Below is a list of some of our most popular Winter Courses that will help give you an idea of what Continuing Studies has to offer.

SCIENCE

Stanford Mini Med School - This year-long series, created by Stanford’s School of Medicine, resumes this Winter. Once again, a team of distinguished faculty members will take you inside the human body. Together, we will explore our complex nervous and cardiovascular systems, along with other vital systems. The course will also delve into the always fascinating mind-body relationship.

SCIENCE
Coping with Climate Change: Life After Copenhagen - This team-taught course, co-sponsored by Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment, will feature more than a dozen leading figures in the field of climate change. Beginning just weeks after the international summit on climate change in Copenhagen, the course will examine the major pressures confronting life on Earth today.

CURRENT EVENTS
The Obama Presidency: One Year In - This course will pair respected Stanford faculty members with leading journalists from around the country, and together they will discuss the major challenges and opportunities facing the Obama administration. The course, offered in partnership with the Hoover Media Fellow program, will feature Donald Kennedy (president emeritus of Stanford), David Brady (deputy director of the Hoover Institution), and journalists from The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and other major news outlets.

PSYCHOLOGY
The Science of the Calmed Mind - For thousands of years, meditation has been practiced to calm the mind. But only recently has science understood how meditation actually changes the mind. In this course, students will learn about new research that reveals how meditation affects thoughts, emotions, and brain activity, and how it improves focus, empathy, happiness, and physical health

RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Exploring Liberal Christianity - Taught by Scotty McLennan, Stanford’s Dean for Religious Life, this course will uncover the tradition of liberal Christianity that goes back to the Protestant Reformation, if not to the words of Jesus himself. A tradition marked by tolerance, rationality, freedom from authority, and a belief in progress, it informs the way we look at many modern day issues — from war, poverty, environmentalism, and discrimination, to same-sex marriage and abortion.