Discover the courses that can help you live your life to the fullest
Exploring some of the courses available through Michigan Online on storytelling, art, personal growth, and leading others
The course Brilliant, Passionate You celebrates the all-new Disney and Pixar movie, Soul, streaming starting Dec. 25 on Disney+. It is an interdisciplinary look at how we can make each day the best day of our lives. Whether through creativity and art, happiness and personal growth, or motivating and impacting others, we can each live our lives to the fullest while having a positive influence on those around us. We have compiled a list of Michigan Online learning experiences you can take to gain a deeper insight into finding your purpose in life and inspiring other members of this global learning community to pursue theirs.
The course Brilliant, Passionate You, .
CREATIVITY AND ART
Creativity and art are great ways for individuals to express themselves and positively influence change in their communities. These six learning experiences will help you gain a deeper understanding into how you can use creativity in meaningful ways.
Inspiring and Motivating Arts and Culture Teams
Offered by the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in collaboration with National Arts Strategies , this course focuses on equipping leaders in the cultural sector with the critical skills for inspiring employee engagement and performance while motivating people to adjust behavior and embrace change. You will learn how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates. You will also learn how to set effective goals and expectations in a way…
Storytelling for Social Change
Harness the power of storytelling and improve your communication skills On this course, you’ll discover the secrets of storytelling from expert performers and artists. Stories are a powerful way to engage an audience and deliver impact. Using characters creates empathy, and makes people more open-minded to hearing something new or engaging with a complex topic. Learn how storytelling can communicate powerful ideas By following some simple rules of story craft, any communicator can create empathy…
Doin' Time: Through the Visiting Glass (Seeking Justice: Conversations on Incarceration)
Doin’ Time: Through the Visiting Glass is a play which examines the impacts of incarceration on families. Ashley Lucas, the child of an incarcerated father, conducted interviews in California, Texas, and New York with family members of the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated people, and those who do work connected to prisons. She also corresponded with over 400 incarcerated people from across the U.S. Weaving together these interviews and letters with her personal experience as a prisoner’s child…
The Power of Art in Prisons (Seeking Justice: Conversations on Incarceration)
This module covers the therapeutic power of the arts, and how creative outlets can transform the lives of incarcerated individuals. To browse the video content, please click the lessons tab or the Start button above. If you find any errors, or have ideas for improvements, or future topics or interviewees, please submit them via the Error Reports, Comments, and Suggestions form. Please remember to join us in the Learning Community! For your convenience, here is a link to the sign-up sheet
Arts and Technology Teach-Out
Discover how the arts and technology connect From the invention of instruments and musical notation to the printing press, technology enhances our ability to create, share, and experience art. Due to rapid advances in technology, for the first time in history, creators can distribute their work globally and in real-time. We’re seeing artists, educators, technologists, and scientists embrace technology as an explicit form of experimentation and expression within the arts. On this Teach-Out, you’ll…
Design Computing: 3D Modeling in Rhinoceros with Python Rhinoscript
Use Rhinoceros 3D modelling software to design complex geometric forms As our world is increasingly impacted by the use of algorithms, designers must learn how to use and create design computing programs. Structured around a series of fundamental design problems, this course will show you Python code in terms of its rules and syntax, and teach you what we can do with Python in its application and design. By the end of the course, you’ll not only know the fundamentals of Python and Rhino script,…
HAPPINESS AND PERSONAL GROWTH
We are all on our own journey of pursuing happiness and meaning in our lives. Check out these four learning experiences to better understand your personal path and how you can impact the world.
Practicing Gratitude Teach-Out
1 week
Teach-OutThis Teach-Out will present the science and benefits of gratitude practices, including practical ways to bring it into your own life and recognition that gratitude and struggle can coexist. It’s both for anyone new to the idea of gratitude practices and for people who routinely use positive psychology in their life. There’s a lot about the world right now that might drain and challenge us. The same can feel true when we’re facing something hard personally. Even though gratitude is possible and can…
Thrive in Trying Times Teach-Out
1 week
Teach-OutIn times of crisis, like the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic, we can still find ways to thrive by using positive practices. When many of us feel challenged enough just getting through the day, thriving simply means finding ways to meet those challenges — large or small — with creativity, resourcefulness, and agility. Join this Teach-Out to learn about practices that allow people and organizations to thrive, even during trying times. We invite you to join us in the Thrive in Trying Times Teach-Out,…
The Science of Success: What Researchers Know that You Should Know
7 weeks
CourseThis engaging course is designed to help you achieve the success that you desire. Drawing on decades of scientific research, you will learn what the most successful people do differently than others, why IQ is not the most significant predictor of success (and can sometimes backfire), and why many commonly held beliefs hold people back from achieving their goals. Although this course is based on the science of success, you will learn many practical ideas that you can apply to your own life immediately,…
Finding Purpose and Meaning In Life: Living for What Matters Most
4 weeks
CourseWelcome to Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life: Living for What Matters Most! In this course, you’ll learn how science, philosophy and practice all play a role in both finding your purpose and living a purposeful life. You will hear from historical figures and individuals about their journeys to finding and living a purposeful life, and will walk through different exercises to help you find out what matters most to you so you can live a purposeful life. As an added benefit, you will also have…
MOTIVATING AND IMPACTING OTHERS
Our positive influence on others can drastically change our communities for the better. These six learning experiences provide valuable resources you can use to motivate those around you to be resilient, especially during these unprecedented times.
Community Organizing for Social Justice
6 weeks
CourseThe course examines specific strategies for community organizing for social justice in a diverse, democratic society. It examines core concepts of social justice and practical steps for bringing people together to set goals and priorities, assess community assets and needs, develop action plans, and build support for implementation. It includes information on how to form core groups, build organizational capacity, and formulate strategy for reaching out to constituents and allies. Because each…
High Stakes Leadership: Leading in Times of Crisis
4 weeks
CourseThis course has been designed to help leaders, like you, learn how to effectively navigate the challenges of significant organizational disruptions. As a participant in this course, you’ll discover why an understanding of various stakeholder perspectives can inform and dramatically improve a leader’s response to events that threaten an organization’s very survival. This course is also about understanding and developing individual and organizational resilience—the ability to anticipate potential…
Leading Ambitious Teaching and Learning
Want to explore ambitious teaching and how collaboration between students and teachers can lead to deeper learning and the development of 21st-century skills? This course is developed in partnership with Microsoft as part of the Microsoft K-12 Education Leadership initiative, which aims to help K-12 school leaders drive the pursuit of ambitious instruction in classrooms. Beyond the straightforward transfer of facts and skills, ambitious instruction has teachers and students making meaning of rich…
Resilient Teaching Through Times of Crisis and Change
4 weeks
CourseResilient teaching is the ability to facilitate learning experiences that are designed to be adaptable to fluctuating conditions and disruptions. This teaching ability can be seen as an outcome of a design approach that attends to the relationship between learning goals and activities, and the environments they are situated in. Resilient teaching approaches take into account how a dynamic learning context may require new forms of interactions between teachers, students, content, and tools. Additionally,…
Influencing People
4 weeks
CourseThis course will improve your ability to influence people in situations where you cannot use formal authority. You will learn about effective ways to build, develop, and sustain a power base in your organization. You will also learn influence tactics that enable you to be more persuasive and influential in working with your superiors, peers, and even subordinates. In addition, you will learn how to build and maintain high-quality relationships to further maximize your informal power and ability…
Inspiring and Motivating Individuals
4 weeks
CourseIn this course, you will learn how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates. You will also learn how to set effective goals and expectations in a way that best enables your team to attain the shared vision. Finally, you will understand the most important needs and drivers of performance across cultures, and will learn to align rewards with desired behaviors so that your teammates are motivated to attain the team’s objectives. Motivation represents…
Michigan Online contains more than 220 learning experiences and is available free to University of Michigan students, faculty, staff, and alumni. For students, it is a place to take courses, participate in Teach-Outs, and earn degrees, all from the comfort of their own homes. These courses and Teach-Outs bring together experts from within U-M and beyond to help learners understand their civil rights and how to make a difference in their communities.