There have recently been various social media posts about some free online courses from Harvard on the government of the United States, which may have caught your interest. Public libraries across the nation have a long history of helping citizens to understand their role in our democracy. In that spirit, here is a list of Harvard's five courses that are most relevant to our government:
American Government: Constitutional Foundations
U.S. Political Institutions: Congress, Presidency, Courts, and Bureaucracy
U.S. Public Policy: Social, Economic, and Foreign Policies
Citizen Politics in America: Public Opinion, Elections, Interest Groups, and the Media
We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy
Although there has been some indication on social media that one or more of these courses are direct reactions to current events, a recent article from Snopes, the online fact-checking source, clarifies that this is not the case. According to Sarah Kennedy-O'Reilly, assistant director at Harvard Public Affairs & Communications, "These courses take roughly 12 – 18 months to build online so none have been created in response to recent events."
Harvard offers a wide range of free online courses, which you can peruse. If you are interested in courses from our own UW system that are free, you can see a list of those here.