Specialty Topics: Biology Across Disciplines (Coursera)

Specialty Topics: Biology Across Disciplines (Coursera)

In this course, we will explore the applicability and relationship of biology to the arts, business, and psychology. First, we’ll discuss art as a foundational practice to biology and how biology as a science can explain how we interact with the arts, in particular, our experiences making and listening to music. Next, we will discuss the business of biology and how research is funded and the process of clinical trials and human subjects research.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Then we will examine two topics at the interface of psychology and biology: (1) human development from conception to adulthood, and (2) how cognition influences how we make decisions about biological issues and best practices for evaluating biological evidence in light of what we know about how we use evidence to make decisions. We will close with a discussion of education and why evidence-based education is important for promoting overall science literacy.
What You Will Learn

  • Describe how biology as a field interfaces with other fields, in particular the arts, business and psychology.
  • Explain how we use evidence to make decisions and why this is important to consider when promoting science literacy.

Course 4 of 4 in the Biology Everywhere Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
The Arts and Biology
In this module, we'll explore the intersection of biology with the fine arts.

WEEK 2
The Business of Biology
In this module, we'll explore how business practices and economics influence biology.

WEEK 3
Tiny Humans: An Exposé at the Intersection of Psychology and Biology
This module explores human development, including content typically taught in biology and psychology departments.

WEEK 4
Making Decisions Using Biological Evidence
How does psychology inform how we engage with biology? This module explores the psychology of decision making, including advice for assessing science information you may encounter over the course of your day.

WEEK 5
Biology, Psychology, and Education
In this final module, we'll explore the future of biology education and how to move forward with the biology everywhere mindset.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Arranging for Songwriters (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Arranging for Songwriters (Coursera)

You've created a song. You wrote the lyrics, decided on the melody, and maybe even recorded a simple demo. Now what? If you have a basic knowledge of how to use a digital audio workstation (DAW) and are passionate about being a songwriter, this course will help you take your song from a simple recording on your phone to a fully arranged song ready for the recording studio.

Nov 2nd 2026
4 Weeks
The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 2) (Coursera) Coursera
Wesleyan University

The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 2) (Coursera)

This course examines how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change. Are we still in modernity, or have we moved beyond the modern to the postmodern?

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Introduction to Systems Biology (Coursera) Coursera
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Introduction to Systems Biology (Coursera)

This course will introduce the student to contemporary Systems Biology focused on mammalian cells, their constituents and their functions. Biology is moving from molecular to modular. As our knowledge of our genome and gene expression deepens and we develop lists of molecules (proteins, lipids, ions) involved in cellular processes, we need to understand how these molecules interact with each other to form modules that act as discrete functional systems.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Teoria Musical (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Teoria Musical (Coursera)

Explore os elementos básicos que compoem a música, desenvolva sua percepção, tire músicas de ouvido, e aprenda a ler e escrever usando notação musical. Procuramos criar um curso que unisse a cultura e música brasileira com técnicas de aprendizado de solfejo e leitura rítmica. Você fará parte de uma aula de Percepção Musical ("Ear Training") na Berklee College of Music, cantando e praticando com outros alunos e interagindo com os vídeos. Além disso, você terá acesso a material para praticar, como faixas de acompanhamento e partituras.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Children's Human Rights - An Interdisciplinary Introduction (Coursera) Coursera
University of Geneva

Children's Human Rights - An Interdisciplinary Introduction (Coursera)

Drawing on the contributions of several academic disciplines including law, psychology, sociology, history, educational and health sciences, economy and anthropology, an interdisciplinary approach guides the student into a selection of critical issues concerning children’s rights. Participants will gain insight relative to the development of this specific human rights category, as well as to the evolution of the challenges faced by children over time and society’s efforts to respond.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Princípios Gerais da Técnica do Violino e da Viola de Arco (Coursera) Coursera
Universidade Estadual de Campinas - UNICAMP

Princípios Gerais da Técnica do Violino e da Viola de Arco (Coursera)

Esse curso visa fornecer informações sobre aspectos básicos da técnica do violino e da viola de arco. Ao longo de 18 aulas, com duração média de 7 minutos cada, serão abordados temas como posicionamento do instrumento, maneiras de posicionar a mão esquerda, como segurar o arco, como executar os principais golpes de arco, como estudar mudanças de posição, etapas para desenvolvimento do vibrato e sugestões para a organização do estudo diário do instrumento.

Nov 2nd 2026
4 Weeks
Nanotechnology and Nanosensors, Part 1 (Coursera) Coursera
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

Nanotechnology and Nanosensors, Part 1 (Coursera)

Nanotechnology and nanosensors are broad, interdisciplinary areas that encompass (bio)chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, electrical engineering and more. The present course will provide a survey on some of the fundamental principles behind nanotechnology and nanomaterials and their vital role in novel sensing properties and applications. The course will discuss interesting interdisciplinary scientific and engineering knowledge at the nanoscale to understand fundamental physical differences at the nanosensors.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Evolution Today (Coursera) Coursera
Leiden University,Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Evolution Today (Coursera)

In this course you will learn how evolution works. You will develop an understanding of evolutionary processes and their formative power. You will see how evolution has shaped biodiversity, and continuously influences our daily life. Evolution impacts human endeavors as varied as medicine, agriculture, psychology, economy, and culture. It is the major unifying principle for biology and a fundamental natural law.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form (Coursera) Coursera
University of Rochester

The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form (Coursera)

The blues is an American art form and the most important musical form in jazz. Although there are other formal paradigms of the blues, such as 8-bar or 16-bar, this course focuses on different incarnations of the 12-bar blues. There are considerable differences between Early Jazz blues, Swing blues, Bebop blues, Modal blues, and Post Bop blues.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Words Spun Out of Images: Visual and Literary Culture in Nineteenth Century Japan (Coursera) Coursera
The University of Tokyo

Words Spun Out of Images: Visual and Literary Culture in Nineteenth Century Japan (Coursera)

In their ambition to capture “real life,” Japanese painters, poets, novelists and photographers of the nineteenth century collaborated in ways seldom explored by their European contemporaries. This course offers learners the chance to encounter and appreciate behavior, moral standards and some of the material conditions surrounding Japanese artists in the nineteenth century, in order to renew our assumptions about what artistic “realism” is and what it meant.

Nov 2nd 2026
4 Weeks
The Science of Stem Cells (Coursera) Coursera
American Museum of Natural History

The Science of Stem Cells (Coursera)

What promise do stem cells hold for the treatment of medical conditions? In this five-part online course you will explore the history and basic biology of stem cells, learn about new research techniques, and find out how stem cells could lead to cures for diseases and to individualized medicine.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Global Diplomacy – Diplomacy in the Modern World (Coursera) Coursera
University of London,SOAS University of London

Global Diplomacy – Diplomacy in the Modern World (Coursera)

The Global Diplomacy course is a unique offering to the MOOC environment. Bringing together cutting edge research in the broad fields of Diplomatic and International Studies, award winning distance learning delivery and the instructors previous experience of delivering a successful MOOC. Please see the volume Global Diplomacy: Theories, Types and Models authored with Dr Alison Holmes, (Westview, 2016), and the Understanding Research Methods MOOC from Coursera.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks