As Thammasat University students grow accustomed to online learning and distance education, some may wish to explore overseas opportunities after they have done their required coursework. Taking an extra class may be informative and help complement main areas of study, giving students new ideas and perspectives and help them to practice their English language usage.

One opportunity to consider may be free massive open online courses (MOOCs) at The University of Leeds, the United Kingdom (UK).

The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

The university has 36,250 students, the fifth largest university in the UK.

The Thammasat University Library collection includes a number of books written by scholars from the University of Leeds.

These include Structural and stress analysis by Dr. T.H.G. Megson, Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering (retired), University of Leeds, shelved in the General Stacks of the Puey Ungphakorn Library, Rangsit campus, and Teacher research in language teaching: a critical analysis by Simon Borg, University of Leeds, shelved in the General Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus. In addition, the Theses Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library holds a copy of Topicalisation of the noun phrase in colloquial cairene Arabic by Salwa A. Kamel, a PhD thesis submitted to the University of Leeds.

According to theFuture Learn website,  

As one of the UK’s largest research-based universities, the University of Leeds is a member of the prestigious Russell Group and a centre of excellence for teaching.

Academics at the University of Leeds lead pioneering research that addresses major global challenges, in areas such as energy, water and climate change, human health and wellbeing. The University works in interdisciplinary teams to find innovative solutions to global problems such as poverty, hunger and crime. It strengthens communities through its outreach and public engagement.

Among the MOOCs available for TU students is Environmental Challenges:

Change how you think about the environment, by exploring how human society interacts with the natural world, through this flexible program of online courses.

The Environmental Challenges program consists of five short online courses that look at the relationships between people and nature, and the challenging and difficult decisions we face when managing natural resources.

You will see through case studies and discussions that environmental management policies not only need to be economically and environmentally sound, but they also need to be formulated with social fairness if they are to be sustainable.

Accessible for free on desktop, tablet or mobile, the five courses can be taken in any order, providing a flexible way to enhance your environmental management skills and demonstrate your continuing professional development (CPD).

What skills will I learn?

The Environmental Challenges program is suitable for anyone with an interest in environmental management and natural resource management. Completing all five courses will enable you to:

• understand the importance of justice and fairness in environmental management;
• identify the different types of values applied to nature;
• explore the role of language in the way we perceive and interact with nature;
• investigate the mathematics of natural dynamics;
• and assess the impact of conflict on the environment.

Learn with a range of environmental experts

The Environmental Challenges program has been developed by the School of Geography at the University of Leeds – one of the world’s top 100 universities and part of the Russell Group of leading UK universities. The School of Geography was ranked in the top five Geography departments in the UK for research power in REF2014 and awarded an ‘Excellent’ grading by HEFCE for the quality of its teaching. It is ranked 15th globally in the QS rankings.

On each course, you will learn with Professor Jon Lovett, Chair in Global Challenges. His research focuses on the institutional economics of environmental management, and takes an interdisciplinary approach to bring together both the natural and social sciences. He has worked all over the world on many different practical projects, and the program reflects this international perspective and applied approach.

Throughout the program, Jon will be joined by experts from a range of different disciplines, to explore ideas raised in the courses, and provide a richness and diversity to the conversation.

Jon Lovett is Chair in Global Challenges in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds and works on institutional economics.

Another class option among MOOCs available is Introduction to Intercultural Studies:

Learn how to appreciate other cultures and develop intercultural competence by exploring concepts of culture and interculturality.

Improve your intercultural competence by understanding concepts of culture and interculturality

This program will introduce you to intercultural studies and help you gain a basic understanding of the terms ‘culture’ and ‘interculturality’. You will examine the effects of the interaction between cultures and learn about the theories that underpin the study of these interactions. You will explore specific aspects of cultural interactions such as borders, languages and international business.

The five courses can be taken in any order, providing a flexible way to enhance your knowledge and demonstrate your continuing professional development (CPD).

What skills will I learn?

This program is suitable for anyone with an interest in how humans interact. It promotes a reflective and critical approach to interculturality that will enable you to:

• explain the different meanings and uses of the term “culture”
• describe the effects of intercultural contact and routes to intercultural competence
• assess the relationship between language and culture
• describe how borders both unite and separate us
• evaluate how culture is used as a marketing tool.

Learn from Haynes Collins, Director of Intercultural Studies in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of Leeds, a leading academic in intercultural studies, intercultural communication and linguistics

This program has been developed by the University of Leeds, one of the UK’s largest research-based universities and a member of the prestigious Russell Group.

The University of Leeds was named University of the Year 2017 by The Times and The Sunday Times’ Good University Guide, and achieved a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the highest award possible, for “consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students, of the highest quality found in the UK.”

Another possible class choice is Causes of Human Disease:

Explore what causes human disease, through this flexible program of online courses.

The Causes of Human Disease program consists of five short online courses that look at the science behind the causes of human disease. The program focuses on different types of human disease like infectious, cardiovascular and genetic diseases and cancer and explores how social determinants, nutrition and environmental factors influence our health.

Accessible for free on desktop, tablet or mobile, the five courses can be taken in any order, providing a flexible way to enhance your knowledge and demonstrate your continuing professional development (CPD).

Learn from academic experts and leading researchers in medicine and nutrition

The Causes of Human Diseases Program has been developed by the University of Leeds, one of the UK’s largest research-based universities and a member of the prestigious Russell Group. The University of Leeds was named University of the Year 2017 by The Times and The Sunday Times’ Good University Guide, and achieved a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the highest award possible, for “consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students, of the highest quality found in the UK.”

The Faculty of Medicine and Health is one of the UK’s most established and successful centres for medical and health research, with a focus on cancer, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disease and clinical trials. The extensive research portfolio supports basic, applied and translational activity to bring about patient benefit.

The Causes of Human Disease Program will be led by Dr Michael Routledge, Associated Professor of Environmental Toxicology in the Faculty of Medicine and Health. His research focuses on environmental risk factors that cause disease, including the potential role of airborne particulates in cardiovascular disease and the impact of mycotoxins on child health in Africa. Throughout the program, Michael will be joined by experts from a range of different disciplines, to explore ideas raised in the courses, and provide a richness and diversity to the conversation.

Dr. Michael Routledge is Associate Professor of Environmental Toxicology in the School of Medicine, University of Leeds. His research interests are the health effects of mycotoxins and particulate matter. His university homepage lists his research interests:

Mycotoxins are produced by fungi that grow on food crops. Although they occur around the globe, the most toxic, such as aflatoxin, are a major health concern in warm humid countries such as in sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia. In the cross-faculty Mycotoxin Research Group, we use laboratory analytical methods to measure biomarkers of mycotoxin exposure in blood or urine from exposed populations, and epidemiological methods to assess the health impact of this exposure.  In particular we have worked closely with colleagues in Tanzania and the Gambia to study health impacts on children. One of these impacts is on impairment of child growth…

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)