In early June of this year, Professor Michael Short returned from a trip to Mongolia sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency. His mission? To work with the National University of Mongolia to assess and improve its nuclear education curriculum. The university has a small nuclear science sub-department within its School of Engineering, and the administrators there are eager to update the nuclear science program.

When he got to Mongolia, Professor Short learned that the country’s educational system has a strong emphasis on theory, a legacy of its Soviet past. As he describes it, “The lecturers blast you with theory, fill blackboards with information, and it’s up to the students to figure it out. And the professors aren’t always that accessible, either in terms of being available to answer students’ questions, or in terms of the way that they present the material. They explain it the way they know it, and it makes sense to them, but it doesn’t necessarily make sense to today’s students. The current folks in the nuclear department there recognize this. Mongolia has classically been a powerhouse of nuclear science and theory, and they want to hold on to that. But they know they want to change, though they don’t exactly know how to do it.

18.04 Complex Variables with Applications (Updated Course)  Complex analysis is a basic tool with a great many practical applications to the solution of physical problems. It revolves around complex analytic functions—functions that have a complex derivative. Unlike calculus using real variables, the mere existence of a complex derivative has strong implications for the properties of the function. Applications reviewed in this class include harmonic functions, two dimensional fluid flow, easy methods for computing (seemingly) hard integrals, Laplace transforms, and Fourier transforms with applications to engineering and physics.

"Using the material from OCW, I've learned a great deal about the dynamics of my profession.

I'm a software engineer but my educational background, well let's just say it was an average one.

Everything I use in my successful career I got from OCW relating to my profession was new to me. (With exception of intros of course).

I can't think of another place I've learned the principals of software development than OCW. Thanks a lot."

-Douglas, Independent Learner, Uganda

21G.221 Communicating in American Culture(s) (New Course) In Communicating in American Culture(s), bilingual students examine how various aspects of American culture—history, geography, institutions, traditions, values—have shaped dominant Anglo-American communication norms and responses to critical events in the world. In addition, you can expect to practice and strengthen your analytical and communication skills in a carefully scaffolded manner, starting with frequent short writing and speaking tasks and progressing to longer, more formal tasks.

18.783 Elliptic Curves  (Updated Course) This graduate-level course is a computationally focused introduction to elliptic curves, with applications to number theory and cryptography.

24.118 Paradox and Infinity (New Course)  This course presents highlights of the more technical side of philosophy. It studies a cluster of puzzles, paradoxes, and intellectual wonders — from the higher infinite to Gödel's Theorem — and discusses their philosophical implications.