجي اللغة C، الجزء (أ)
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
هذه الدورة مخصصة لمبرمجي اللغة C ذوي الخبرة الذين يرغبون في البرمجة بلغة C++. تتطلب الأمثلة والتمارين فهمًا أساسيًا للخوارزميات والبرمجيات الموجّهة للكائنات.
Tutoring and Teaching Math for Understanding
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
“Tutoring and teaching math for understanding” is an adaptation of Distinguished Professor Judit Moschkovich’s long-running course at UC Santa Cruz. The course provides: A research-based definition of conceptual understanding Examples of tasks that focus on conceptual understanding Tutoring/teaching principles to support learners’ conceptual understanding, and A summary of tutor/teacher questions that support conceptual understanding The course is intended for anyone interested in becoming a better math tutor or teacher. Upon completion, learners will be able to: Define conceptual understanding and procedural fluency. Identify math tasks that require conceptual understanding. Modify tasks that only require procedural fluency to require understanding. Recognize student responses that show understanding, and Identify research-based principles for tutoring or teaching math for understanding. Assess students’ conceptual understanding. Support students’ conceptual understanding through a variety of guiding questions. Use multiple representations (i.e., drawings for fractions, tables/graphs for proportional reasoning) to support students’ conceptual understanding.
Children Acquiring Literacy Naturally
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
In this short course you will explore the possibility that children might acquire written language in a way that is similar to how they acquire spoken language—without instruction. You will encounter various aspects of behavioral science and technology that are relevant to this proposition. You will have the opportunity to learn the the perceptual, cognitive, and neurological capacities of children during their first years of life. You will advance your understanding of children and how they learn language. You will also be more attuned to current advances in the technology of human machine interactions, and what these phenomena imply for learning to read at an early age.
C for Everyone, Part 2: Structured Programming
University of California, Santa Cruz (via Coursera)
In the new world we live in, coding is a universally valuable skill, whether you're a scientist, artist, or a humanist. Algorithms are everywhere, and we all have to understand how they work. The C language is particularly well suited as an introduction to coding: It's a tried-and-true language, and it allows you to understand computing processes at a deep level. You will also get an introduction to more advanced programming in C++ in the final module. This is a continuation of C for Everyone: Fundamentals, which you should take before beginning this course. The time estimated time commitment for this course is five hours a week for five weeks.