Online class in Intro to Stem Cells

hello to all,

I am looking for an online, for credit class that gives an overview of stem cells, history, issues, ethics, uses, more for a non science major and more of a discussion than a technical course. In other words, would give a general understanding of the topic to a non science major. I am already in a general degree B.A. program, totally by distance from a regionally accredited university and doing well, but the online class choices are getting sparse, and I hope to transfer in courses for credit in areas of interest.

I have searched through the usual degree search engines but I have not found one that allows search for specific classes such as this one. Googling it brings up very little also, and there is no way to know whether the college allows online classes to be taken individually by learners not in their degree programs. I spent several hours following links to colleges and bio departments and getting lost. I am also looking for a class about the Human Brain, overview and again, more of a discussion of basic biology and issues.

Have any of you come across such a class, or would you know a more efficient way for me to search for one? I'd appreciate any leads or information please.

 

I just finished one YESTERDAY! (A- yes indeedy) You can take it for graduate or undergraduate credit (I suggest grad credit)
The bad news, is that it isn't offered again until Spring, but it was great.
Newsworthy Topics in Contemporary Life Sciences
It is taught from the biology dept's chair for non-biology majors. Open enrollment, 4 credits, no application or transcripts required to take 1 class. Just sign up! In fact, you can still be in-progress on your bachelor's degree, you don't even need to have graduated to take for grad credit. Course requirements are identical with the addition of a single paper.

In the mean time, read The Stem Cell Hope (one of the required readings for the course) and you'll get all that you're looking for and more. Easy read, it's a multidisciplinary history of stem cells, that cover politics/politics/religion/news and press/funding/ethics/etc. and all the drama that surrounds the issue (ie: Dolly/cloning) Also, use this link to watch the 4 vids from the Holiday Lecture Series on stem cells. HHMI's BioInteractive - Stem Cells: Lecture Series They are free, and were option viewing in the class. I watched them, they were excellent.

EDIT: EDIT: I wanted to add that I have my degree in social science, so I wanted exactly what you want. I was a little worried about the science, but it was fine. Yes, he explained all the science, and you might understand some of it, but you won't be accountable for it. In other words, you must understand what a stem cell is, but not all of cellular biology. You more need a comprehensive understanding of the role of stem cells in our news media and the science community and government/politics.

 

Cookderosa,

Thank you so very much for answering in such detail and all the great links. I will check out that course definitely.

One question offhand. Are there online exams, do they need proctoring, or are there just papers or projects due?

I am also still looking for a class in the human brain, along the same lines of general intro, issues, etc., rather than a detailed psychobiology or very scientific emphasis.

Again, I so much appreciate the time and effort you spent in answering me. That's what makes this website so wonderful, people helping each other out in furthering their education.

 

The exact breakdown of the class:
weekly lecture that you can watch live w/chat box open or later since they are recorded
weekly forum posts
3 "problem sets" which were assignments covering the topic at hand. These were a page/1-2 short answer
1 mid-term exam- open book at home but timed
1 final exam- open book at home but timed
1 final paper (undergrad students were required to write 10 pages, grad students 20) *part of why I suggest you taking it for grad credit

Also, there is a great distance option course (psych dept) called neurobiology. In the summers, it only awards undergrad credit, but the fall and spring terms offer grad credit as a choice. I'm taking it, it's on my list for next spring. It's a distance" only" course. So far, I've only taken distance "option" courses, so I can't really compare that aspect.

If you ever ended up pursuing your master's at Harvard, the Newsworthy topics would be an elective in any of the liberal arts majors, and the neuro would be in-major for psych or clinical psych, and an elective in any other. Both are taught by Harvard professors, which is a plus because degree-seekers are required to complete 8/10 of their courses with Harvard professors. Not every course meets that criteria.

Enjoy! Let me know if you enroll, I have all 3 of the text books- I'd happily mail them to you.

 

Again, thanks for all of the great info. The neurobiology class...would you know if there is a lot of memorization and testing of brain anatomy in it, or online exam labelling of diagrams? I ask because my spatial relations are quirky and nothing ever looks the same on the screen as in the textbook. I quickly dropped a previous neuroscience-brain/consciousness class due to homework around 3D modelling of the brain ( all this for an intro class!), as well as trying a psychobiology class that consisted all of testing of parts and memorization of minute vocab and anatomy, again, on screen. I am an A student in other, non bio science classes, but when I took the practice tests about 11 times for the psychobio, I could not get a passing score.