Course content and navigation
Introducing humanism: non-religious approaches to life is designed as a six-week course with around 2-3 hours of content each week. You may, however, prefer to cover the content more quickly, or to take more time over it. There are no restrictions on your access to the course material.
- Part 1: Humanism and the human being
- Part 2: Understanding reality
- Part 3: Making life meaningful
- Part 4: Being good
- Part 5: Humanism in practice: a better world?
- Part 6: What is humanism?
We’ll begin with an investigation into the humanist understanding of our human nature and potential. This will provide a foundation that should support you through the remainder of the course.
In Part 2, we’ll learn about the humanist approach to acquiring knowledge about the world and the consequences for a humanist understanding of reality.
Following this, we will tackle the question of how we should live, addressing this, firstly, through an understanding of our own needs, secondly, by considering our responsibilities to others, and thirdly, by reflecting on the features of the kind of society we would like to live in (Parts 3-5).
Finally, in Part 6, we will draw together what we have learned throughout the course and reflect upon what conclusions we might reach about the nature of humanism.
In the course you’ll find videos to watch and articles to read, as well as links to further resources to deepen your understanding.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, you’ll be able to…
- Investigate and explore humanist beliefs, values, and goals
- Demonstrate an understanding of the humanist worldview
- Apply what you have learned in discussion with others
- Evaluate the humanist approach to life
- Reflect upon your own approach and your answers to life’s big questions
Navigation and progress
In the left hand menu, you will see the course content broken into parts, lessons, and topics. Most lessons have several topics within them. You can access the content in whatever order you want, but the course has been designed in a linear structure and so it is best to follow the content step by step.
The buttons at the bottom of each page allow you to move on to the next (or back to the previous) step. Don’t forget to tick the ‘Mark Complete’ button at the bottom of the page every time you complete a step. That way you can keep an eye on your progress through the course on the bar at the top of the page.
Explore further
Keep an eye out for links to additional material at the end of each step. This material is not essential to complete the course, but it will provide a valuable opportunity to deepen your understanding of the course content.
You’ll also find transcripts of all the videos in the course linked under ‘Explore further’.
Questions to think about
At the end of many of the steps, you’ll find a question to think about. If you are taking the course alongside other learners then these can be good prompts for discussion. Even if you have no one to discuss the questions with, it can be helpful to pause and devote some time to reflecting on the questions as this will support your learning.
Why not start by considering the question below?
Question: What are you hoping to get out of the course?